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Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
George Balanchine was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th-century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music.
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's first music director. City Ballet grew out of earlier troupes: the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet, 1934; the American Ballet, 1935, and Ballet Caravan, 1936, which merged into American Ballet Caravan, 1941; and directly from the Ballet Society, 1946.
Le Tombeau de Couperin is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque suite. Each movement is dedicated to the memory of a friend of the composer who had died fighting in World War I. Ravel also produced an orchestral version of the work in 1919, although this omitted two of the original movements.
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov.
Ib Andersen is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. He was principal dancer for the Royal Danish Ballet 1975-1980, for the New York City Ballet 1980-1990, freelancing ballet master 1990-2000 and artistic director of Ballet Arizona 2000-2024.
La valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestre, is a work written by Maurice Ravel between February 1919 and 1920; it was first performed on 12 December 1920 in Paris. It was conceived as a ballet but is now more often heard as a concert work.
Theme and Variations is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 3. The ballet was made for Ballet Theatre, and premiered on November 26, 1947, at the City Center 55 Street Theater, with the two leads danced by Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch.
Episodes is a ballet choreographed by Martha Graham and George Balanchine, to compositions by Anton Webern. The ballet was a co-production between the Martha Graham Dance Company and Balanchine's New York City Ballet (NYCB). Though it was conceived to be a collaboration between Graham and Balanchine, leading choreographers in modern dance and neoclassical ballet respectively, they ultimately worked separately on the ballet's two halves. Episodes I was choreographed by Graham, for dancers from her company and four NYCB members, and depicts Mary, Queen of Scots remembering the events in her life before her execution. Episodes II, by Balanchine, is completely plotless, and made for members of the NYCB and Graham dancer Paul Taylor, who originated a solo. The ballet uses all seven orchestral compositions by Webern.
In G Major is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. Performed by a cast of fourteen, the ballet featured Broadway-inspired choreography. The ballet was created for the New York City Ballet's Ravel Festival, which celebrated the centenary of Ravel, and premiered on May 15, 1975, at the New York State Theater, with Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins originating the two lead roles.
Susan Coxe Hendl was an American ballet dancer and répétiteur. She danced with the New York City Ballet between 1963 and 1983, then staged and coached works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins for both NYCB and other companies.
Mozartiana is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Orchestral Suite No. 4, Mozartiana. The current version of the ballet was made for New York City Ballet's Tchaikovsky Festival, and premiered on June 4, 1981, at the New York State Theater. It is considered Balanchine's last major work.
The Four Temperaments or Theme and Four Variations is an orchestral work and ballet by Paul Hindemith. Although it was originally conceived as a ballet for Léonide Massine, the score was ultimately completed as a commission for George Balanchine, who subsequently choreographed it as a neoclassical ballet based on the theory of the four temperaments.
Vienna Waltzes is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss, made as a tribute to Austria. It premiered on June 23, 1977 at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet, and was an immediate success among the public.
Ivesiana is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to compositions by Charles Ives. The ballet premiered on September 14, 1954, four months after Ives's death, at the City Center of Music and Drama, performed by the New York City Ballet. Balanchine made several changes to the ballet since, including adding and removing sections of the ballet, and the final version of Ivesiana consists of Central Park in the Dark, The Unanswered Question, In the Inn and In the Night.
Sonatine is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Ravel's eponymous music. The ballet was made for the New York City Ballet's Ravel Festival, which celebrated the centenary of Ravel, and premiered on May 15, 1975, at the New York State Theater, following a preview performance the previous day. The ballet was originated by Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.
Movements for Piano and Orchestra is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Stravinsky's score of the same name. The ballet premiered on April 9, 1963, at City Center of Music and Drama, performed by the New York City Ballet. Though the two lead roles were created for Diana Adams and Jacques d'Amboise, seventeen-year-old Suzanne Farrell danced the female lead at the premiere due to Adams' pregnancy. Starting in 1966, Movements and Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960) are performed together.
Duo Concertant is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Stravinsky's score of the same name. The ballet was created for New York City Ballet's Stravinsky Festival, a tribute to the composer a year after his death, and premiered on June 22, 1972, at the New York State Theater, danced by Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins.
La Valse is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Maurice Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales and La Valse. It premiered on February 20, 1951, at the City Center of Music and Drama, performed by the New York City Ballet. The ballet depicts dancers waltzing in a ballroom, during which a woman becomes attracted to a figure of death, and ultimately dies.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Buckle, Richard (1988). George Balanchine: Ballet Master : a Biography. ISBN 9780241121801.
- ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (January 19, 2008). "Four Distinct Dream Worlds, Sharing the Same Language of Classical Ballet". New York Times.
- 1 2 3 Balanchine, George; Mason, Francis (1977). Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets. ISBN 9780385113816.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Reynolds, Nancy (1977). Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet. ISBN 9780803773684.
- 1 2 Kisselgoff, Anna (March 11, 1975). "City Ballet Plans 14 Works for Ravel Fete". New York Times.
- ↑ Dunning, Jennifer (June 11, 2004). "Ballet Review; A New Generation Marches to the Balanchine Drumbeat". New York Times.
- ↑ Barnes, Clive (November 22, 1975). "Ballet: Simple and Dense". New York Times.