Darci Kistler is a noted American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for choreographer George Balanchine.
Peter Martins is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as balletmaster in 1981. He retired from dancing in 1983, having achieved the rank of danseur noble, becoming Co-Ballet Master-In-Chief with Robbins. From 1990 until January 2018, he was solely responsible for artistic leadership of City Ballet.
Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Georges Bizet's Symphony in C (1855). The music of the ballet, which Bizet wrote at the age of 17 while studying with Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory, was lost and only rediscovered and published in 1933.
Afternoon of a Faun is a ballet made by Jerome Robbins, subsequently ballet master of New York City Ballet, to Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. The premiere took place on 14 May 1953 at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with scenery and lighting by Jean Rosenthal and costumes by Irene Sharaff. Note: Tanaquil LeClercq's costume was not by Irene Sharaff. It was made for her by her mother, Edith Le Clercq.
West Side Story Suite is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to the 1957 music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and extracted from the eponymous musical which he had choreographed, with scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Irene Sharaff and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. The premiere took place at New York State Theater on Thursday, May 18, 1995. Nikolaj Hübbe and Jock Soto, both members of the original cast, as well as Peter Boal all chose to include West Side Story Suite in their farewell performances at City Ballet.
Moves is a ballet without music created by Jerome Robbins for his company Ballets: USA for the Spoleto (Italy) Festival of Two Worlds, where it received its premiere 3 July 1959; the New York City Ballet première took place on Wednesday, 2 May 1984, by which time Robbins was City Ballet's ballet master, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center.
Andantino, originally titled Pas de Deux, is a ballet made for New York City Ballet's Tschaikovsky Festival by ballet master Jerome Robbins to the second movement of the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 (1875). The premiere took place on 4 June 1981 at New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Ben Benson and lighting by Ronald Bates.
Opus 19/The Dreamer is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster Jerome Robbins to Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, in D major with costumes by Ben Benson and lighting by Ronald Bates. The premiere took place on June 14, 1979, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center. Peter Boal danced it with Wendy Whelan as part of his June 2005 farewell performance at City Ballet.
In the Night is a ballet in one act made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to nocturnes of Frédéric Chopin. The premiere took place on Thursday, January 29, 1970 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Anthony Dowell and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Robbins created three other ballets to Chopin's music: The Concert (1956), Dances at a Gathering (1969), and Other Dances (1976), made on Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova.
Ives, Songs is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to songs of Charles Ives:
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, originally called Ballet Imperial, is a ballet in three movements made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine for his earlier company, American Ballet Caravan, to the version of Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, originally composed in 1879–80, but later revised by Alexander Siloti. The ballet was given a preview performance on 29 May 1941 at the Little Theater of Hunter College in New York City. The premiere took place on 25 June 1941 at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
The Prodigal Son, or Le Fils prodigue, Op. 46 is a ballet created for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes by George Balanchine to music by Sergei Prokofiev (1928–29). The libretto, based on the parable in the Gospel of Luke, was by Boris Kochno, who added a good deal of drama and emphasized the theme of sin and redemption ending with the Prodigal Son's return.
The Cage is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to Stravinsky's Concerto in D for string orchestra, also known as the "Basel Concerto", which he was commissioned to compose on the twentieth anniversary of the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester; it notably shifts between D major and minor. The premiere took place on Sunday, 10 June 1951 at the City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with décor by Jean Rosenthal, costumes by Ruth Sobatka and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. It was danced as part of City Ballet's 1982 Stravinsky Centennial Celebration.
The Four Temperaments is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and ballet master George Balanchine to music he commissioned from Paul Hindemith for the opening program of Ballet Society, immediate forerunner of City Ballet.
Vienna Waltzes is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music by Johann Strauss, Jr., Franz Lehár, and Richard Strauss:
Who Cares? is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to the songs of George Gershwin in an orchestration by Hershy Kay. The premiere took place on Saturday, February 7, 1970, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center with costumes by Barbara Karinska and lighting by Ronald Bates; it was at first performed without décor but from November 1970 with scenery by Jo Mielziner.
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, all dressed in white, perform a series of mix-and-match pas de deux, the classical dancers in point shoes and ballet slippers, the modern dancers typically barefoot and the man bare chested.
Monumentum pro Gesualdo is a ballet by the New York City Ballet (NYCB) co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to music by Igor Stravinsky composed in honor of the 400th birthday of the composer Carlo Gesualdo and consisting of Stravinsky's orchestrations of Gesualdo's madrigals. The premiere took place on Wednesday, November 16, 1960, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with scenery and lighting by David Hays and was conducted by Robert Irving. The composer conducted the score's orchestral premiere on Tuesday, September 27, 1960, for the XXIII Venice Music Festival at La Fenice.
