Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other disciplines, including musicians John Cage, David Tudor, Brian Eno, and graphic artists Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Nauman, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Jasper Johns; and fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. Works that he produced with these artists had a profound impact on avant-garde art beyond the world of dance.
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.
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.
Thou Swell is a ballet created by New York City Ballet's balletmaster-in-chief Peter Martins to the songs of Richard Rodgers in an arrangement by Glen Kelly with orchestrations Don Sebesky.
The Nightingale and the Rose is a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon to music by Bright Sheng commissioned by the New York City Ballet. The premiere took place on Friday, June 8, 2007, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, the orchestra conducted by the composer. Its libretto is based on the short story of the same name by Oscar Wilde.
Oltremare is a ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti to Bruno Moretti's eponymous music commissioned by New York City Ballet. The premiere took place Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by the choreographer and Marc Happel and lighting by Mark Stanley. Oltremare is the third of three Bigonzetti / Moretti ballets commissioned by City Ballet, the others being Vespro and In Vento.
Fancy Free is a ballet by Jerome Robbins, subsequently ballet master of New York City Ballet, made on Ballet Theatre, predecessor of American Ballet Theatre, to a score by Leonard Bernstein, with scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Kermit Love and lighting by Ronald Bates. The premiere took place on Tuesday, 18 April 1944 at the old Metropolitan Opera House, New York. The NYCB premiere took place Thursday, 31 January 1980. Fancy Free was the inspiration for a successful musical, On the Town, and a portion of the score was also used in the opening scenes of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
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.
La Sonnambula(The Sleepwalker) is a ballet by the co-founder and ballet master of New York City Ballet, George Balanchine, made to Vittorio Rieti's music using themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini including La Sonnambula, Norma, I Puritani and I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830–35).
Union Jack is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to traditional British tunes, hornpipe melodies and music-hall songs, ca. 1890–1914, adapted by Hershy Kay. The premiere took place on 13 May 1976, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, to honor British heritage in the United States its bicentennial with costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, original lighting by Ronald Bates and current lighting by Mark Stanley. At the finale the ensemble spells out "God Save the Queen" in semaphore code and the Union Jack unfurls. Principal dancer Jock Soto included an excerpt from Union Jack in his farewell performance in June 2005.
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.
River of Light is a ballet made by New York City Ballet balletmaster in chief Peter Martins to eponymous music by Charles Wuorinen commissioned in honor of his sixtieth birthday. The premiere took place June 11, 1998, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by Holly Hynes and lighting by Mark Stanley; the 2008 revival was conducted by the composer and held in honor of his seventieth birthday. The River of Light was the third work in a trio of scores the New York City Ballet commissioned from Wuorinen in the early 1990s, the others being The Mission of Virgil and The Great Procession. All three works refer to scenes in Dante's Divine Comedy.
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.
Liebeslieder Walzer is a two-part neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Johannes Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 and Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65, with original sets and lighting designed by David Hays, and costumes designed by Barbara Karinska. The ballet premiered on 12 November 1960 at the New York City Center, performed by the New York City Ballet.
The Unanswered Question: Some Intimations of the American Composer Charles Ives is a ballet made by Eliot Feld to Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question, Calcium Light Night, Fugue in Four Keys, Mists, From the Housatonic at Stockbridge, Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Violin, Remembrance and An Old Song Deranged. The premiere took place April 30, 1988, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, as part of New York City Ballet's American Music Festival with lighting by the Feld Ballet's Allen Lee Hughes and Willa Kim's costumes. Other works to the music of Ives in the City Ballet repertory include Peter Martins' Calcium Light Night, Jerome Robbins' Ives, Songs and George Balanchine's Ivesiana.
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.
Scherzo à la Russe is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Stravinsky's music of the same name. The ballet was created for New York City Ballet's Stravinsky Festival, a tribute to the composer after his death, and premiered on June 21, 1972, at the New York State Theater, with the two lead roles originated by Karin von Aroldingen and Kay Mazzo.