N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz

Last updated

N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz is a jazz ballet made by Jerome Robbins, subsequently ballet master of New York City Ballet (NYCB) to music of the same title by Robert Prince. The premiere took place on 8 June 1958 at the Festival of the Two Worlds in Spoleto, performed by Ballets: USA and subsequently on Broadway. The NYCB premiere was on 29 April 2005 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery by Ben Shahn, costumes by Florence Klutz and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

Contents

Casts

Original Spoleto

American Ballet Theatre premiere August 25, 1982 Mann Music Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cast:

NYCB premiere

Related Research Articles

Western Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to American folk tunes arranged by Hershy Kay. It premiered on September 7, 1954 at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York. The ballet was originally presented in practice clothes without scenery. Scenery by John Boyt and costumes by Karinska were added in 1955. Lighting was originally by Jean Rosenthal and subsequently Mark Stanley. Set in the Western United States, the ballet features cowboys and dance hall girls.

Jewels is a three-act ballet created for the New York City Ballet by co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine. It premièred on Thursday, 13 April 1967 at the New York State Theater, with sets designed by Peter Harvey and lighting by Ronald Bates.

Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, to Georges Bizet's Symphony in C. The ballet was originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, and premiered on July 28, 1947 at Théâtre National de l'Opéra.

The Concert (or The Perils of Everybody) is a ballet made by Jerome Robbins, subsequently New York City Ballet's ballet master, to Chopin's:

<i>Episodes</i> (ballet) Ballet by Martha Graham and George Balanchine

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.

The Four Seasons is a ballet choreographed by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani (1855), I Lombardi (1843), and Il Trovatore (1853). The premiere took place on 18 January 1979 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

Dybbuk is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to Leonard Bernstein's eponymous music and taking S. Ansky's play The Dybbuk as a source. The premiere took place on 16 May 1974, at New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. A revision of the choreography and the score was made later the same year; the ballet was renamed Dybbuk Variations and received its own premiere in November.

Bugaku is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and ballet master George Balanchine to eponymous music by Toshiro Mayuzumi, commissioned by City Ballet in 1962. The premiere took place on 30 March 1963 at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with scenery by David Hays, costumes by Karinska, and lighting by Ronald Bates. NYCB had toured Japan in 1958 and the Gagaku Company of the Imperial Household toured the US the following year.

The Chairman Dances is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master in chief Peter Martins to John Adams' eponymous music from 1985. The music was originally written for Adams' opera, Nixon in China, but not used in production: the scene is that in which Mao Zedong dances with his future bride, movie star Chiang Ch'ing. The premiere took place on 14 May 1988, as part of City Ballet's American Music Festival at New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery and costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, and lighting by Mark Stanley.

Mother Goose is a ballet made for New York City Ballet's Ravel Festival by balletmaster Jerome Robbins to Ravel's music and scenario, the Ma Mère l'Oye Suite from 1908, orchestrated by the composer in 1912. The premiere took place on May 22, 1975, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Stanley Simmons and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. At its premiere it bore the French title, which was retained when it was first revived in January 1978 but anglicized by May of that year.

Antique Epigraphs is a ballet made on New York City Ballet by ballet master Jerome Robbins to an orchestrated version of Debussy's Six épigraphes antiques, L131, for piano, four hands, from 1914:

Interplay is a ballet in one act made by Jerome Robbins, subsequently ballet master of New York City Ballet, for Billy Rose's Concert Varieties to Morton Gould's 1945 American Concertette. The premiere took place on Friday, 1 June 1945 at the Ziegfeld Theatre, New York. It was taken into the repertory of the American Ballet Theatre and presented on Wednesday, 17 October that year with costumes by Irene Sharaff. It has been revived for the City Ballet on Tuesday, 23 December 1952 at City Center of Music and Drama.

Ives, Songs is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to songs of Charles Ives:

<i>Dances at a Gathering</i> Ballet by Jerome Robbins

Dances at a Gathering is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin, with costumes designed by Joe Eula. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969, at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet.

In Memory of ... is a ballet in one act made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to Berg's Violin Concerto of 1935, based on themes from Mahler, a Carpathian folk song, and Bach's O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20. The premiere took place on 13 June 1985 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery by David Mitchell, costumes by Dain Marcus and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. A recording aired on PBS' Great Performances: Dance in America in 1987.

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.

Ragtime (I) is the second of three ballets made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Igor Stravinsky's 1918 Ragtime for Eleven Instruments; with scenery by Robert Drew previously used for Lew Christensen's 1947 work for Ballet Society, Blackface; costumes by Karinska and lighting by David Hays. The premiere took place on December 7, 1960, at City Center of Music and Drama, conducted by Robert Irving, as part of a quartet of works titled Jazz Concert, together with dances by Todd Bolender's Creation of the World, Francisco Moncion's Les biches and John Taras' Ebony Concerto. Balanchine's 1966 Ragtime (II) was also made for City Ballet; his previous ballet to Stravinsky's Ragtime was one of a number of "informal little things" made in St. Petersburg in 1922.

Hallelujah Junction is the eighth ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master in chief Peter Martins to John Adams' eponymous music. The duo pianists appear in silhouette above the dancers throughout in Mark Stanley's lighting. The dance was made on the Royal Danish Ballet. The premiere took place on 24 March 2001 at the Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen. The NYCB premiere was on 22 January 2002 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center.

The Barber Violin Concerto is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master in chief Peter Martins to Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (1939). The premiere was conducted by Robert Irving and took place on 12 May 1988 at the New York State Theater, as part of City Ballet's American Music Festival, with lighting by Jennifer Tipton and costumes by William Ivey Long. Two couples, one pair classical dancers, the other modern, perform a series of mix-and-match pas de deux. All four are dressed in white, with the classical dancers in point shoes and ballet slippers, and the modern dancers typically barefoot and the man bare-chested.

Monumentum pro Gesualdo is a 1960 arrangement and recomposition by Igor Stravinsky of three madrigals by Carlo Gesualdo. It was composed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Gesualdo's birth and was intended to complement Stravinsky's similar Tres Sacrae Cantiones. It was premiered on September 27, 1960, at the Venice Biennale, played by the Orchestra del Teatro la Fenice conducted by Stravinsky.

References

Articles

Reviews