Glass Pieces

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Glass Pieces
Choreographer Jerome Robbins
Music Philip Glass
PremiereMay 12, 1983 (1983-05-12)
New York State Theater
Original ballet company New York City Ballet
DesignBen Benson
Jerome Robbins
Ronald Bates
Genre Neoclassical ballet

Glass Pieces is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Philip Glass, costumes designed by Ben Benson, lighting designed by Ronald Bates and production designed by Robbins and Bates. The ballet was premiered on May 12, 1983, at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet. [1]

Contents

Production

Choreographer Jerome Robbins was first invited to direct Philip Glass's opera, Akhnaten . Due to the unusual nature of the opera, Robbins decided to make a ballet with the music first and figure out the stage directions. However, due to scheduling conflict, Robbins withdrew from the opera, but went ahead with the ballet. [2]

Though the score is minimal, Robbins decided to treat it differently. He made charts of the music's structure on graph paper, then worked with Ronald Bates, who also designed the lighting, to make backdrop that looks like a piece of graph paper. [2] Robbins also added "Rubric" and "Façades" from Glass's Glassworks , [3] as the scores "struck him as being markedly different in character". Robbins also claimed that since he was focused on the music during the creative process, he was surprised to see the critics interpret it as "images of urban life". On the entire ballet Robbins said it has a "a ritualistic sense" which may be "inevitable" due to Glass's music. [2]

The ballet was the first New York City Ballet (NYCB) work set to minimalist music and premiered shortly after the company's co-founder George Balanchine's death. [4]

Structure

The first part, "Rubric", features dancers in bright color practice wears walking across the stage, [5] and three main couples performing different choreography. [6] Whenever the couples enter the stage, the corps de ballet changes its movements. Robbins said it is like a rondo. [2]

The middle section is set to "Façades", which Robbins described as "a songlike melody repeated five times". The principal couple is the equivalent of the score while an all-female corps dances at the back of the stage in a line, representing the accompaniment. [2] [5]

The third and final movement, danced to "Akhnaten", is called "tribal" by Robbins, with dancers performing in bloc patterns. [2]

Original cast

Rubric: [5]

Façades: [5]

Revivals

Other ballet companies that have performed Glass Pieces include the Paris Opera Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. [7] [8] [9] The former two companies and NYCB all included the ballet in their Robbins Centennial celebrations. [7] [8] [10]

Videography

In light of the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts, Paris Opera Ballet released a video recording of Glass Pieces as a part of the Tribute to Jerome Robbins program. [11] NYCB released a 2017 video recording of the third movement. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Glass Pieces". New York City Ballet. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anderson, Jack (May 29, 1983). "Robbins Thinks Big About Dances". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ "'Glass Pieces' at 35". Wise Music Classical. May 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (April 27, 2018). "Jerome Robbins, Ballet's Mr. 'Take It Easy, Baby,' at 100". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Kisselgoff, Anna (May 14, 1983). "Ballet: World Premiere, Robbins's 'Glass Pieces'". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Jack (January 13, 1986). "City Ballet: 'Glass Pieces'". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 Cappelle, Laura (October 30, 2018). "Paris Opera Ballet finds freedom in its Tribute to Jerome Robbins". The Financial Times.
  8. 1 2 Parry, Jann (July 8, 2018). "Les Etés de la Danse, Paris – Homage to Jerome Robbins, Programme 1 – New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet". DanceTabs.
  9. ↑ Parry, Jann (July 20, 2014). "San Francisco Ballet – Maelstrom, Within the Golden Hour, Glass Pieces – Paris". DanceTabs.
  10. ↑ Goldberg, Rachael (April 1, 2018). "BWW Review: NYC Ballet: Robbins Centennial (Bernstein, Glass, And Verdi) at The Kennedy Center". Broadway World.
  11. ↑ "5 free performances and films to stream live (and later)". All Arts. April 14, 2020. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020.
  12. ↑ "New York City Ballet Announces Casting for Weeks One and Two of Their Digital Season". Broadway World. September 21, 2020.
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