2015-2016 Season

Guide to the Repertory

The information in this guide is designed to enrich your NYCB experience. Following are the
new works premiering during the 2015-16 Season, public programs with opportunities to
engage with Company artists, and calendars of the fall, winter, and spring performances, as
well as biographical information for the ballets, composers, and choreographers that will be on-
stage. Performances begin at the announced start time. There is no late seating or re-seating
for those who leave the auditorium once the performance begins Please check your perfor-
mance dates and times before traveling to the theater.
Company Founders GEORGE BALANCHINE and LINCOLN KIRSTEIN
Founding Choreographers GEORGE BALANCHINE and JEROME ROBBINS
Ballet Master in Chief PETER MARTINS
Company History
New York City Ballet is one of the foremost dance companies in the world,
maintaining a roster of dancers trained in the classical tradition. Solely re-
sponsible for training its own artists and creating its own repertory, New York
City Ballet performs annual seasons at its two permanent homes, the David
H. Koch Theater (formerly New York State Theater) at Lincoln Center and the
Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, and also
tours both within the U.S. and abroad. In 2011, the Company created New
York City Ballet MOVES, an innovation in ballet touring, showcasing a rotating,
select group of dancers and musicians.
New York City Ballet owes its existence to Lincoln Kirstein, who envisioned an
American ballet where young dancers could be trained and schooled under
the guidance of the greatest ballet masters. When he met George Balanchine
in London in 1933, Kirstein knew he had found the right person for his dream.
Balanchine traveled to America at Kirstein’s invitation, and in 1934 the two men
opened the School of American Ballet, where Balanchine trained dancers in an
innovative style that matched his idea of a new, unmannered classicism.
In 1946, Kirstein and Balanchine formed Ballet Society and presented their
new company at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York. After see-
ing a Ballet Society performance, the chairman of the City Center finance
committee invited Balanchine and Kirstein’s fledgling company to officially
join the performing arts complex.
On October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet was born with a performance that
featured Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Symphony in C. In
1949, Jerome Robbins joined the Company as an associate director and, with
Balanchine, choreographed a varied repertory that grew each season. NYCB
moved into its current home at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in 1964
(then known as the New York State Theater). Balanchine served as ballet mas-
ter for New York City Ballet from its inception until his death in 1983, choreo-
graphing countless works and creating a company of dancers renowned for
their linear purity, sharpness of attack, and overall speed and musicality.
Following Balanchine’s death in 1983, Robbins and Peter Martins were named
Co-Ballet Masters in Chief, and since 1990 Martins has assumed sole respon-
sibility for the Company’s artistic direction. Like Balanchine, Martins believes
that choreographic exploration is what sustains excellence in the Company
and in the art form itself, and NYCB continues to present new work as an ongoing
part of its performance seasons. In 2009, Katherine Brown was named NYCB’s
first-ever Executive Director, a position created to oversee the administrative
management of the Company. The Company’s active repertory of more than
170 works—nearly all of which were choreographed in the past half-century by
Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei
Ratmansky, and others—is unparalleled. Widely acknowledged for its endur-
ing contributions to dance, NYCB is committed to creative excellence and to
nurturing new generations of dancers and choreographers.
New Works
Seven World Premieres and Two Commissioned Scores
Fall 2015
POLARIS
MUSIC: “Allegramente” from Piano Quartet in D
minor (1921, revised 1974) by William Walton
CHOREOGRAPHY BY MYLES THATCHER
COSTUMES: Zuhair Murad
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 30, 2015, New York City
Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Tiler Peck, Craig Hall, Emilie
Gerrity, Ashly Isaacs, Daniel Applebaum, Ghaleb
Kayali, Andrew Scordato, Taylor Stanley
Polaris — the North Star — around which all other
stars circle, has guided travelers for millennia. In
Polaris, the dancers form groupings like our night
sky's constellations. Our universe is ordered,
centered, choreographed and dance is similarly
ordered, structured, choreographed. Yet many
dream of exploring and traveling beyond those
limits. Choreographer and dancers are both limited
by and try to extend beyond the strictures of time,
space, and structure. A ballet such as Polaris seeks
to ask: Can a dance be both cosmic and micro-
cosmic; can it be a metaphor for both the universe
and the individual? The central ballerina embodies
these dreams as she dances between and with the
others while constantly looking and searching for
something beyond her.
THE BLUE OF DISTANCE COMMON GROUND
MUSIC: “Oiseaux Tristes” and “Une Barque sur
l’Ocean” from Miroirs (1904-05) by Maurice Ravel
CHOREOGRAPHY BY ROBERT BINET
COSTUMES: Hanako Maeda of ADEAM
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 30, 2015, New York City
Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sterling Hyltin, Rebecca Krohn,
Sara Mearns, Tyler Angle, Harrison Ball, Preston
Chamblee, Gonzalo Garcia
Set to Ravel's highly impressionistic solo piano
pieces "Oiseau Tristes" and "Une Barque sur
L'Ocean," choreographer Robert Binet attributes
the title for the ballet to Rebecca Solnit's Field
Guide to Getting Lost: "the blue of distance" is
a quotation from these philosophical essays,
wherein she writes that the blue light represents
the unknown that lies ahead. Both the ballet’s
title and its choreography may also reference
the haze of memory and a distant horizon. The
non-traditional choreographic groupings of the
dancers in this work align with the theme of
disorientation and re-orientation of a lost indi-
vidual or one experiencing something new.
MUSIC: Common Ground, commissioned by New
York City Ballet (2015) by Ellis Ludwig-Leone
CHOREOGRAPHY BY TROY SCHUMACHER
COSTUMES: Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida of
Marques‘Almeida
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 30, 2015, New York City
Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Ashley Laracey, Alexa Maxwell,
Teresa Reichlen, Joseph Gordon, Anthony Huxley,
Russell Janzen, Amar Ramasar
The pulsing beat of Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s com-
missioned score sets the high energy pace for
the airborne athleticism of this exciting ballet, the
second piece choreographed for the Com-
pany by Troy Schumacher. The bold colors and
swirling chiffon of the highly original costumes
emphasize the fluid movements of the seven
dancers. The uneven number, four males and
three females, leads to ever-changing, often
witty combinations with individual solos, a pas
de deux, and group dances that highlight the
dancers’ individual abilities, group camaraderie,
and echo the changing patterns of the music.
NEW BLOOD
MUSIC: Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings
(2005) by Steve Reich
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK
COSTUMES: Humberto Leon of Opening
Ceremony and Kenzo
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 30, 2015, New York City
Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Ashley Bouder, Lauren King,
Claire Kretzschmar, Meagan Mann, Georgina
Pazcoguin, Brittany Pollack, Kristen Segin, Daniel
Applebaum, Adrian Danchig-Waring, David Prottas,
Taylor Stanley, Andrew Veyette, Peter Walker
New Blood had its world premiere at the New York
City Ballet Fall Gala performance in September,
2015. The ballet, set to driven, pulsating music
composed by Steve Reich, has a cast of thirteen
dancers. Although beginning with all of the dancers
in a straight vertical line, they soon break up into
various pas de deux with mixed combinations of
men with men, men with women, two women, and
then again a male/female couple that matches
the intensity and relentless drive of the music.
Reminiscent of a game of tag with its many quick
entrances and exits, the couples follow an A-B, B-C
pattern, tapping in their new replacements (new
blood?). Interspersed throughout the ballet there are
moments when a few dancers drop to the floor in a
prone position while other dances pump their chest
as if giving new life.
New Works

Fall 2015 (cont.) Winter 2016 Spring 2016

JEUX Brandstrup draws on his cinematic training and THE MOST INCREDIBLE THING NEW WHEELDON
MUSIC: Jeux (1912) by Claude Debussy experience in modern dance to advance the MUSIC: Commissioned score by Bryce Dessner CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER
CHOREOGRAPHY BY KIM BRANDSTRUP narrative of his ballet which he says is not so much CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK WHEELDON
COSTUMES: Marc Happel about a story as it is about revealing motive and COSTUMES: Marcel Dzama PREMIERE: May 4, 2016, New York City Ballet,
LIGHTING: Jean Kalman currents of feeling. His choreography explores the SCENERY: Marcel Dzama David H. Koch Theater NYCB
PREMIERE: October 8, 2015, New York City Ballet, multiple meanings that the ballet’s title suggests — PREMIERE: February 2, 2016, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater the play of children, deceit, masquerade, role-play, David H. Koch Theater MAY 4 (World Premiere), 7 Eve, 18, 20, 21 Mat
ORIGINAL CAST: Sterling Hyltin, Sara Mearns, gambling, or fate — evolving quickly to match the
Adrian Danchig-Waring, Amar Ramasar swift changes in the score. “I always ‘feel’ and FEB 2 (World Premiere), 6 Eve, 9, 10, 11,
find the narrative somewhere inside the music,” APR 21, 30, MAY 7 Mat
Jeux is a ballet with a past. Its score by Claude Brandstrup said. Through his choreography the
Debussy was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev audience experiences the central ballerina’s
for a Ballets Russes production choreographed by anguish and emotion as she interacts with fellow
Vaslav Nijinsky. The music’s 60 tempo changes dancers and partners, at times blindfolded,
and the original ballet’s ambiguous ménage à trois exploring a conflicted relationship which eventually
in playful pursuit of a lost tennis ball in a garden at gives way to openness to a new partner.
dusk startled audiences in 1913. This ballet — with
dancers in tennis wear — is considered the first to
be danced in contemporary dress. In his first work
for NYCB, Danish choreographer Kim Brandstrup
includes details that subtly reference this earlier
ballet. Nijinsky used artificial light from large electric
lamps to convey a childish game. Brandstrup has a
blindfold, a column, and a single bright bulb at stage
right to illuminate the shadowy set. He also has a
love triangle. When the deceived young woman’s
new suitor first comes on stage, he is bouncing a
soccer ball.
Public Programs
New York City Ballet offers programs specially designed to enhance
your enjoyment and bring you closer to what you see onstage. With
behind-the-scenes access and opportunities to interact with mem-
bers of the Company, these engaging programs will strengthen your
appreciation for NYCB’s inspiring artists.

Tickets for public programs are available by phone at (212) 496-0600,

online at nycballet.com/publicprograms, and in person at the David H.
Koch Theater Box Office.

Programs for Families CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS

45-Minute Pre-Performance Movement
IN MOTION WORKSHOPS
45-Minute Pre-Performance Movement
FAMILY SATURDAYS
One-Hour Ballet Selections for Ages 5+

with Children Workshops for Ages 5-8
Join the artists of New York City Ballet in an ex-
ploration of the music, movement, and themes of
a ballet featured in the following matinee perfor-
mance. NYCB Teaching Artists lead children in a
ballet warm-up and movement combination, con-
cluding in a lively performance for accompanying
family and friends.
Saturday, September 26 at 12:45 PM
Sunday, September 27 at 1:45 PM
Saturday, October 3 at 12:45 PM
Saturday, December 5 at 12:45 PM
Saturday, December 19 at 12:45 PM
Sunday, December 20 at 11:45 AM
Tuesday, December 29 at 12:45 PM
Saturday, January 23 at 12:45 PM
Sunday, January 31 at 1:45 PM
Saturday, February 27 at 12:45 PM
Saturday, May 7 at 12:45 PM
Saturday, May 28 at 12:45 PM
Workshops for Ages 9-12
See NYCB dancers on their home stage at this
During this unique experience, participants hear one-hour presentation crafted specially for children
first from a NYCB Company member who will share and families. Family Saturdays Creative Director
personal experiences about studying dance and and Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht will lead you
the journey to becoming a professional ballet through the program of short works and excerpts
dancer. Children will participate in a ballet warm- from NYCB’s diverse repertory.
up and learn a movement combination inspired
Saturday, October 17 at 11 AM
by a ballet featured in the following matinee per-
Saturday, February 13 at 11 AM
formance.
Saturday, May 14 at 11 AM
Sunday, September 27 at 1:45 PM
TICKETS: $22 per person (both children
Saturday, December 19 at 12:45 PM
and adults)
Sunday, January 31 at 1:45 PM
Saturday, May 28 at 12:45 PM
TICKETS: $12 per person (both children and adults).
Performance tickets must be purchased separately
and are not required.

TICKETS: $12 per person (both children and adults).

Performance tickets must be purchased separately
and are not required.
Public Programs
Tickets for public programs are available by phone at (212) 496-0600,
online at nycballet.com, and in person at the David H. Koch Theater
Box Office.
BALLET ESSENTIALS
(Ages 21+)
75-Minute Movement Workshops for Adults,
led by NYCB Dancers
On sale Sept 8, 2015, at 12 PM
Saturday, September 26 at 10:30 AM
Saturday, October 3 at 10:30 AM
Saturday, December 5 at 10:30 AM
Monday, December 14 at 6:30 PM
On sale Dec 6, 2015, at 12 PM
Saturday, January 23 at 10:30 AM
Saturday, January 30 at 10:30 AM
Monday, February 22 at 6:30 PM
On sale Mar 20, 2016, at 12 PM
Monday, April 25 at 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 7 at 10:30 AM
Saturday, May 21 at 10:30 AM
TICKETS: $27 per person
SEMINARS
90-minute onstage panel discussions, featuring
NYCB dancers, musicians, choreographers,
designers, ballet masters, and guest speakers. For
topics, visit nycballet.com/seminars.
Monday, October 5 at 6 PM
Monday, January 25 at 6 PM
Monday, February 8 at 6 PM
Monday, February 22 at 6 PM
Monday, May 9 at 6 PM
TICKETS: $15 per person, free for NYCB Members.
Membership benefits begin at $100, call (212) 870-
5677 for more information.
ARTIST CHATS FIRST POSITION DISCUSSIONS
Join us on these Friday evenings for informal pre- These pre-performance talks are open to everyone
performance chats with NYCB artists. This is your with a performance ticket. Join NYCB docents 20
chance to ask questions about an artist’s daily minutes before curtain and during intermission/s, on
routine and performance rituals one-on-one. the Fourth Ring theater right side on select dates for
these informal chats on the following program. Dur-
Friday, September 25 at 6:45 PM
ing intermissions, the docents will also be available
Friday, October 9 at 6:45 PM
for questions and further discussion. Please see
Friday, January 29 at 6:45 PM
the following calendars for First Position Discussion
Friday, February 19 at 6:45 PM
dates. For further information on First Position Dis-
Friday, April 29 at 6:45 PM
cussions, call (212) 870-5666.
Friday, May 13 at 6:45 PM
TICKETS: Free for all ticket holders
TICKETS: Free for all audiences. Please call (212)
870-5666, visit nycballet.com, or visit the David H.
Koch Theater Box Office to reserve seating for each
chat.
Fall 2015 Fall 2015
SEPTEMBER 22—OCTOBER 18 SEPTEMBER 22 — OCTOBER 18 Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496-0600

Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sat Sun

at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 8 PM at 2 PM at 8 PM at 3 PM

SEPTEMBER 22 † SEPTEMBER 23 SEPTEMBER 24 SEPTEMBER 25 † SEPTEMBER 26 † SEPTEMBER 26 SEPTEMBER 27

SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE

SEPTEMBER 29 † SEPTEMBER 30 OCTOBER 1 † OCTOBER 2 OCTOBER 3 OCTOBER 3 OCTOBER 4 †

SWAN LAKE FALL GALA ALL BALANCHINE AMERICANA x FIVE AMERICANA x FIVE ALL BALANCHINE AMERICANA x FIVE
at 7 PM
Liebeslieder Walzer Ash Ash Liebeslieder Walzer Ash
Polaris —— —— —— —— ——
(World Premiere) Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Sonatas and Interludes Sonatas and Interludes Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Sonatas and Interludes
—— —— —— ——
The Blue of Distance Tarantella Tarantella Tarantella
(World Premiere)
—— —— —— ——
Common Ground ‘Rōdē,ō: ‘Rōdē,ō: ‘Rōdē,ō:
(World Premiere) Four Dance Episodes Four Dance Episodes Four Dance Episodes
—— —— —— ——
New Blood Slaughter on Slaughter on Slaughter on
(World Premiere) Tenth Avenue Tenth Avenue Tenth Avenue
——
Thou Swell

OCTOBER 6 † OCTOBER 7 † OCTOBER 8 OCTOBER 9 † OCTOBER 10 OCTOBER 10 † OCTOBER 11 †

ALL BALANCHINE AMERICANA x FIVE 21ST CENTURY 21ST CENTURY BALANCHINE BALANCHINE ALL BALANCHINE
CHOREOGRAPHERS CHOREOGRAPHERS BLACK & WHITE BLACK & WHITE
Liebeslieder Walzer Ash Tschaikovsky Suite No.
—— —— Polaris Polaris Concerto Barocco Concerto Barocco ——
Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Sonatas and Interludes —— —— —— —— 3Liebeslieder Walzer
—— The Blue of Distance Monumentum Monumentum
Tarantella The Blue of Distance
—— —— pro Gesualdo pro Gesualdo
—— Common Ground —— ——
‘Rōdē,ō: Common Ground
—— —— Movements for Piano Movements for Piano
Four Dance Episodes New Blood New Blood and Orchestra and Orchestra
—— —— —— —— ——
Slaughter on Jeux Jeux Episodes Episodes
Tenth Avenue (World Premiere) —— ——
The Four Temperaments The Four Temperaments

OCTOBER 13 OCTOBER 14 † OCTOBER 15 OCTOBER 16 † OCTOBER 17 † OCTOBER 17 OCTOBER 18

MASTERS AT WORK MASTERS AT WORK MASTERS AT WORK 21ST CENTURY MASTERS AT WORK 21ST CENTURY BALANCHINE
CHOREOGRAPHERS CHOREOGRAPHERS BLACK & WHITE
Harlequinade Harlequinade Harlequinade Harlequinade
—— —— —— —— Concerto Barocco
N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz Polaris N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz Polaris
—— —— ——
The Blue of Distance The Blue of Distance Monumentum
—— —— pro Gesualdo
Common Ground Common Ground ——
—— —— Movements for Piano
New Blood New Blood and Orchestra
—— —— ——
Jeux Jeux Episodes
——
The Four Temperaments

Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496–0600

†FREE First Position Discussion on the scheduled program
†FREE for Discussion
First Position all ticket on
holders,
the scheduled program for all ticket holders, 20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth Ring theater right side
20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth Ring theater right side.
 Winter 2016
Winter 2016 JANUARY 19 — FEBRUARY 28
JANUARY 19 — FEBRUARY 28
Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496-0600

Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sat Sun

at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 8 PM at 2 PM at 8 PM at 3 PM

JANUARY 19 † JANUARY 20 JANUARY 21 † JANUARY 22 † JANUARY 23 † JANUARY 23 † JANUARY 24 †

MUSIC DIRECTOR’S MASTERS AT WORK ALL BALANCHINE I MASTERS AT WORK ALL BALANCHINE II SEE THE MUSIC... MUSIC DIRECTOR’S
CHOICE ALL BALANCHINE I CHOICE
Liebeslieder Walzer Ballo della Regina Liebeslieder Walzer Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Overture from Candide —— —— —— —— Barber Violin Concerto
Glass Pieces Kammermusik No. 2 Glass Pieces Sonatine Ballo della Regina ——
(NYCB Orchestra) ——
—— —— —— Fancy Free
Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Mozartiana Kammermusik No. 2
Barber Violin Concerto —— ——
—— —— Who Cares?
Symphony in C Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
Fancy Free
——
Who Cares?

JANUARY 26 JANUARY 27 † JANUARY 28 † JANUARY 29 JANUARY 30 † JANUARY 30 † JANUARY 31

ALL BALANCHINE II MASTERS AT WORK MUSIC DIRECTOR’S MASTERS AT WORK MUSIC DIRECTOR’S ALL BALANCHINE II SEE THE MUSIC...
CHOICE CHOICE MUSIC DIRECTOR’S
Walpurgisnacht Ballet Liebeslieder Walzer Liebeslieder Walzer Walpurgisnacht Ballet
—— —— Barber Violin Concerto —— Barber Violin Concerto —— CHOICE
Sonatine Glass Pieces —— Glass Pieces —— Sonatine
—— Fancy Free Fancy Free —— Barber Violin Concerto
Mozartiana —— —— Mozartiana ——
—— Who Cares? Who Cares? —— Fancy Free
Symphony in C Symphony in C ——
Who Cares?

FEBRUARY 2 † FEBRUARY 3 † FEBRUARY 4 FEBRUARY 5 FEBRUARY 6 FEBRUARY 6 FEBRUARY 7

NEW COMBINATIONS ALL BALANCHINE I ALL BALANCHINE II ALL BALANCHINE II ALL BALANCHINE I NEW COMBINATIONS ALL BALANCHINE I
Common Ground Ballo della Regina Walpurgisnacht Ballet Walpurgisnacht Ballet Ballo della Regina Common Ground Ballo della Regina
—— —— —— —— —— —— ——
The Blue of Distance Kammermusik No. 2 Sonatine Sonatine Kammermusik No. 2 The Blue of Distance Kammermusik No. 2
—— ——
Polaris —— —— —— —— Polaris ——
—— Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 Mozartiana Mozartiana Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 —— Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
The Most Incredible Thing —— —— The Most Incredible Thing
(World Premiere) Symphony in C Symphony in C ——
—— Estancia
Estancia
Ginastera 100
Ginastera 100

FEBRUARY 9 † FEBRUARY 10 † FEBRUARY 11 FEBRUARY 12 † FEBRUARY 13 † FEBRUARY 13 † FEBRUARY 14

NEW COMBINATIONS NEW COMBINATIONS NEW COMBINATIONS LA SYLPHIDE LA SYLPHIDE LA SYLPHIDE LA SYLPHIDE
3 PM & 7:30 PM
Common Ground Common Ground Common Ground La Sylphide La Sylphide La Sylphide
—— —— —— —— —— —— La Sylphide
The Blue of Distance The Blue of Distance The Blue of Distance Tschaikovsky Piano Tschaikovsky Piano Tschaikovsky Piano
—— —— —— ——
Polaris Polaris Polaris Concerto No. 2 Concerto No. 2 Concerto No. 2 Tschaikovsky Piano
—— —— —— Concerto No. 2
The Most Incredible Thing The Most Incredible Thing The Most Incredible Thing
—— —— ——
Estancia Estancia Estancia
Ginastera 100 Ginastera 100 Ginastera 100

FEBRUARY 16 † FEBRUARY 17 † FEBRUARY 18 † FEBRUARY 19 FEBRUARY 20 FEBRUARY 20 FEBRUARY 21

LA SYLPHIDE LA SYLPHIDE LA SYLPHIDE CLASSIC NYCB 21ST CENTURY 21ST CENTURY 21ST CENTURY
CHOREOGRAPHERS CHOREOGRAPHERS CHOREOGRAPHERS
La Sylphide La Sylphide La Sylphide Ash
—— —— —— —— Ash Ash Ash
Tschaikovsky Piano Tschaikovsky Piano Tschaikovsky Piano This Bitter Earth —— —— ——
Concerto No. 2 Concerto No. 2 Concerto No. 2 —— This Bitter Earth This Bitter Earth This Bitter Earth
The Infernal Machine —— —— ——
—— The Infernal Machine The Infernal Machine The Infernal Machine
The Most Incredible Thing —— —— ——
—— Jeux Jeux Jeux
The Four Temperaments —— —— ——
Paz de la Jolla Paz de la Jolla Paz de la Jolla

FEBRUARY 23 † FEBRUARY 24 † FEBRUARY 25 † FEBRUARY 26 FEBRUARY 27 FEBRUARY 27 FEBRUARY 28 †

21ST CENTURY BALANCHINE 21ST CENTURY BALANCHINE ALL BALANCHINE II BALANCHINE BALANCHINE
CHOREOGRAPHERS BLACK & WHITE CHOREOGRAPHERS BLACK & WHITE BLACK & WHITE BLACK & WHITE
Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Ash Episodes Ash Episodes —— Episodes Episodes
—— —— —— —— Sonatine —— ——
This Bitter Earth Agon This Bitter Earth Agon —— Agon Agon
—— —— —— —— Mozartiana —— ——
The Infernal Machine The Four Temperaments The Infernal Machine The Four Temperaments —— The Four Temperaments The Four Temperaments
—— —— Symphony in C
Jeux Jeux
—— ——
Paz de la Jolla Paz de la Jolla

Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496–0600

SEE THE MUSIC... includes an orchestral demonstration
Feb 6 Eve, 11, and 19 performances are not available on Create Your Own Series. Subscription tickets cannot be exchanged into these performances.
†FREE First Position Discussion on the scheduled
SEEprogram
THE MUSIC... forincludes
all ticket holders,demonstration
an orchestral
† FREE First
20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth
Position Ring on
Discussion theater right side.
the scheduled program for all ticket holders, 20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth Ring theater right side
Spring 2016Spring 2016 APRIL 19 – MAY 29
APRIL 19 — MAY 29
Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496-0600

Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sat Sun

at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 7:30 PM at 8 PM at 2 PM at 8 PM at 3 PM

APRIL 19 APRIL 20 † APRIL 21 APRIL 22 † APRIL 23 † APRIL 23 † APRIL 24

SEE THE MUSIC... 21ST CENTURY AMERICAN MUSIC CLASSIC NYCB I CLASSIC NYCB I JEWELS 21ST CENTURY
CHOREOGRAPHERS I CHOREOGRAPHERS I
JEWELS Barber Violin Concerto Bournonville Bournonville
Estancia —— Divertissements Divertissements Estancia
—— N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz —— —— ——
Pictures at an Exhibition —— Moves Moves Pictures at an Exhibition
—— The Most Incredible Thing —— —— ——
Everywhere We Go Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Everywhere We Go
—— ——
Symphony in Symphony in
Three Movements Three Movements
Ginastera 100 Ginastera 100

APRIL 26 APRIL 27 † APRIL 28 † APRIL 29 APRIL 30 APRIL 30 MAY 1 †

CLASSIC NYCB I JEWELS JEWELS 21ST CENTURY 21ST CENTURY AMERICAN MUSIC JEWELS
CHOREOGRAPHERS I CHOREOGRAPHERS I
Bournonville Barber Violin Concerto
Divertissements Estancia Estancia ——
—— —— —— N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz
Moves Pictures at an Exhibition Pictures at an Exhibition ——
—— —— —— The Most Incredible Thing
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Everywhere We Go Everywhere We Go
——
Symphony in
Three Movements
Ginastera 100 Ginastera 100

MAY 3 † MAY 4 MAY 5 † MAY 6 MAY 7 MAY 7 † MAY 8 †

CLASSIC NYCB I SPRING GALA CLASSIC NYCB I ALL BALANCHINE AMERICAN MUSIC 21ST CENTURY ALL BALANCHINE
at 7 PM CHOREOGRAPHERS II
Bournonville Bournonville Ballo della Regina Barber Violin Concerto Ballo della Regina
Divertissements New Wheeldon Divertissements —— —— Belles-Lettres ——
—— (World Premiere) —— Kammermusik No. 2 N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz —— Kammermusik No. 2
Moves —— Moves —— —— New Wheeldon ——
—— Additional Programming —— Vienna Waltzes The Most Incredible Thing —— Vienna Waltzes
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux to be Announced Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Concerto DSCH
—— ——
Symphony in Symphony in
Three Movements Three Movements

MAY 10 † MAY 11 † MAY 12 MAY 13 MAY 14 † MAY 14 MAY 15

ALL BALANCHINE ALL ROBBINS ALL BALANCHINE ALL ROBBINS ALL ROBBINS ALL ROBBINS ALL ROBBINS
at 8 PM
Ballo della Regina Dances at a Gathering Dances at a Gathering Dances at a Gathering Dances at a Gathering Dances at a Gathering
—— —— Ballo della Regina —— —— —— ——
Kammermusik No. 2 West Side Story Suite —— West Side Story Suite West Side Story Suite West Side Story Suite West Side Story Suite
—— Kammermusik No. 2
Vienna Waltzes ——
Vienna Waltzes

MAY 17 † MAY 18 † MAY 19 † MAY 20 † MAY 21 MAY 21 MAY 22

CLASSIC NYCB II 21ST CENTURY CLASSIC NYCB II 21ST CENTURY 21ST CENTURY CLASSIC NYCB II CLASSIC NYCB II
CHOREOGRAPHERS II CHOREOGRAPHERS II CHOREOGRAPHERS II
Serenade Serenade Serenade Serenade
—— Belles-Lettres —— Belles-Lettres Belles-Lettres —— ——
Hallelujah Junction —— Hallelujah Junction —— —— Hallelujah Junction Hallelujah Junction
—— New Wheeldon —— New Wheeldon New Wheeldon —— ——
Duo Concertant —— Duo Concertant —— —— Duo Concertant Duo Concertant
—— Concerto DSCH —— Concerto DSCH Concerto DSCH —— ——
Western Symphony Western Symphony Western Symphony Western Symphony

MAY 24 † MAY 25 MAY 26 MAY 27 † MAY 28 MAY 28 † MAY 29

A MIDSUMMER A MIDSUMMER A MIDSUMMER SEE THE MUSIC... A MIDSUMMER A MIDSUMMER A MIDSUMMER

NIGHT’S
DREAM NIGHT’S DREAM NIGHT’S DREAM NIGHT’S DREAM NIGHT’S DREAM NIGHT’S DREAM
MIDSUMMER
NIGHT’S DREAM

Tickets available at nycballet.com or (212) 496–0600

SEE THE MUSIC... includes an orchestral demonstration
† FREE First Position Discussion on the scheduled program for all ticket holders, 20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth Ring theater right side
SEE THE MUSIC... includes an orchestral demonstration
†FREE First Position Discussion on the scheduled program for all ticket holders,
20 minutes before curtain and during intermission/s on the Fourth Ring theater right side.
The Repertory
AGON
MUSIC: Agon (1953-57) by Igor Stravinsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: December 1, 1957, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Todd Bolender, Barbara Milberg,
Barbara Walczak, Roy Tobias, Jonathan Watts,
Melissa Hayden, Diana Adams, Arthur Mitchell
Agon is the Greek word for contest; the movements
of the ballet are named after French court dances.
The score was commissioned by New York City
Ballet with funds from the Rockefeller Founda-
tion and dedicated to Lincoln Kirstein and George
Balanchine by the composer. Balanchine and
Stravinsky designed the structure of the ballet to-
gether during the creation of the music. The outline
for the score specifies in detail, with exact timings,
the basic movements for 12 dancers clad in simple
black and white costumes.
ASH
MUSIC: Ash (1991) by Michael Torke
CHOREOGRAPHY BY PETER MARTINS
COSTUMES: Steven Rubin
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 20, 1991, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Wendy Whelan, Nilas Martins,
Yvonne Borree, Rebecca Metzger, Monique
Meunier, Kathleen Tracey, Albert Evans,
Arch Higgins, Russell Kaiser, Ethan Stiefel
Set to a score that emphasizes motivic writing and
brisk counterpoint between the string sections, Ash
flows swiftly through a series of solo and ensemble
variations for a lead couple and four pairs of demi-
soloists. The ballet is an exuberant, nonstop explo-
ration of the musical form known as a canon and
requires virtuosic speed of its cast. The work is the
fourth ballet created by Peter Martins to a score by
Michael Torke.
BALLO DELLA REGINA
MUSIC: from the opera Don Carlos (1867) by
Giuseppe Verdi
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Ben Benson
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: January 12, 1978, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Merrill Ashley, Robert Weiss,
Debra Austin, Bonita Borne, Stephanie Saland,
Sheryl Ware
Balanchine was no stranger to opera. Not only did
he create ballets to the music from such works
as La Sonnambula and Don Sebastian, he also
choreographed the ballet portions of many opera
productions.
“From Verdi’s way of dealing with the chorus,” Bal-
anchine told biographer Bernard Taper, “I have
learned how to handle the corps de ballet, the
ensemble, the soloists—how to make the soloists
stand out against the corps de ballet, and when to
give them a rest.”
Ballo della Regina is a virtuoso set of variations,
comparable to the bel canto style of opera. It is set
to ballet music that was cut from the original produc-
tion of Verdi’s Don Carlos. Lincoln Kirstein wrote that
the ballet seems to take place in a grotto, with refer-
ence through lighting and costumes to the original
tale of a fisherman’s search for the perfect pearl.
BARBER VIOLIN CONCERTO
MUSIC: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14 (1941)
by Samuel Barber
CHOREOGRAPHY BY PETER MARTINS
COSTUMES: William Ivey Long
LIGHTING: Jennifer Tipton
PREMIERE: May 12, 1988, New York City Ballet,
American Music Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Merrill Ashley, Adam Lüders, Kate
Johnson, David Parsons
Barber Violin Concerto contrasts classical com-
posure and modern sensibility. It is a work in three
movements for two couples performed in a series of
mixed and matched pas de deux. All are dressed in
white with the classical dancers performing in pointe
shoes and ballet slippers while the modern dancers
are typically barefoot. The first two movements are
sensuously melodic and passionately inquisitive.
The work’s third movement, a fast-paced scherzo,
provides the opportunity for a rousing chase that
brings the work to its breathless conclusion.
BELLES-LETTRES
MUSIC: Solo de piano avec accompagnement de
quintette à cordes (1844) by César Franck
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK
COSTUMES: Mary Katrantzou
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 23, 2014, New York
City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Lauren Lovette, Ashley Laracey,
Brittany Pollack, Rebecca Krohn, Jared Angle,
Adrian Danchig-Waring, Taylor Stanley, Tyler Angle,
Anthony Huxley
The first ballet Justin Peck created for New York City
Ballet as the Company’s Resident Choreographer,
Belles-Lettres opens with a kaleidoscope of nine
dancers forming and re-forming complex patterns
of movement—all creating beautiful images—in
harmony with the deep, flowing music.
As Franck’s music builds in intensity and emotion,
the dancers separate and then come together in a
series of pas de deux and varied groupings. A lone
male dancer manipulates and intermingles with the
four couples. He turns and whirls in powerful, virtuo-
sic leaps and bounds, seemingly longing to be part
of the group. In the end, however, he is alone.
The term belles-lettres refers to literature that is
regarded as fine art, having a purely aesthetic
function. Letters, in the form of lace appliques,
adorn the costumes of the dancers. Just as letters
come together to form words and beautiful expres-
sions in literature, the dancers come together in a
variety of combinations. The aesthetic created by
their separations and unions presents the viewer
with belles-lettres in motion.
The Repertory (cont.)
BOURNONVILLE DIVERTISSEMENTS
MUSIC: excerpt from Napoli Act 1 by Holger Simon
Paulli, Flower Festival in Genzano (1858) by Edvard
Helsted, excerpts from Napoli Act 3 and Abdallah by
Edvard Helsted and Holger Simon Paulli
CHOREOGRAPHY BY AUGUST BOURNONVILLE
ORIGINALLY STAGED BY: Stanley Williams
STAGED BY: Nilas Martins
SCENERY: Alain Vaes
GARDEN DROP: David Mitchell
COSTUMES: Ben Benson
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: February 3, 1977, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Nichol Hlinka, Daniel Duell,
Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson, Merrill Ashley,
Robert Weiss, Kyra Nichols, Suzanne Farrell, Peter
Martins, Colleen Neary, Adam Lüders, Victor
Castelli, Muriel Aasen, Wilhelmina Frankfurt,
Heather Watts, Bart Cook
Noted 19th-century choreographer and dancer
August Bournonville (1805-1879) created many of
the lasting works in the repertory of the Royal Dan-
ish Ballet. His distinctive style is noted for its preci-
sion, neatness, lightness, and gaiety. It is filled with
bouncy jumps, speedy footwork, small quick steps
and beats done while the upper body is held still.
When George Balanchine was a guest choreogra-
pher at the Royal Danish Theater in 1929 he became
a great admirer of Bournonville’s work. The late
Stanley Williams of the School of American
Ballet was a respected authority on Bournonville,
and he assembled some of the choreographer’s
finest dances in this divertissement.
CONCERTO BAROCCO
MUSIC: Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, B.W.V.
1043 (1717) by Johann Sebastian Bach
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 27, 1941, American Ballet
Caravan, Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro
ORIGINAL CAST: Marie-Jeanne, Mary Jane Shea,
William Dollar
NYCB PREMIERE: October 11, 1948, New York City
Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Marie-Jeanne, Ruth
Gilbert, Francisco Moncion
Balanchine said of this work: “If the dance designer
sees in the development of classical dancing a
counterpart in the development of music and has
studied them both, he will derive continual inspiration
from great scores.” In the first movement of the con-
certo, the two ballerinas personify the violins, while a
corps of eight women accompany them. In the sec-
ond movement, a largo, the male dancer joins the
leading woman in a pas de deux. In the concluding
allegro section, the entire ensemble expresses the
syncopation and rhythmic vitality of Bach’s music.
This work began as an exercise by Balanchine
for the School of American Ballet, was performed
by American Ballet Caravan on its historic tour of
South America, and later entered the repertory of
the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1951 Balanchine
permanently eliminated the original costumes and
dressed the dancers in practice clothes, prob-
ably the first appearance of what has come to be
regarded as a signature Balanchine costume for
contemporary works. On October 11, 1948, Concer-
to Barocco was one of three ballets on the program
at New York City Ballet’s first performance.
CONCERTO DSCH
MUSIC: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major,
Op. 102 (1957) by Dmitri Shostakovich
CHOREOGRAPHY BY ALEXEI RATMANSKY
COSTUMES: Holly Hynes
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 29, 2008, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Ashley Bouder, Wendy Whelan,
Joaquin De Luz, Gonzalo Garcia, Benjamin Millepied
Piano Concerto No. 2, written by Dmitri Shostakov-
ich in 1957 as a nineteenth birthday gift for his son,
Maxim, is a hopeful and joyous work inspired by the
end of the Stalin era in Russia. The high spirits of
the music are captured in Alexei Ratmansky’s lively
choreography for Concerto DSCH, especially in the
roles of the lead dancers, one lyrical couple and
a virtuoso trio of two men and one ballerina. From
the opening moments, when the trio’s ballerina
bursts from a closed circle of dancers in a whirl of
high-stepping leaps and turns, the ballet is non-
stop energy and playful surprises. Even a gentle
romantic interlude reflects the wit and originality of
the choreographer. (DSCH stands for four musical
notes that form an abbreviation of the composer’s
name when written in German.)
DANCES AT A GATHERING
MUSIC: by Frédéric Chopin (in order of
performance):
1. Mazurka, Op. 63, No. 3 (1846)
2. Waltz, Op. 69, No. 2 (1829)
3. Mazurka, Op. 33, No. 3 (1837-38)
4. Mazurka, Op. 6, No. 2 (1830)
5. Mazurka, Op. 6, No. 4 (1830)
6. Mazurka, Op. 7, No. 5 (1831)
7. Mazurka, Op. 7, No. 4 (1831)
8. Mazurka, Op. 24, No. 2 (1834-35)
9. Waltz, Op. 42 (1840)
10. Waltz, Op. 34, No. 2 (1843)
11. Mazurka, Op. 56, No. 2 (1843)
12. Étude, Op. 25, No. 4 (1832-34)
13. Waltz, Op. 34, No. 1 (1835)
14. Waltz, Op. 70, No. 2 (1841)
15. Étude, Op. 25, No. 5 (1832-34)
16. Étude, Op. 10, No. 2 (1830)
17. Scherzo, Op. 20, No. 1 (1831-32)
18. Nocturne, Op. 15, No. 1 (1830-31)
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
COSTUMES: Joe Eula
LIGHTING: Jennifer Tipton
PREMIERE: May 22, 1969, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Allegra Kent, Sara Leland, Kay
Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Violette Verdy, Anthony
Blum, John Clifford, Robert Maiorano, John Prinz,
Edward Villella
Mr. Robbins dedicated this ballet to the memory of
lighting designer Jean Rosenthal (1912-1969).
The Repertory (cont.)
DUO CONCERTANT
MUSIC: Duo Concertant (1931-32) by
Igor Stravinsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 22, 1972, New York City Ballet,
Stravinsky Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Kay Mazzo, Peter Martins
Stravinsky dedicated Duo Concertant to Samuel
Dushkin, a well-known violinist he met in 1931. The
composer premiered the work with Dushkin in
Berlin in 1932, and the pair gave recitals together
across Europe for the next several years. The piece
had long been a favorite of Balanchine’s who had
first heard it performed by Stravinsky and Dushkin
soon after it was composed. He did not decide to
choreograph it until years later, when he was plan-
ning the 1972 Stravinsky Festival.
The performance of the musicians onstage is inte-
gral to the conception of the ballet. Standing at the
piano with the musicians, the dancers listen to the
first movement. During the next three movements
they dance, mirroring the music and each other,
and pause several times to rejoin the musicians
and to listen. In the final movement, the stage is
darkened and the dancers perform within individ-
ual circles of light.
EPISODES
MUSIC: Symphony, Op. 21 (1928), Five Pieces,
Op. 10 (1911-13), Concerto, Op. 24 (1934), Ricercata in
Six Voices from Bach’s “A Musical Offering” (1934-
35), Variations, Op. 30 (1940) by Anton von Webern
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 19, 1959, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Violette Verdy, Diana Adams,
Allegra Kent, Melissa Hayden, Jonathan Watts,
Jacques d’Amboise, Paul Taylor, Nicholas Ma-
gallanes, Francisco Moncion
Episodes grew out of Balanchine’s enthusiasm for
Webern’s music, to which he had been introduced
by Stravinsky. Balanchine wrote that Webern’s
orchestral music:
...fills air like molecules: it is written for at-
mosphere. The first time I heard it...the mu-
sic seemed to me like Mozart and Stravin-
sky, music that can be danced to because
it leaves the mind free to see the dancing.
In listening to composers like Beethoven
and Brahms, every listener has his own
ideas, paints his own picture of what the
music represents. ... How can I, a choreog-
rapher, try to squeeze a dancing body into
a picture that already exists in someone’s
mind? It simply won’t work. But it will with
Webern.
-Balanchine’s Complete Stories of the
Great Ballets, Francis Mason, 1977
Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein invited Martha Gra-
ham to choreograph a joint work with Balanchine
using all of Webern’s orchestral pieces. The result
was not a true collaboration, but a work comprised
of two separate sections. Graham’s contribution,
Episodes I, was danced by her company plus four
dancers from New York City Ballet. Episodes II, cre-
ated by Balanchine, was danced by New York City
Ballet and Paul Taylor, who was then a dancer in Gra-
ham’s company. Since 1960, Graham’s section and
the solo variation have not been regularly performed
at New York City Ballet.
ESTANCIA Ginastera based Estancia on the narrative poem
MUSIC: Estancia, Op. 8 (1941) by Alberto Ginastera by José Hernández, El Gaucho Martín Fierro (1873).
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON Prototypically, the gauchos were lonely wanderers,
SCENIC DESIGN: Santiago Calatrava downtrodden yet strong and heroic, who inhabited
COSTUMES: Carlos Campos the enormous rural areas of the country. Martín Fi-
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley erro was written as a defense of the barbaric gau-
PREMIERE: May 29, 2010, New York City Ballet, cho lifestyle, and against the civilized urban way of
David H. Koch Theater life. Estancia picks up on this barbarism-civilization
ORIGINAL CAST: Tiler Peck, Tyler Angle, Andrew dichotomy, but therefore not told from the viewpoint
Veyette of a typical gaucho but from the eyes of an out-
sider who is striving to be an insider, and who finally
In 1941, Lincoln Kirstein’s American Ballet Caravan adapts to the defiant rhythms of the pampas. The
arrived in Buenos Aires. At the time, Alberto Ginas- lovers’ union at the end of the day works as symbolic
tera’s ballet Panambí was in repertory at the Teatro resolution of the barbarism-civilization dichotomy,
Colón, Buenos Aires’ oldest and most important but is in itself a powerful conclusion to the self-con-
theater. Kirstein saw a staging of Panambí and de- tained and apparently unchanging circular universe
cided to commission Ginastera to compose a ballet. of the pampas.
He also planned to commission George Balanchine
to do the choreography, but that same year the
American Ballet Caravan disbanded. Estancia did
not materialize until 1952, in the Teatro Colón, with
choreography by Michael Borowski, and sets by
Dante Ortolani. After nearly 70 years, Estancia finally
came to New York, choreographed by Christopher
Wheeldon with designs by Spanish architect Santia-
go Calatrava and fashion designer Carlos Campos.
This ballet takes place within an Argentine estancia,
or ranch, in the desolate grasslands of the pampas.
The pampas were once described as a “horizontal
vertigo” by a French traveler in the early 20th Cen-
tury. A vast emptiness is what characterizes this
region of the world. However, the pampas are not
merely a place where people inhabit; they are, so
to speak, a place that inhabits the people. As the
Argentine writer Faustino Sarmiento puts it, that
pampas “insinuates itself in the people’s entrails.”
The dancers in Estancia move accordingly, seized
by a “horizontal vertigo.”
The Repertory (cont.)
EVERYWHERE WE GO
MUSIC: Everywhere We Go (2014), commissioned
score by Sufjan Stevens, orchestrated by Michael
P. Atkinson
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK
SCENERY: Karl Jensen
SCENERY SUPERVISION: Penny Jacobus
COSTUMES: Janie Taylor
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Brandon Stirling Baker
PREMIERE: May 8, 2014, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski,
Tiler Peck, Teresa Reichlen, Robert Fairchild, Amar
Ramasar, Andrew Veyette
Everywhere We Go showcases choreographer
Justin Peck’s penchant for patterns, speed, and
large groups. The seven principals and eighteen
supporting dancers in this abstract ballet perform
before a background of changing geometric shapes.
The bold stripes on the women’s costumes enhance
the sense of change and energy that pervades the
piece. Sufjan Stevens’ commissioned score blends
orchestrated and electronic music in nine move-
ments that are distinct in style, rhythm, and instru-
mentation. The score has moods that range from
somber and reflective to playful and exuberant. In
this second collaboration, Peck and Stevens creat-
ed their steps and music through an online dialogue
that lasted more than a year, posting segments for
the other’s opinion, then adapting accordingly. Peck
has used the analogy of a nine-course tasting menu
to explain his vision of Everywhere We Go. In a res-
taurant each dish stands on its own, but there is a
natural progression of different tastes. Similarly, in
his ballet, there is a planned progression, yet there
are many musical and choreographic ideas within
each segment. Although each movement is distinct,
they are united by recurring melodies and dance
moves. “I formulate my ideas based on the structure
and melodies of the music and certain emotions
captured in it,” Peck says of his work.
FANCY FREE
MUSIC: Fancy Free (1944) by Leonard Bernstein
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
SCENERY: Oliver Smith
COSTUMES: Kermit Love
LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
PREMIERE: April 18, 1944, Ballet Theatre (now
American Ballet Theatre), Metropolitan Opera House
ORIGINAL CAST: John Kriza, Harold Lang, Jerome
Robbins, Muriel Bentley, Janet Reed, Shirley Eckl
NEW YORK CITY BALLET PREMIERE: January 31,
1980, New York State Theater
The ballet concerns three sailors on shore leave.
Time: 1944, a hot summer night
Place: New York City, a side street.
Fancy Free is dedicated to the memory of
John Kriza.
THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS GLASS PIECES
MUSIC: The Four Temperaments: Theme with Four MUSIC: Rubric and Façades from Glassworks (1981)
Variations for String Orchestra and Piano (1940) by and excerpts from the opera Akhnaten (1983) by
Paul Hindemith Philip Glass
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley PRODUCTION DESIGN: Jerome Robbins and
PREMIERE: November 20, 1946, Ballet Society, Ronald Bates
Central High School of Needle Trades, New York COSTUMES: Ben Benson
ORIGINAL CAST: Mary Ellen Moylan, Tanaquil LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
Le Clercq, William Dollar, Fred Danieli, Todd PREMIERE: May 12, 1983, New York City Ballet,
Bolender, Beatrice Tompkins, Elise Reiman, Gisella New York State Theater
Caccialanza, José Martinez, Lew Christensen, ORIGINAL CAST: Heléne Alexopoulos, Peter
Francisco Moncion Frame, Lourdes Lopez, Joseph Duell, Lisa Hess,
Victor Castelli, Maria Calegari, Bart Cook
Balanchine choreographed The Four Tempera-
ments for the opening program of Ballet Society,
forerunner of New York City Ballet. It is one of his
earliest experimental works, fusing classical steps
with a lean and angular style. The ballet is inspired
by the medieval belief that human beings are
made up of four different humors that determine
a person’s temperament. Each temperament
was associated with one of the four classical ele-
ments (earth, air, water, and fire), which in turn were
the basis of the four humors (black bile, blood,
phlegm, and bile) that composed the body.
In a healthy body, the humors were in balance. But
if one became predominant it determined an indi-
vidual’s temperament. Thus a person dominated
by black bile was melancholic (gloomily pensive);
by blood, sanguinic (headstrong and passionate);
by phlegm, phlegmatic (unemotional and passive);
and by bile, choleric (bad-tempered and angry). The
titles of the ballet’s four movements—Melancholic,
Sanguinic, Phlegmatic, and Choleric—reflect these
principles.
Hindemith’s music was commissioned by
Balanchine, an accomplished pianist, who wanted
a short work he could play at home with friends
during his evening musicales. It was completed in
1940 and had its first public performance at a 1944
concert with Lukas Foss as the pianist.
The Repertory (cont.)
HALLELUJAH JUNCTION
MUSIC: Hallelujah Junction (1996) by John Adams
CHOREOGRAPHY BY PETER MARTINS
COSTUMES: Kirsten Lund Nielsen
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: March 24, 2001, Royal Danish Ballet,
The Royal Theatre
ORIGINAL CAST: Gitte Lindstrøm, Andrew Bowman
The silhouettes of two pianists, their pianos fac-
ing each other, appear through dim light above
the stage. Three dancers in practice clothes, a
male soloist in all black and a principal couple in
all white, appear in a spotlight in the center of the
stage. As the stage floods with light, they dance
with elongated and intertwining movements, the
pianists still barely visible in the dark above them.
Four women in all black and then four men in all
white join the lead dancers, taking turns surround-
ing them and mirroring their steps.
This mostly fast-paced ballet features a quiet pas
de deux for the principal couple, a jazzy duet for
the male principal and soloist, and multiple turns
and explosive leaps for the male soloist. Each of
the four couples takes turns zigzagging the stage
with lightning-speed partnering and high lifts. The
ballet concludes when the male soloist unites with
all the dancers onstage in an arresting moment
washed in shimmering light. The NYCB premiere
took place on January 22, 2002; the original leads
reprised their roles as guest artists with NYCB.
Hallelujah Junction is the seventh ballet that Peter
Martins choreographed to Mr. Adams’ music.
HARLEQUINADE
MUSIC: From Les Millions d’Arlequin (1900)
by Riccardo Drigo
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Rouben Ter-Arutunian
COSTUMES: Rouben Ter-Arutunian
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: February 4, 1965, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Edward Villella, Patricia McBride,
Deni Lamont, Suki Schorer, Michael Arshansky,
Shaun O’Brien, Gloria Govrin, Carol Sumner
As a student, Balanchine danced in Marius Petipa’s
Les Millions d’Harlequin. In Balanchine’s two-act ver-
sion, which he created for the 65th anniversary of the
original production, the choreographer, by his own
admission, “attempted to remain faithful to the spirit
of Petipa’s dances” and followed the tradition of the
commedia dell’arte.
Commedia dell’arte was popular in Italy and France
from the 16th to 18th Centuries. These comedies
were filled with humor, slapstick, and mimicry. Actors
wore masks of their characters, which became so
familiar over time that they evolved into stock char-
acters—perhaps most notably Pierrot, the Harlequin,
and Columbine—that today’s audiences associate
with this theatrical form.
The story of Harlequinade is told in the first act and
recounts the efforts of Columbine’s father to deflect
Harlequin’s attentions and marry off his daughter to
a rich, old suitor. He is aided in this by his servant
Pierrot but thwarted by Pierrette, Pierrot’s wife. With
the help of the Good Fairy, who alters Harlequin’s fi-
nancial prospects, true love triumphs.
The second act is devoted to the divertissements
that celebrate the wedding of Columbine and her
Harlequin. Act II continues a Petipa tradition in which
the choreographer liked to insert a popular song into
the scores of his ballets. Drigo obliged him with a
French song about the Duke of Marlborough that we
know today as For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.
THE INFERNAL MACHINE
MUSIC: The Infernal Machine (from the trilogy Phan-
tasmata) (1985) by Christopher Rouse
CHOREOGRAPHY BY PETER MARTINS
COSTUMES: Catherine Barinas
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 8, 2002, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Janie Taylor, Jock Soto
An intricate, convoluted pas de deux to the music
of the same name by Rouse. The male and female
wind around each other continuously as the female
is positioned in as many variations as flexibility al-
lows. Slinky body suits hint at the sequential unfold-
ing and cocooning of night creatures.
JEWELS
MUSIC: Emeralds: music from Pelléas et Mélisande
(1898) and Shylock (1889) by Gabriel Fauré
Rubies: Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (1929) by
Igor Stravinsky
Diamonds: Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29 (1875)
by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Peter Harvey
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: April 13, 1967, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Violette Verdy, Mimi Paul, Sara
Leland, Suki Schorer, Conrad Ludlow, Francisco
Moncion, John Prinz; Patricia McBride, Patricia
Neary, Edward Villella; Suzanne Farrell, Jacques
d’Amboise
Jewels is unique: a full-length, three-act plotless bal-
let that uses the music of three very different com-
posers. Balanchine was inspired by the artistry of
jewelry designer Claude Arpels and chose music
revealing the essence of each jewel. He explained:
Of course, I have always liked jewels; after
all, I am an Oriental, from Georgia in the Cau-
casus. I like the color of gems, the beauty
of stones, and it was wonderful to see how
our costume workshop, under Karinska’s di-
rection, came so close to the quality of real
stones (which were of course too heavy for
the dancers to wear!).
Each section of the ballet is distinct in both music and
mood. Emeralds, which Balanchine considered “an
evocation of France—the France of elegance, com-
fort, dress, perfume,” recalls the 19th-century dances
of the French Romantics. Rubies is crisp, witty, and
jazzy, epitomizing the collaboration of Stravinsky and
Balanchine. Diamonds recalls the order and gran-
deur of Imperial Russia and the Maryinsky Theatre,
where Balanchine was trained. Mary Clarke and
Clement Crisp have written: “If the entire imperial
Russian inheritance of ballet were lost, Diamonds
would still tell us of its essence.”
The Repertory (cont.)
KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2
MUSIC: Kammermusik No. 2 (1924)
by Paul Hindemith
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Ben Benson
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley COSTUMES: Karinska
PREMIERE: January 26, 1978, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Karin von Aroldingen,
Colleen Neary, Sean Lavery, Adam Lüders
A ballet requiring great energy, speed, and preci-
sion, Kammermusik No. 2 has a complex structure,
which echoes that of the music; one of the dancers
in the original cast likened it to a computer. The ballet
is performed by two couples and an eight-man en-
semble. The men, with their jagged lines and stylized
gestures, dance to the music of the orchestra. The
soloists, dancing to the complex passages for piano,
are in counterpoint to the ensemble. There are pas
de deux for the couples, duets for the women, and
a fast duet for the male soloists. The score is one of
seven kammermusik, or chamber music pieces, writ-
ten by Hindemith between 1923 and 1933, when the
composer turned to a neoclassical style evoking the
Baroque.
LIEBESLIEDER WALZER
MUSIC: Liebeslieder, Op. 52 (1869) and Neue
Liebeslieder, Op. 65 (1874) by Johannes Brahms
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: David Hays
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: David Hays
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: November 22, 1960, New York City
Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Diana Adams, Bill Carter, Melissa
Hayden, Jonathan Watts, Jillana, Conrad Ludlow,
Violette Verdy, Nicholas Magallanes
This two-part ballet is set to poems by Friedrich
Daumer, and the last waltz is set to a poem by
Goethe. The dancers are joined onstage by the mu-
sicians and singers, all dressed in period ballroom
costumes. During the first set of 18 waltzes the four
couples dance in interweaving combinations in an
intimate, elegantly appointed ballroom. For these
dances, the women wear dancing slippers. After a
brief lowering of the curtain, the couples return to
dance 14 waltzes, the women wearing ballet dress-
es and pointe shoes. They leave the stage, return in
their original costumes, and then pause to listen to
the final waltz set to Goethe’s words: “Now, Muses,
enough! You try in vain to portray how misery and
happiness alternate in a loving heart!” Within the
strict three-quarter beat, personal and romantic
associations between the couples are developed.
Of Liebeslieder Walzer, Balanchine said: “In the first
act, it is the real people who are dancing. In the sec-
ond act, it is their souls.”
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM MONUMENTUM PRO GESUALDO
MUSIC: 1. Overture and incidental music to A Mid- MUSIC: Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960)
summer Night’s Dream, Op. 21 and 61 (1826, 1842) by Igor Stravinsky
2. Overtures to Athalie, Op. 74 (1845), and CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
The Fair Melusine, Op. 32 (1833) LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
3. The First Walpurgis Night, Op. 60 (1841) PREMIERE: November 16, 1960, New York City
4. Symphony No. 9 for Strings (first three Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama
movements) (1823) ORIGINAL CAST: Diana Adams, Conrad Ludlow
5. Overture to Son and Stranger, Op. 89 (1829)
by Felix Mendelssohn The music for Monumentum pro Gesualdo was
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE composed to honor the 400th birthday of Don
SCENERY AND ORIGINAL LIGHTING: David Hays, Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613), the 16th Century’s most
assisted by Peter Harvey chromatic and—having been suspected of murder—
COSTUMES: Karinska most scandalous composer. Lincoln Kirstein has
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley said that these short pieces, danced by a principal
PREMIERE: January 17, 1962, New York City Ballet, couple and six supporting couples, evoke “the de-
City Center of Music and Drama liberate, almost sinister gravity and fatality shadow-
ORIGINAL CAST: Melissa Hayden, Violette Verdy, ing court dances performed in the lifetime of this
Jillana, Patricia McBride, Suki Schorer, Gloria Gov- prince of madrigalists and murderers.”
rin, Edward Villella, Arthur Mitchell, Conrad Ludlow,
Francisco Moncion, Nicholas Magallanes, Bill
Carter, Roland Vazquez
There may be no greater celebration of the artistic
process than William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. Balanchine, who performed in the
play as a youngster in Russia and could recite it by
memory, knew this and made it the subject of his first
wholly original full-length ballet in 1962. The choreog-
raphy, in two acts and six scenes, follows the poet’s
tale of merry romance, mischievous make-believe,
and mistaken identity. The first act, set in an invis-
ible fairy kingdom ruled by Oberon and Titania, tells
the story of the mix up of two wooing mortal couples
in the forest, the warring desires of the forest’s en-
chanted first couple, and the theatrical aspirations of
Bottom and his band of would-be thespians. Act 2 is
a nuptial celebration uniting all in a series of grand di-
vertissements, beginning with the familiar Wedding
March and ending as Puck sweeps the forest clean
of the romantic foibles that characterize spirits and
humans alike.
The Repertory (cont.)
MOVEMENTS FOR PIANO
AND ORCHESTRA
MUSIC: Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1958-
59) by Igor Stravinsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: April 9, 1963, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Suzanne Farrell, Jacques
d’Amboise
Stravinsky told Balanchine that Movements for Piano
and Orchestra might just as well have been called
“Electric Currents.” Balanchine said of this intricate
piece: “Nothing gave me greater pleasure afterwards
than Stravinsky saying the performance ‘was like a
tour of a building for which I had drawn the plans but
never explored the result.’” Although Monumentum
pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and
Orchestra were choreographed separately,
Balanchine eventually paired them for performance
and retained this arrangement after 1966.
MOVES
A BALLET IN SILENCE
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
LIGHTING: Jennifer Tipton
PREMIERE: July 3, 1959, Jerome Robbins’ Ballets:
USA, Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy
ORIGINAL CAST: Erin Martin, Michael Maule,
Lawrence Gradus, John Jones, James Moore, Bill
Reilly, Doug Spingler, Jamie Bauer, Gwen Lewis,
Jane Mason, Barbara Milberg, Christine Mayer
NEW YORK CITY BALLET PREMIERE: May 2, 1984,
New York State Theater
Recognizing that “music guides the spectators’
responses to the happenings on the stage,” Mr.
Robbins created a ballet without music because,
he said, “I wanted the audience to concentrate on
movement” and on “relationships between peo-
ple—man and woman, one and another, the individ-
ual and the group.” (George Balanchine, Complete
Stories of the Great Ballets.)
MOZARTIANA
MUSIC: Suite No. 4, Mozartiana, Op. 61 (1887) by
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Rouben Ter-Artunian
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 4, 1981, New York City Ballet,
Tschaikovsky Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Suzanne Farrell, Ib Andersen,
Christopher d’Amboise
Mozartiana, which opened the 1981 Tschaikovsky
Festival, was Balanchine’s second ballet set to the
composer’s homage to Mozart, and is one of the last
ballets the choreographer created before his death
in April 1983. Its classical choreography opens with
a Preghiera (prayer), followed by a Gigue, Menuet,
Theme and Variations, and a Finale. In the opening
movement, the ballerina is accompanied by four
young girls. They are followed by the male soloist,
who dances a sprightly Gigue. Four women from the
corps enter and dance a stately Menuet. The balle-
rina returns, accompanied by the male principal, for
a classical pas de deux to a set of variations. They
are joined by the entire cast for the finale. The ballet’s
formal black costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian
combine with the music and choreography to form a
sense of joyful reverence and spiritual wonder.
N.Y. EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ
MUSIC: N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz (1958) by Robert Prince
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
SCENERY: Ben Shahn
COSTUMES: Florence Klotz
LIGHTING: Jennifer Tipton
PREMIERE: June 8, 1958, Jerome Robbins’ Ballets:
U.S.A., Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy
NYCB PREMIERE: April 29, 2005, New York State
Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Patricia Dunn, Jay Norman, Tom
Abbott, Bob Bakanic, John Mandia, James White,
Wilma Curley, John Jones, Sondra Lee, Gwen Lewis,
Erin Martin, Barbara Milberg, Beryl Towbin, Joan Van
Orden, James Moore
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Ellen Bar, Rebecca Krohn,
Ashley Laracey, Georgina Pazcoguin, Tiler Peck,
Sara Ricard, Rachel Rutherford, Stephanie Zungre,
Antonio Carmena, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Craig
Hall, Adam Hendrickson, Seth Orza, Amar Ramasar,
Sean Souzzi, Andrew Veyette
N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz was first performed by Jerome
Robbins’ Ballets: U.S.A. at the Festival of Two Worlds
in Spoleto, Italy, in June of 1958. Following are revised
program notes from that production which concern
the youth and dances of the late 50s:
T
 here has always been a tremendous amount
of popular dancing in America. At this time
its vitality has reached a new high, develop-
ing and expanding in form and style from the
major and basic contributions of the African-
American and Latin-American. Because of a
strong unconscious emotional kinship with
those minority roots, teenagers particularly
have popularized these dances. Feeling very
much like a minority group in this threatening
and explosive world, the young have so iden-
tified with the dynamics, kinetic impetus, the
drives and ‘coolness’ of today’s jazz steps that
these dances have become an expression of
our youths’ outlook and their attitudes toward
the contemporary world around them, just as
each era’s dance has significantly reflected
the character of our changing world and a
manner of dealing with it.
N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz is a formal, abstract ballet
based on the kinds of movements, complexities of
rhythms, expressions of relationships, and qualities of
atmospheres found in today’s dance.
The Repertory (cont.)
PAZ DE LA JOLLA
MUSIC: Sinfonietta La Jolla (1950) by
Bohuslav Martinů
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK
COSTUMES: Reid Barthelme and Harriet Jung
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Marc Stanley
PREMIERE: January 31, 2013, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sterling Hyltin, Amar Ramasar,
Tiler Peck
Southern California is both home and inspiration for
choreographer Justin Peck. Growing up near San Di-
ego, Peck was surrounded by the surfer and beach
culture that pervades his third work for New York City
Ballet. The ballet, Paz de la Jolla, is set to Sinfonietta la
Jolla, a piece of music by Czech composer Bohuslav
Martinu that also has a California connection. The
score was commissioned by the Musical Arts Society
of La Jolla and premiered at its SummerFest in 1950.
Backed by this exuberant Martinů score, the ballet
opens as a playful day on the beach where a love sto-
ry unfolds. The 15 corps dancers, the primary couple,
and a principal ballerina, who serves as a ringmaster
moving the drama along, wear costumes inspired by
1950s swimwear. Bold colors and bright lighting add
to the lighthearted ambiance. The couple meet, are
separated, then reunited in a joyful, tender pas de
deux.
Peck uses the corps dancers – in flowing sea blue tu-
nics illuminated by silvery, dappled lighting - to simu-
late the push and pull of the waves and the eddies
and pools of high tide. The minor key and dissonance
of the score’s second movement hint at the inherent
danger. Peck has said, “I wanted to show how nature
could be a totally beautiful thing but also very danger-
ous – and how there can be a fine line between the
two.”
NYCB soloist, Peck also serves as the Company’s
Resident Choreographer. Additionally, Peck served
as the first active choreographer-in-residence at the
New York Choreographic Institute during its the 2011-
12 Season.
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
MUSIC: Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) by
Modest Mussorgsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY ALEXEI RATMANSKY
COSTUMES: Adeline Andre
PROJECTION DESIGN: Wendall K. Harrington
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: October 2, 2014, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, Abi
Stafford, Wendy Whelan, Gretchen Smith, Tyler
Angle, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Gonzalo Garcia,
Amar Ramasar, Joseph Gordon
Set to a piano composition by Modest Mussorgsky,
this ballet has ten movements divided by a recurring
promenade. Mussorgsky’s music was inspired by
a painting exhibition of his friend, Victor Hartmann.
Relatedly, Alexei Ratmansky’s design inspiration for
his ballet is the work of another Russian painter: Kan-
dinsky’s 1913 Color Study: Squares with Concentric
Circles. As Mussorgsky’s music was originally in-
fluenced by art, the notion that Kandinsky’s studies
were inspired by music (the painter had a condition
known as synesthesia—he saw sounds as colors)
runs in parallel. Used as a projected backdrop for
this ballet, Kandinsky’s painting is first shown in full,
then breaks up into its various shapes and colors in
ever changing patterns, inspiring the widely shifting
moods and combinations of dancers onstage. The
dancers’ movements range from joyous to roman-
tic, sassy to soulful, and feature a haunting pas de
deux as well as blazing footwork. The ballet’s con-
trasts show off the exceptional virtuosity of the danc-
ers and reflect a modern sensibility combined with
touches of Russian folk movements.
‘RŌDĒ,Ō: FOUR DANCE EPISODES
MUSIC: Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo (1943) by
Aaron Copland
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN PECK
COSTUMES: Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, Justin
Peck
LIGHTING: Brandon Stirling Baker
PREMIERE: February 4, 2015, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sara Mearns, Amar Ramasar,
Gonzalo Garcia, Daniel Ulbricht, Daniel Applebaum,
Craig Hall, Justin Peck, Allen Pfeiffer, Andrew
Scordato, Taylor Stanley, Sean Suozzi
Aaron Copland’s iconic music takes on fresh youth-
ful energy and verve in this ballet featuring 15 male
dancers and one ballerina. Clad in costumes remi-
niscent of a sports team, the dancers display both
balletic grace and exciting athleticism in a series
of lively and witty combinations and one lyrical pas
de deux. Choreographer Justin Peck explains that
each episode has its own mood. “The first move-
ment takes on a kinetic, engine-like quality,” he
says. The second movement features a lyrical
adagio section for men eliciting recurring weather
patterns and their emotive equivalents. “The third
movement calls to mind the synchronicity illustrat-
ed by two birds in flight, and finally, the concluding
fourth movement communicates a sense of total
vitality, bright fervor and healthy competition.”
SERENADE
MUSIC: Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48 (1880) by
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Karinska
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
FIRST PERFORMED: The School of American
Ballet, June 10, 1934, Felix Warburg’s estate, White
Plains, New York
PREMIERE: March 1, 1935, American Ballet, Adelphi
Theater, New York
ORIGINAL CAST: Leda Anchutina, Holly Howard,
Elise Reiman, Elena de Rivas, Sylvia Giselle (Gisella
Caccialanza), Helen Leitch, Annabelle Lyon, Kathryn
Mullowny, Heidi Vosseler, Charles Laskey
Serenade is a milestone in the history of dance.
It is the first original ballet Balanchine created in
America and is one of the signature works of New
York City Ballet’s repertory. The ballet is performed
by 26 dancers in blue costumes before a blue back-
ground. It originated as a lesson in stage technique,
and Balanchine worked unexpected rehearsal
events into the choreography. When one student
fell, he incorporated it. Another day, a student arrived
late, and this too became part of the ballet.
After its initial presentation, Serenade was reworked
several times. In its present form there are four
movements: Sonatina, Waltz, Russian Dance, and
Elegy. The last two movements reverse the order of
Tschaikovsky’s score, ending the ballet on a note of
sadness.
Balanchine had a special affinity for Tschaikovsky.
“In everything that I did to Tschaikovsky’s music,” he
told an interviewer, “I sensed his help. It wasn’t real
conversation. But when I was working and saw that
something was coming of it, I felt that it was Tschai-
kovsky who had helped me.”
The Repertory (cont.)
SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE
MUSIC: from On Your Toes (1936) by Richard Rodg-
ers, orchestrated by Hershy Kay
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Jo Mielziner
COSTUMES: Irene Sharaff
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 2, 1968, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Suzanne Farrell, Arthur Mitchell
Balanchine originally choreographed Slaughter on
Tenth Avenue in 1936 for the musical On Your Toes,
in which Ray Bolger played The Hoofer and Tamara
Geva portrayed The Stripper. The show was a parody
of Broadway, Russian ballet, and the mob. Briefly told,
it is the story of a jealous Russian premier danseur
who hires a mobster to kill a rival during the premiere
of a new ballet. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is the story
of a tacky strip joint and the customer who falls in love
with the Big Boss’s girl.
On Your Toes was the first of four Rodgers and Hart
musicals choreographed by Balanchine. It was fol-
lowed by Babes in Arms, I Married an Angel, and The
Boys From Syracuse.
SONATAS AND INTERLUDES
MUSIC: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
(1960) by John Cage
CHOREOGRAPHY BY RICHARD TANNER
COSTUMES: Carole Divet
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: April 17, 1982, Eglevsky Ballet, Long
Island, New York
NEW YORK CITY BALLET PREMIERE: May 5, 1988,
American Music Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL NEW YORK CITY BALLET CAST:
Heather Watts, David Moore
Richard Tanner created this ballet using five pieces—
Entre (Sonata III), Pas de Deux (Sonata XIII), Variation
(First Interlude), Variation (Sonata V), and Coda (So-
nata XI)—from Cage’s much longer work. The ballet’s
two dancers, dressed in white unitards, are joined on
stage by a pianist as the choreography unfolds in a
shimmering, pearl-gray world of its own.
The term “prepared piano” refers to a concept de-
veloped by Cage around 1938. Cage experimented
with changing the piano’s sound by inserting bits of
wood, paper, screws, or other objects between or
on the strings at various points to produce a more
percussive sound. Instructions, either written or de-
scribed in diagrams, are given in the front of the score
in minute detail. The pianist follows these instructions
to prepare the piano.
SONATINE
MUSIC: Sonatine (1903-05) by Maurice Ravel
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 15, 1975, New York City Ballet, Ravel
Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Violette Verdy, Jean-Pierre Bon-
nefoux
Sonatine was presented as the opening ballet of the
New York City Ballet Ravel Festival during the 1975
Spring Season, which marked the 100th anniversary
of the composer’s birth. In this delicate “stroll for
two,” the dancers, who share the stage with the
pianist, first listen quietly to the music, and then are
gradually moved by its beauty and spirit.
SWAN LAKE
MUSIC: Swan Lake (1875-76) by Peter Ilyitch
Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY PETER MARTINS, after
Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and George Balanchine
SCENERY AND COSTUMES: Per Kirkeby
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: October 27, 1996, Royal Danish Ballet,
Royal Theatre, Copenhagen
ORIGINAL CAST: Silja Schandorff, Kenneth Greve
AMERICAN PREMIERE: April 29, 1999, New York
City Ballet, New York State Theater
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Darci Kistler,
Damian Woetzel
In 1996 the Royal Danish Ballet presented Peter Mar-
tins’ new full-length version of Swan Lake, the last of
the enduring 19th-century Russian ballets. Although
it was also the last of the famed Tschaikovsky-Petipa
classics, Swan Lake was actually the composer’s
first ballet score. It was commissioned in 1875 by the
Moscow Imperial Theater, now the Bolshoi Ballet.
Tschaikovsky, who thought that ballet was “the most
innocent, the most moral of the arts,” suggested the
libretto. Years earlier he had composed as a family
entertainment a short ballet based on a German fairy
tale about a wicked sorcerer who turns young girls
into birds.
Amazingly, the choreographer of the 1877 Moscow
premiere (not Petipa) was not inspired by Tschai-
kovsky’s glorious music, the conductor didn’t like
the score either, and the ballerina declared it too dif-
ficult to dance to and substituted her favorite music
and choreography from other ballets. The composer
blamed himself for the failure and would not write
another ballet score for 12 years. When he resumed,
it was to compose The Sleeping Beauty in 1890 and
The Nutcracker in 1892. Tschaikovsky died the fol-
lowing year. As a memorial, the Imperial Theater in
St. Petersburg mounted a production of just the first
lakeside scene, Tschaikovsky’s second act, where
the Prince meets the Swan Queen. Czar Nicholas II
was so impressed by the new choreography of Peti-
pa’s assistant Lev Ivanov that he ordered the entire
ballet be produced, with Petipa staging the first and
third acts. The full St. Petersburg production of 1895
with the dual role of Odette and Odile is the classic
ballet that we see today.
The Repertory (cont.)
While retaining the well-known set pieces from the
traditional version by Petipa and Ivanov, Mr. Mar-
tins has imbued his production of Swan Lake with
the speed and clarity of New York City Ballet. The
lakeside scenes are based on the choreography of
Balanchine’s one-act version, which Martins judges
superior to the Petipa/Ivanov version. For the diver-
tissements of the “Black Swan” scene, Martins has
created a sensuous Russian dance intended as an
homage to the exoticism of the early 20th-century
Russian artist Leon Bakst. Mr. Martins also has set a
pas de quatre for three ballerinas and a danseur with
complex step combinations and intricate partnering
unheard of in the 19th century. And he has given the
ballet an innovative ending that 20th-century critics
have called “intellectually provocative.”
For this production Martins invited Denmark’s lead-
ing artist, Per Kirkeby, to design the scenery and dé-
cor. Mr. Kirkeby’s paintings, sculpture, and graphic
art have been exhibited at the Royal Museum of Fine
Arts in Copenhagen, the Venice Biennale, New York’s
Museum of Modern Art, Prague’s National Gallery,
the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, London’s Barbican
Center, and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de
Paris, as well as numerous galleries throughout the
world, including the Michael Werner Gallery in New
York. Kirkeby is also a writer, geologist, filmmaker, and
performance artist who has published more than 60
books of poetry, novels, and essays. Kirkeby’s cos-
tumes for New York City Ballet’s Swan Lake are based
on the original costumes he designed in collabora-
tion with Kirsten Lund Nielsen for the Danish produc-
tion. The evocative lighting design is by Mark Stanley.
LA SYLPHIDE
MUSIC: La Sylphide, (1836) Herman Severin
Løvenskjold
CHOREOGRAPHY BY AUGUST BOURNONVILLE
STAGED BY PETER MARTINS, ASSISTED BY
PETRUSKJKA BROHOLM
SCENERY AND COSTUMES: Susan Tammany
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PRODUCTION SUPERVISION: Perry Silvey
PREMIERE: March 7, 1985, Pennsylvania Ballet,
Academy of Music
NYCB PREMIERE: May 7, 2015, New York City Ballet,
David H. Koch Theater
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Sterling Hyltin, Joaquin De
Luz, Georgina Pazcoguin, Brittany Pollack, Daniel
Ulbricht, Marika Anderson
During the early decades of the 19th Century, an
artistic and literary movement called Romanticism
swept Europe. It changed ballet forever. La Sylphide,
the first full-length Romantic ballet, premiered at the
Paris Opera in 1832. Like many Romantic ballets,
it is a tale of unattainable love, with two acts set in
two different worlds—one real, one supernatural.
The mysterious stage atmosphere of its second act
(spectral ghostlike spirits dancing in the moonlight,
dressed in diaphanous floating calf-length cos-
tumes) became known as ballets blanc (white bal-
lets), another aspect of Romantic ballets. Also char-
acteristic of ballets of the period is the forest setting
of Act 2 (Sylphide comes from the Latin for forest,
silva), as is its expressively emotional score.
Based on a folk tale, La Sylphide tells the tragic story
of a young Scotsman, James, who is about to marry
a girl named Effie. However, not everything goes as
planned. On their wedding day, James leaves Effie
to pursue the elusive winged Sylph, an alluring and
magical creature of the woods and air. He tries to
capture the Sylph using a poisoned scarf given to
him by Madge, a diabolical witch. Instead of help-
ing him, though, the scarf kills the Sylph. In the final
scene, James sees a wedding procession—it is Effie
and his friend Gurn. With that, the curtain falls.
La Sylphide is one of a very few ballets from the Ro-
mantic period still danced today. The title role of the
Sylph was originally created by Phillipe Taglioni (1777-
1871) for his daughter, Marie Taglioni (1804-1888), who
became the most famous performer of her day after
dancing this part. While Marie was not the first bal-
lerina to dance on pointe, she was the first to make
it artistic and the hallmark of classical ballet. The
pointe shoe also helped to create the feeling of light-
ness and elevation. Her representation of the Sylph
helped form the Romantic idea of the ballerina as an
unattainable object of desire. Famed Danish dancer/
choreographer/ballet master August Bournonville
presented his own version of La Sylphide at the Royal
Danish Ballet in 1836. Because he didn’t have enough
money to buy the music from the Paris Opera, he
commissioned a 20-year-old Norwegian nobleman
and composer, Herman Løvenskjold, to write a new
score. Bournonville’s interpretation of the ballet in-
corporated the elements of Romantic ballet but also
added the buoyant, fleet-footed style he had devel-
oped. The Bournonville style, which combines act-
ing and dance, is neat and clear and is meant to look
effortless, despite its difficulty. It stresses balance
and harmony and emphasizes natural gestures. The
choreography is often filled with rapid changes of
direction, big, but quietly landed jumps, high springy
elevations—a quality called ballon—small quick beats
of the feet, and precise, clean footwork. The danc-
ers hold their upper bodies still, their arms curved but
close to their sides, or out wide as if embracing and
giving to the audience. Dances often end with sailing
leaps towards the footlights.
Peter Martins has said that he always wanted to
bring La Sylphide to the repertory of the New York
City Ballet. It was the first ballet he ever saw, and he
became a noted James when he danced with the
Danish Royal Ballet. His staging of Bournonville’s
La Sylphide originally premiered in 1985 at the
Pennsylvania Ballet, and is based on memories
from his years dancing in Denmark. Anna Kisselgoff,
reviewing the ballet in The New York Times that
year called it “A startling and modern approach to
a classic… Mr. Martins has given us a contemporary
perspective. The results are…stylistically and
dramatically bold…a symbolic fantasy…[with] sur-
prisingly abstract scenery for the second act.” The
sets and costumes for NYCB’s production are by
artist Susan Tammany, who designed the origi-
nals for the Pennsylvania Ballet, and who is also an
usher at the David H. Koch Theater.
SYMPHONY IN C
MUSIC: Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1855)
by Georges Bizet
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
ORIGINAL COSTUMES: Karinska
COSTUMES: Marc Happel
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: July 28, 1947, Paris Opera Ballet,
Théâtre National de l’Opéra as Le Palais de Cristal
ORIGINAL CAST: Lycette Darsonval, Tamara
Toumanova, Micheline Bardin, Madeleine Lafon,
Alexandre Kalioujny, Roger Ritz, Michel Renault, Max
Bozzoni
NYCB PREMIERE: October 11, 1948, City Center of
Music and Drama
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Maria Tallchief, Nicholas
Magallanes, Tanaquil Le Clerq, Francisco Moncion,
Beatrice Tompkins, Herbert Bliss, Elise Reiman,
John Taras
Bizet composed his Symphony in C Major when
he was a 17-year-old pupil of Charles Gounod at the
Paris Conservatory. The manuscript was lost for de-
cades and was published only after it was discovered
in the Conservatory’s library in 1933. Balanchine first
learned of the long-vanished score from Stravinsky.
He required only two weeks to choreograph it as Le
Palais de Cristal for the Paris Opera Ballet, where he
was serving as a guest ballet master. When he revived
the work the following year for the first performance of
New York City Ballet, he simplified the sets and cos-
tumes and changed the title.
The ballet has four movements, each featuring a dif-
ferent ballerina, danseur, and corps de ballet. The
entire cast of 52 dancers from all four movements
gathers for the rousing finale. The New York City Bal-
let premiere took place on October 11, 1948, at the City
Center of Music and Drama.
The original NYCB costume design for the ballet
performed in 1948 was by long-time Balanchine col-
laborator Barbara Karinska. In 2012 Peter Martins,
NYCB Ballet Master in Chief, felt the costumes for this
iconic ballet needed to be refreshed and Marc Hap-
pel, NYCB’s Director of Costumes, took up the chal-
lenge. He adorned the pure white tutu’s and the dark
men’s tunics of his own design with a generous array
of glittering Swarovski crystals. He therefore retained
the dark and light contrast of Karinska’s designs while
giving the new version a visually shimmering brilliance.
The Repertory (cont.)
SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS
MUSIC: Symphony in Three Movements (1942-45)
by Igor Stravinsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 18, 1972, New York City Ballet,
Stravinsky Festival, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Sara Leland, Marnee Morris,
Lynda Yourth, Helgi Tomasson, Edward Villella,
Robert Weiss
Introduced on opening night of the 1972 Stravinsky
Festival, Symphony in Three Movements, a large
ensemble work, is startling in its breadth of energy,
complexity, originality, and contrasts. Balanchine
responded to the jazz flavor in Stravinsky’s score by
using angular, turned-in movements and brisk,
athletic walking sequences.
Stravinsky composed the symphony’s three
movements at different times for three different
films, although they were never actually used on
screen. He said the music expressed his impres-
sions of World War II but vigorously denied that
the composition was programmatic in any way—a
denial shared by Balanchine. “Choreographers
combine movements, and the ones I arranged
for this music follow no story line or narrative,”
Balanchine said. “They try to catch the music and do
not, I hope, lean on it, using it instead for support and
time frame.”
TARANTELLA
MUSIC: Grande Tarantelle for Piano and
Orchestra, Op. 67 (ca. 1866) by Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, reconstructed and orchestrated by
Hershy Kay
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: January 7, 1964, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Patricia McBride, Edward Villella
The nimble quickness of the Tarantella pas de deux
has provided a virtuosic showcase for many New
York City Ballet dancers. The profusion of steps and
the quick changes of direction are especially suited
for showing the training of the dancers, who must
also display vivacity, gaiety, and humor.
THIS BITTER EARTH
MUSIC: Max Richter and Dinah Washington
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON
ORIGINAL COSTUMES: Valentino Garavani
COSTUME SUPERVISION: Marc Happel
COSTUMES: Reid Bartelme
LIGHTING: Mary Louise Geiger
PREMIERE: September 20, 2012, New York City
Ballet, David H. Koch Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Wendy Whelan, Tyler Angle
New York City Ballet’s 2012 Fall Gala included the
New York preview of This Bitter Earth, a pas de deux
from a new ballet by Christopher Wheeldon, Five
Movements, Three Repeats, which was created for
Fang-Yi Sheu & Artists. The full ballet received its
New York premiere during the 2012 Fall for Dance
Festival at New York City Center.
TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX
MUSIC: excerpt from Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act III
(1875-76) by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: March 29, 1960, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Violette Verdy, Conrad Ludlow
A nine-minute display of ballet bravura and tech-
nique, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux uses music that
the composer belatedly created for Act III of Swan
Lake. It was hurriedly composed for Anna Sobesh-
chanskaya, a Bolshoi prima ballerina who was
scheduled to make her debut in the title role at the
fourth performance of the 1877 Moscow production
and sought to enrich the part of Odile. Because the
music was not in the original score, it was not pub-
lished with the rest of Swan Lake and disappeared
for more than half a century. When it was discovered
in the Bolshoi Theater archives in 1953, Balanchine
sought and was granted permission to use it for his
own choreography.
TSCHAIKOVSKY PIANO
CONCERTO NO. 2
MUSIC: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G, Op. 44 (1879-80)
by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
PREMIERE: May 29, 1941, as Ballet Imperial by
American Ballet Caravan, Teatro Municipal, Rio de
Janeiro
ORIGINAL CAST: Marie-Jeanne, Gisella Caccialanza,
William Dollar, Fred Danieli, Nicholas Magallanes
STAGED FOR NEW YORK CITY BALLET by
Frederic Franklin, October 15, 1964, as Ballet Imperial,
New York State Theater
REWORKED BY BALANCHINE as Tschaikovsky Piano
Concerto No. 2, January 12, 1973, New York City Bal-
let, New York State Theater
NYCB ORIGINAL CAST: Patricia McBride, Peter
Martins, Colleen Neary, Tracy Bennett, Victor Castelli
This work was originally choreographed for American
Ballet Caravan, which toured South America at the
outset of World War II. Since then, it has entered the
repertory of many companies, including The Royal
Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
Balanchine described the ballet as “a contemporary
tribute to Petipa, ‘the father of the classical ballet,’ and
to Tschaikovsky, his greatest composer.” It has no
story, but conveys the spirit and grandeur of imperial
St. Petersburg. The 1964 New York City Ballet revival
employed classical ballet’s traditionally elaborate tutus
and scenery reminiscent of the grand Russian style. In
1973, Balanchine staged the work without scenery and
replaced the more formal tutus with simplified chiffon
skirts designed by Karinska.
TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3
MUSIC: Suite No. 3 in G Major, Op. 55 (1884) by
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Nicolas Benois
COSTUMES: Nicolas Benois
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: December 3, 1970,
New York City Ballet, New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Karin von Aroldingen, Anthony
Blum, Kay Mazzo, Conrad Ludlow, Marnee Morris,
John Clifford, Gelsey Kirkland, Edward Villella
Balanchine’s first setting of music from Tschai-
kovsky’s third suite for orchestra was created in 1947,
when Ballet Theatre commissioned him to choreo-
graph the theme and variations that constitute the fi-
nal movement. Called simply Theme and Variations,
this work is a riveting display of classical technique
that has become a staple of the ballet repertory.
In 1970, Balanchine decided to choreograph the
entire suite, incorporating Theme and Variations as
the fourth and final movement with only minor revi-
sions. With scenery and costumes by Nicolas Ben-
ois, the first three movements are danced in a softly
lit ballroom. The women are dressed in long, flowing
dresses and their hair is unbound. In the opening
movement, the dancers perform barefoot.
VIENNA WALTZES
MUSIC: Tales from the Vienna Woods, Op. 325
(1868), Voices of Spring, Op. 410 (1883), and Explo-
sions Polka, Op. 43 (1847) by Johann Strauss II;
Gold and Silver Waltz (1905) by Franz Lehár; first se-
quence of waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier (arranged
1944) by Richard Strauss
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Rouben Ter-Arutunian
ORIGINAL LIGHTING: Ronald Bates
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: June 23, 1977, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Karin von Aroldingen, Sean Lav-
ery, Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson, Sara Leland,
Bart Cook, Kay Mazzo, Peter Martins, Suzanne
Farrell, Jorge Donn
The waltz became popular in the late 1700s. It was
banned at first by some authorities who thought it
immoral for couples to dance so closely, but by the
mid-1800s, it was accepted everywhere. The faster
Viennese form, characterized by swift, gliding turns,
expressed the vivacity and brilliance of the Hapsburg
court. The waltz was a dance form Balanchine revis-
ited and explored often over his career, but never on
as grand a scale as the 1977 Vienna Waltzes.
Vienna Waltzes—Balanchine’s homage to the plea-
sures and delights of an age that epitomized imperial
grandeur—transforms from sylvan forest glen to
sassy dance hall to glittering society cafe to, at
last, a majestic mirrored ballroom, through Rouben
Ter-Arutunian’s evolving scenery. The music select-
ed for each section of the ballet is associated with
the transformation of the waltz across society and
over the years.
The many elaborate costumes are the last Karinska
created for New York City Ballet. For most of the 20th
Century, Karinska, who left Russia after the October
Revolution, designed and created legendary cos-
tumes for Broadway, ballet, and opera, first in Paris
and then in New York. As one of Balanchine’s long-
time collaborators, she was for many years New York
City Ballet’s principal costume-maker.
WALPURGISNACHT BALLET
MUSIC: from Faust (1859, ballet music added
in 1869) by Charles Gounod
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: May 15, 1980, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Suzanne Farrell, Adam Lüders,
Heather Watts, Stephanie Saland, Judith Fugate
In 1925 and 1932, Balanchine choreographed
dances for a production of Gounod’s Faust given
by the Opéra de Monte-Carlo; they were danced
by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He made dances for
other productions of the opera: in 1935, when he
was Ballet Master for the Metropolitan Opera, and
in 1945 for the Opera Nacional, Mexico City. Wal-
purgisnacht Ballet was choreographed for a 1975
production of Faust by the Théatre National de
l’Opéra, danced by the Paris Opera Ballet. The New
York City Ballet premiere was the first presentation
of the choreography as an independent work.
The Walpurgisnacht scene occurs at the begin-
ning of the opera’s last act, when Mephistopheles
brings Faust to watch the traditional celebration on
the eve of May Day when the souls of the dead are
released to wander at will. Although the ballet does
not depict Walpurgisnacht per se, it does build on
a sense of joyful revelry.
WEST SIDE STORY SUITE
MUSIC: West Side Story (1957) by Leonard Bernstein
LYRICS: Stephen Sondheim
CHOREOGRAPHY BY JEROME ROBBINS
SCENERY: Oliver Smith
COSTUMES: Irene Sharaff
LIGHTING: Jennifer Tipton
NYCB PREMIERE: May 18, 1995, New York State
Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Robert La Fosse, Jock Soto,
Nikolaj Hübbe, Nancy Ticotin, Elena Diner, Natalie
Toro
West Side Story, set in 1957, is based on Shake-
speare’s Romeo and Juliet. The musical opened
on September 26th of that year and the movie fol-
lowed in 1960. Mr. Robbins extracted a sequence
of dances from West Side Story to make this pres-
ent suite.
WESTERN SYMPHONY
MUSIC: traditional American melodies orchestrated
(1954) by Hershy Kay
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: John Boyt
COSTUMES: Karinska
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: September 7, 1954, New York City Ballet,
City Center of Music and Drama
ORIGINAL CAST: Diana Adams, Janet Reed,
Patricia Wilde, Tanaquil Le Clercq, Herbert Bliss,
Nicholas Magallanes, André Eglevsky, Jacques
d’Amboise
Set on a rugged Old West street populated by cow-
boys and dance hall girls, Western Symphony nev-
ertheless is very much a classical work. The steps
Balanchine uses from the traditional ballet vocabu-
lary allude to the steps, formations, and gestures
of American folk dancing. The ballet is a striking
example of Balanchine’s fascination with Ameri-
can themes. The lively and familiar score consists
of classic American folk songs, including Red River
Valley, Old Taylor, Rye Whiskey, Good Night Ladies,
Oh Dem Golden Slippers, and The Girl I Left Behind
Me.
WHO CARES?
MUSIC: songs by George Gershwin, orchestrated
by Hershy Kay (1970)
CHOREOGRAPHY BY GEORGE BALANCHINE
SCENERY: Jo Mielziner
COSTUMES: Ben Benson
LIGHTING: Mark Stanley
PREMIERE: February 7, 1970, New York City Ballet,
New York State Theater
ORIGINAL CAST: Jacques d’Amboise, Karin von
Aroldingen, Patricia McBride, Marnee Morris
In 1937, George Gershwin asked Balanchine to come
to Hollywood to work with him on Samuel Goldwyn’s
Follies. Tragically, Gershwin was felled by a brain tu-
mor before he completed the ballet music for the
film. Thirty-three years later, Balanchine choreo-
graphed Who Cares? to sixteen songs Gershwin
composed between 1924 and 1931, including “I Got
Rhythm,” “The Man I Love,” “Embraceable You,” and
“My One and Only.” Kay’s orchestrations draw exten-
sively on Gershwin’s own piano arrangements of his
songs. Balanchine used the songs not to evoke a
particular era, but as a way to portray an exuberance
that is both broadly American and charged with the
distinctive energy of Manhattan.
The Composers
JOHN ADAMS (b. 1947) grew up in New England and
studied at Harvard with Leon Kirchner and Roger
Sessions. Influenced by the music of John Cage and
Steve Reich, Mr. Adams’ music is both electronic and
instrumental and is known for its combination of mini-
malism and romanticism. Mr. Adams’ composition
On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral work com-
memorating the victims of the September 11, 2001
attacks, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music. From
2003-2007 Adams held the Richard and Barbara
Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall where he
founded the annual In Your Ear festival. Mr. Adams’
memoir, Hallelujah Junction, was published in 2008.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) was born
into a family of musicians successful for over two
centuries. Although later in his career he became
most noted for his choral and other church-related
compositions, he also left a large body of instru-
mental music for solo instruments and ensembles.
While his popular reputation was eclipsed by the
fame of his sons, he was revered by musicians and
composers. Finally, in the 19th Century, Mendels-
sohn brought his music to public attention, and
he became recognized as one of the greatest of
all composers.
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981) won the Prix de Rome
and twice was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He
studied piano and conducting, as well as singing, and
began composing while still a child. Throughout his
career, Barber remained a highly lyrical, essentially
conservative composer who dealt unashamedly in
personal expression. His harmonic language was
basically that of the late 19th Century. Virgil Thom-
som has described the composer as a producer of
“elegant neo-romanticism,” but in his discipline and
use of traditional forms, Barber could also be consid-
ered something of a classicist. The Violin Concerto,
with its angular lines and diatonic dissonance in the
last movement, demonstrated that Barber had broad-
ened his scope of artistic choices by incorporating el-
ements more in common with contemporary idioms.
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990), the gifted and
versatile American conductor and composer of
symphonic music and Broadway shows, was born
in Lawrence, Massachusetts. At the age of 17, he
entered Harvard. He went on to study at the Curtis
Institute and then at Tanglewood. Serge Koussev-
itzky took an interest in his talent and promoted his
conducting career. Bernstein’s great chance came
when, on short notice, he substituted brilliantly for
Bruno Walter, who had become ill. He performed as
a conductor and pianist and lectured at universities
and on television. His compositions range from the
classical to the musical stage and include Mass,
Kaddish, West Side Story, Candide, and The Age of
Anxiety. He was the first native-born American to be-
come conductor of the New York Philharmonic, and
he conducted around the world.
GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875) is best known for Car-
men, one of the most successful operas ever writ-
ten. However, he had more success in his lifetime
with non-operatic works. He was an excellent pianist
and wrote many pieces for the piano, including Jeux
d’Enfants. Many of the operas Bizet wrote, with the
exceptions of Carmen and The Pearl Fishers, were
destroyed by the composer or never finished.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) was born in Ham-
burg, Germany, and became popular as a pianist
and conductor. Though he lived in the days of the
Romantic composers, his own work was always in
the classical mold. He composed almost exclusively
instrumental music, including four symphonies, con-
certos, and a wide variety of chamber music.
JOHN CAGE (1912-1992) was born in Los Angeles
and was involved with dance as a composer and ac-
companist throughout his career. His concept of the
prepared piano, his use of rhythmic pattern instead
of pitch, and his incorporation of Eastern philosophy
into his theories have had an international impact
on avant-garde music. Some of his methods, such
as the use of silence and the introduction of chance
in composition, met with hostile reaction, but he re-
mained in demand as a lecturer, teacher, and a per-
former. Cage was elected to the American Academy
of Arts and Letters in 1978 and received the New York
City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Arts and Culture in
1981. He maintained a long artistic association with
the choreographer Merce Cunningham.
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849) was born in Poland.
He was one of the most important innovators for
the piano, both in terms of composition and playing
style. As a pianist he was mostly self-taught, and be-
cause he did not like to give public performances,
his substantial reputation was based on very few
concerts. Chopin influenced future composers, es-
pecially those of the French and Russian schools.
The musical level he attained made future piano in-
novations possible, such as those of Debussy. Rob-
bins’ ballets choreographed to the music of Chopin
are The Concert (1956), Dances at a Gathering (1969),
In the Night (1970), and Other Dances (1976).
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990) was a trailblazer,
creating modern classical music that was distinctly
American in blending classical forms with folk and
jazz themes. The music for Rodeo was composed for
the 1942 Western-themed ballet, Rodeo: The Court-
ing at Burnt Ranch, which was choreographed by
Agnes de Mille for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
The new ballet uses Copland’s rearrangement of that
original score into Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo,
written for symphony orchestra.
Copland was born on November 14, 1900, in Brook-
lyn, New York, to parents of Jewish and Eastern Eu-
ropean descent. The youngest of five children, he
went on to develop an interest in the piano, receiving
guidance from his older sister. He later studied under
Rubin Goldmark in Manhattan and regularly attended
classical music performances. At 20 years old Cop-
land opted to continue his studies in Fontainebleau,
France, where he received tutelage from the famed
Nadia Boulanger.
Studying a variety of European composers while
abroad, Copland made his way back to the U.S. by
the mid-1920s. Having been asked by Boulanger to
write an organ concerto, Copland eventually debuted
Symphony for Organ and Orchestra on January 11,
1925, with the New York Symphony Society under
Walter Damrosch.
The decade that followed saw the production of
the scores that would spread Copland’s fame
throughout the world. He was concerned with craft-
ing sounds that would be seen as American in their
scope, incorporating a range of styles in his work
that included jazz and folk and connections to Latin
America. Some of his most well-known pieces in-
clude Piano Variations (1930), The Dance Symphony
(1930), El Salon Mexico (1935), A Lincoln Portrait (1942)
and Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). Copland
later composed the music to Martha Graham’s 1944
dance Appalachian Spring. The following year Cop-
land won the Pulitzer Prize for the piece.
An author as well, Copland published the first edition
of the book What to Listen for in Music in 1939, fol-
lowed by Our New Music (1941) and Music and Imagi-
nation (1952). The latter title was shaped by the com-
poser’s Norton Lectures at Harvard. He also taught at
the New School for Social Research.
The Composers (cont.)
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) began his first piano
lessons when he was nine years old and showed
early signs of musical talent. Before entering the
Paris Conservatory at the age of 11, he studied with
Antoinette Flore Maute, a former pupil of Chopin.
During his Conservatory years, he studied piano and
composition, winning the coveted Prix de Rome for
his cantata L’Enfant Prodigue. Debussy, who created
a style called musical impressionism, is considered
one of the most important and innovative compos-
ers of his time. Although he did not write any sym-
phonies or concerti, he wrote operas, chamber mu-
sic, orchestral works, and a large repertory of piano
music influenced by the painting and literature of his
contemporaries.
RICCARDO DRIGO (1846-1930) was born in Padua,
Italy. He went to Russia in 1878 and remained there
for over 40 years. He was the conductor of the Ital-
ian Opera in St. Petersburg in 1879 and in 1886 be-
came the conductor and composer to the Imperial
Ballet. He worked with most of the leading dancers
and choreographers in Russian and conducted the
first performances of Tschaikovsky’s The Sleeping
Beauty and Glazounov’s Raymonda. His own works
were popular in their day and Harlequin’s Millions
was internationally renowned.
GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) was Maurice Ravel’s
teacher. His work bridges romantic and impression-
istic styles. He wrote piano and chamber music as
well as incidental music for plays such as Pelléas et
Mélisande and Shylock; he composed operas and
many songs set to the words of French poets of the
late 19th Century, especially Verlaine.
CÉSAR FRANCK (1822-1890) led a group of young
composers, among them d’Indy, Duparc, and Du-
kas, who found much to admire in his highly indi-
vidual post-Romantic style, with its rich, innovative
harmonies, sometimes terse melodies, and skilled
contrapuntal writing. This group, sometimes known
as “La bande à Franck,” steered French composi-
tion toward symphonic and chamber music, finally
breaking the stranglehold of the more conservative
opera had over French music.
Franck was a keyboard player of extraordinary ability
who had a short stint as a touring piano virtuoso be-
fore moving to Paris and throwing himself into musi-
cal studies. He was a man of strong religious convic-
tions throughout his life, which often motivated him
to compose works based on biblical texts or on other
church sources. For much of his life, he was organist
at the Paris churches of St.-Jean, St. François, and
then Ste.-Clothilde. In 1872, he became a professor
at the Paris Conservatoire.
Individual and instantly recognizable though his
music was, it owes a debt to Liszt and Wagner, es-
pecially to the latter’s Tristan und Isolde and several
of his other late works. Franck tended to use rather
quick modulations, another inheritance from Wag-
ner, and shifting harmonies.
Franck died in Paris on November 8, 1890. By the
turn of the century he had become the leading figure
associated with the old school in France.
GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) was one of the
most important composers of the twentieth century.
His work for both musical theater and the concert hall
has proved to be of enduring value, and the way in
which he combined these two genres has influenced
countless composers and musicians. Gershwin
was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on September 26, 1898.
He had his first hit in 1919 with Swanee, popularized
by Al Jolson. In 1924, Gershwin teamed up with his
brother Ira to create Lady, Be Good!, which was fol-
lowed by several other successful musicals, includ-
ing the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee I Sing. During
these same years, Gershwin was composing for the
concert hall, starting with Rhapsody in Blue, in 1924.
In 1935, with Ira and with DuBose and Dorothy Hey-
ward, he co-wrote Porgy and Bess, a folk opera that
famously used blues and jazz idioms. Gershwin was
at the peak of his career, with numerous successes
to his name and more projects underway, when he
died suddenly of a brain tumor, on July 11, 1937.
ALBERTO GINASTERA (1916-1983), an Argentinean
composer, studied at the National Conservatory
(1936-38) and made an early reputation with his bal-
let Panambí (1940). Another nationalist ballet, Es-
tancia, followed in 1941, when he was also appointed
to the staff of the National Conservatory. During
an extended visit to the United States of America
(1945-47), he attended Aaron Copland’s courses at
Tanglewood. Thereafter his life was divided between
Argentina and abroad, his travels sometimes ne-
cessitated by changes of government. In 1971, he
settled in Geneva, Switzerland.
Until the mid-1950s his music was essentially nation-
alist in a manner comparable with Bartók, Falla, and
Stravinsky, but he moved towards an atonal expres-
sionism that has links with Berg and Penderecki: this
made possible his late emergence as a composer
of highly charged opera in which magic and fantastic
elements featured prominently (Don Rodrigo, 1964;
Bomarzo, 1967; Beatrix Cenci, 1971). Other works in-
clude two piano concertos (1961, 1972), the Cantata
para América mágica for soprano and percussion
(1960) and three string quartets (1948, 1958, and
1973).
PHILIP GLASS (b. 1937) graduated from the Univer-
sity of Chicago, studied composition with William
Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti at the Juilliard
School, as well as with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In
1965 his style underwent a fundamental change,
influenced by an interest in Indian music and work
with the sitarist Ravi Shankar. The new musical style
that Glass was evolving was eventually dubbed min-
imalism; however, Glass himself disliked the term
and preferred to refer to it as “music with repetitive
structures.” Since 1975, nearly all of Glass’s compo-
sitions have been written for dance, film, or theater.
Mr. Glass continues to present lectures, workshops,
and solo keyboard performances throughout the
world, and still appears regularly with the Philip Glass
Ensemble.
LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK (1829-1869) was
born in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his career he
had a considerable reputation as a pianist and com-
poser of virtuoso piano pieces. Sent to Paris to study,
he played at Salle Pleyel before his 16th birthday and
was praised by Chopin. He was treated as a sensa-
tion from the New World at this formal debut in 1849.
He toured widely in Europe, playing the piano and
conducting orchestras performing his works, before
returning to New York and touring the United States.
His compositions, using syncopated rhythms, jag-
ged melodic lines, and folk dance elements, were
precursors of musical developments to occur at the
end of the 19th Century.
CHARLES FRANÇOIS GOUNOD (1818-1893) was
a central figure in French music during the third
quarter of the 19th Century; his style influenced
the next generation of French composers, includ-
ing Bizet, Fauré, and Massenet. Faust, produced in
1859 (the ballet music was added in 1869), made
Gounod’s reputation. Faust was drastically differ-
ent from French opera of the previous 30 years
because of its lighter style and sentiment, which
relied less on the spectacular and more on the de-
lineation of character through the music. Gounod
wrote other operas, none as successful as Faust,
and other forms of music, including songs and
Symphony No. 1 in D Major (1855), which Balanchine
used for his Gounod Symphony.
EDVARD HELSTED (1816-1900) composed Flower
Festival in Genzano and Napoli, two of the most en-
during works in the Danish ballet repertory. He was
a violonist and conductor and collaborated with Au-
gust Bournonville and his fellow composers of the
day to create the music for many of the great chore-
ographer’s ballets.
PAUL HINDEMITH (1895-1963), a key represen-
tative of the neoclassical school, is considered
one of the greatest German composers of the
20th Century. He fled the Nazis (who banned
his music) and was a professor of music at Yale
from 1940 to 1953. A conductor, violinist, violist,
pianist, and theorist, he also wrote several books on
musical theory.
The Composers (cont.)
FRANZ LEHÁR (1870-1948) was born in Hungary and
died in Austria. He was trained as a violinist and com-
posed serious operas. He won great success with
Die Lustige Witwe, or The Merry Widow, which pre-
miered in 1905, and his melodies became popular
throughout Vienna. Although Lehár composed the
Gold and Silver Waltz in 1902 for the Princess Metter-
nich-Sandor’s Guld und Silber ball, the music is often
interpolated into The Merry Widow.
HERMAN SEVERIN LØVENSKJOLD (1815-1870).
Baron Herman Severin Løvenskjold was born in
Norway, but moved to Denmark with his family in
1829. His musical talent was discovered early and he
studied in Vienna, Leipzig, and St. Petersburg. From
1851 he was court organist at the Christiansborg
Castle Church in Copenhagen, a church frequently
attended by members of the Royal Danish family.
Besides his well-known score for La Sylphide, com-
posed when he was barely out of his teens, he wrote
an opera in 1856 called Turandot (not to be confused
with Puccini’s 1926 opus) and a number of Roman-
tic works for the Danish theater, including music for
the ballet, for plays, and several piano and chamber
pieces. Independently wealthy, he composed most-
ly for his own pleasure.
ELLIS LUDWIG-LEONE has written for a wide
variety of ensembles, including ACME, Alabama
Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Youth Chorus,
Decoda, Fifth House Ensemble, Hotel Elefant, JACK
Quartet, Metropolis Ensemble, and wild UP. Born
in Rhode Island and raised in rural Massachusetts,
Mr. Ludwig-Leone is the bandleader and composer
for Brooklyn-based band San Fermin; the band’s
second album, Jackrabbit, was released worldwide
on April 21, 2015 via Downtown Records. He is cur-
rently the Composer-In-Residence for the Alabama
Symphony, and has been a recipient of residencies
from The MacDowell Colony, Banff Centre for the
Arts, and the Við Djúpið Festival in Iceland. He is the
Music Director of BalletCollective, directed by NYCB
dancer and choreographer Troy Schumacher.
HANS CHRISTIAN LUMBYE (1810-1874), composer
of La Ventana, also served as music director of Co-
penhagen’s Tivoli Gardens from 1843 until 1872, es-
tablishing musical traditions that are honored to this
day.
BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ (1890-1959) was born in
a room at the top of a church tower in Policka, a
small town in the Bohemian-Moravian highlands of
Czechoslovakia (his cobbler father, Ferdinand, was
also a bell-ringer and fire-watcher). Martinů showed
early promise as a violinist and began composing
as a young teenager. By the age of 20, Martinů was
earning a living as an orchestral violinist and music
teacher, while also composing prolifically, a level of
productivity he would maintain for the rest of his life.
In 1923, Martinů left Czechoslovakia for Paris and de-
liberately distanced himself from the Romantic style
in which he had been trained. In the 1930s he experi-
mented with expressionism and constructivism and
became an admirer of current European technical
developments as exemplified by his orchestral works
Half-time and La Bagarre. He also adopted jazz idioms.
Of the post-war avant-garde styles, neo-classicism
influenced him the most. He continued to use Czech
and Moravian folk melodies throughout his work, usu-
ally nursery rhymes. The first important influence on
Martinů’s music was Claude Debussy, followed by
Igor Stravinsky, but soon an individual voice began to
emerge, characterized by motoric, insistent rhythmic
patterns and a natural, folk-like melodiousness.
Martinů immigrated to the United States in 1941, fleeing
the German invasion of France. Although as a com-
poser he was successful in America, receiving many
commissions, he became homesick for Czechoslo-
vakia. He never returned to his native country, and he
died in Switzerland.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) was a Ger-
man composer of the Romantic era. Like Mozart,
Mendelssohn was a child prodigy who excelled in
every aspect of music; he was one of the finest pia-
nists of his time, as well as an excellent conductor.
Mendelssohn was active as a composer, conduc-
tor, pianist, teacher, and founder of music festivals.
He composed works of all types: symphonies,
piano music, lieder, choral music, oratorios, and
chamber music.
MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881) was born in
Karevo, Russia. Mussorgsky was a member of The
Five (along with Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev,
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and César Cui), a group of
Russian composers who aimed to create a nationalist
school of Russian music. Mussorgsky began studying
piano at the age of six with his mother, a trained pianist,
and at 10 began studying at the Petrischule in St. Pe-
tersburg. A military officer and later a civil servant, he
was largely self-taught in composition.
S. HOLGER PAULLI (1810-1891), composer of Napoli
(1842), was a conductor and violinist. He conducted
the ballet’s music rehearsals of the Royal Orchestra
beginning in 1842, becoming the orchestra’s lead-
er in 1849. He was a close collaborator of August
Bournonville, composing music for more than 10 of
his ballets. Many of these are still in the Royal Dan-
ish repertory, including Konservatoriet and Napoli,
which was composed in collaboration with Helsted,
Lumbye, and Gade.
ROBERT PRINCE (1929-2007) wrote the music for
two ballets for Jerome Robbins’ dance company Bal-
lets: U.S.A.: N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz (1958) and Events
(1961). Prince also wrote incidental music for the play
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You In The Closet
and I’m Feeling So Sad, which Robbins directed off-
Broadway in 1962. Prince went on to compose and
arrange the music for several musicals, including
Something More! (1964), Half a Sixpence (1965), and
The Office (1966).
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) was born in the
French Basque town of Ciboure. His family moved
to Paris and encouraged him to take piano lessons.
At 14 he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory,
where he studied with Fauré, who became his prin-
cipal teacher of composition. His ballet scores in-
clude Pavane pour une Infante Défunte, Jeux d’Eau,
Boléro, Daphnis et Chloe, Ma Mére l’Oye, and a
ballet-opera, L’Enfant et les Sortiléges.
STEVE REICH (b. 1936) a minimalist, was a student
of drumming and philosophy and also studied mu-
sic at The Juilliard School with William Bergsma and
Vincent Persichetti. He received a master’s degree
in music from Mills College, where he studied with
Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. He has toured
all over the world with his own ensemble, Steve
Reich and Musicians, playing his unique compo-
sitions, pushing the boundaries of the classical
genre, and drawing from many styles, including
traditional African and Asian music, jazz, electronic
music, and traditional Jewish songs. Mr. Reich has
received commissions from many diverse organiza-
tions, including the Barbican Centre London, the
Holland Festival, San Francisco Symphony, the
Rothko Chapel, the Brooklyn Academy of Music for
Pat Metheny, and the Spoleto Festival, USA. Many
notable choreographers have created dances to
his music, such as Jiri Kylian, Jerome Robbins, and
Eliot Feld, among others.
The Composers (cont.)
MAX RICHTER (b. 1966) is an award-winning Brit-
ish composer whose work includes concert music,
film scoring, and a series of acclaimed solo albums.
Working with a variety of collaborators including
Tilda Swinton, Robert Wyatt, Future Sound of Lon-
don, and Roni Size, Mr. Richter’s work explores the
meeting points of many contemporary artistic lan-
guages, and, as might be expected from a student
of Luciano Berio, his work embraces a wide range
of influences. Recent projects include the ballet Infra
for Wayne McGregor at The Royal Ballet, with sce-
nography by Julian Opie, the award-winning score
to Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir, and the music in-
stallation The Anthropocene, with Darren Almond
at White Cube. Mr. Richter’s music has formed the
basis of numerous dance works, including pieces by
Lucinda Childs, NDT, Ballet du Rhin, American Ballet
Theatre, Dresden Semper Oper, The Dutch National
Ballet, and Norwegian National Ballet, among many
others, while film makers using his work include Mar-
tin Scorsese (Shutter Island). Recent commissions
include the opera SUM, based on David Eagleman’s
acclaimed book, premiered at The Royal Opera
House, London, and Mercy, commissioned by Hilary
Hahn. Other projects include Vivaldi Recomposed
for Deutsche Grammophon, recorded by British vio-
linist Daniel Hope and the Konzerthaus Orchester,
Berlin, as well as a variety of other recording and film
projects.
RICHARD RODGERS (1902-1979) met Lorenz Hart
in 1918 and began to collaborate with him on the lyr-
ics for popular songs. Their first success was Garrick
Gaities in 1925. Between 1926 and 1930, Rodgers
and Hart were among America’s most popular song-
writers, producing many songs for musicals and re-
vues on Broadway and in London’s West End. After
four years in Hollywood (1930-1934) writing for films,
they returned to New York in 1935. In 1936, Rodgers’
first major orchestral music for a ballet sequence was
premiered in On Your Toes; it was the ballet Slaugh-
ter on Tenth Avenue. Hart’s death in 1943 ended a
prolific partnership that had produced musicals,
films, and film versions of their stage presentations.
In 1943, Rodgers began collaborating with Oscar
Hammerstein II; their first success, Oklahoma, won
the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944. Other works that
Rodgers and Hammerstein staged were Carousel,
Allegro, The King and I (choreographed by Jerome
Robbins), and The Sound of Music. Their work on
South Pacific brought them a Pulitzer Prize in 1950.
CHRISTOPHER ROUSE (b. 1949) is one of America’s
most prominent composers of orchestral music.
Born in Baltimore, he developed an early interest
in both classical and popular music. His principle
teachers were George Crumb, Karel Husa, and Rich-
ard Hoffman. A current member of the composition
faculty at The Julliard School, he also taught a course
in the history of rock at the Eastman School of Music
for many years.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) studied at
the Leningrad Conservatory where his work was en-
couraged by Glazounov, the Conservatory’s princi-
pal. During his career, he fell in and out of favor with
the Soviet government. His creative development
was often determined by political events in the So-
viet Union. Shostakovich’s 1926 graduation piece,
The First Symphony, catapulted him to prominence.
During the next decade, he composed a satirical
opera, The Nose (based on a story by Gogol), three
full-length ballets, and the first of many film scores.
Shostakovich, whose work was influenced by Gustav
Mahler and César Franck, wrote 15 symphonies (sev-
eral of them with epic themes relating to the Russian
Revolution and World War II), concertos, quartets,
operas, and patriotic cantatas.
SUFJAN STEVENS (b. 1975) mixes autobiography,
religious fantasy, and regional history to create folk
songs of grand proportions. A preoccupation with
epic concepts has motivated two state records
(Michigan and Illinois), an electronic album for the ani-
mals of the Chinese zodiac (Enjoy Your Rabbit), a five-
disc Christmas box set (Songs for Christmas), and a
programmatic tone poem with film accompaniment
for The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a large-scale
ensemble piece commissioned by BAM in 2007. Mr.
Stevens released two albums in 2010: a generous EP
(All Delighted People) and the full-length The Age of
Adz, a collection of songs partly inspired by the out-
sider artist Royal Robertson.
Born in Detroit and raised in the upper reaches of
Northern Michigan, Stevens attended Hope Col-
lege, in Holland, Michigan, and the masters program
for writers at the New School for Social Research. He
currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
JOHANN STRAUSS II (1825-1899), The Waltz King,
was the best known member of his famous family.
The father, Johann Sr., and three brothers, Johann II,
Joseph, and Eduard, wrote music that captured the
spirit of Vienna. Johann II, who wrote his first 36 bars
of waltz music at the age of six, became a musician
against his father’s wishes. He composed operettas
(Die Fledermaus, A Night in Venice), but of his nearly
500 compositions, the most popular are his concert
waltzes that show his gift as a writer of melodies and
his brilliance as an orchestrator.
RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949) was a German
composer and conductor best known for his tone po-
ems and for operas composed to librettos by Austri-
an poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. In Der Rosenkava-
lier (1911), their acknowledged masterpiece, they tried
to recreate the lost aristocratic world of Vienna in the
1700s. Strauss is credited with the ability to illuminate, in
his work, the struggles and emotions of every day life.
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971), born in Russia, is
acknowledged as one of the great composers of
the 20th Century. His work encompassed styles
as diverse as romanticism, neoclassicism, and
serialism. Ballets to Stravinsky’s music done for Di-
aghilev’s Ballets Russes include The Firebird, Pe-
truchka, The Rite of Spring, and Apollo. His music
has been used in over 30 ballets originating with
New York City Ballet since 1948, including Danses
Concertantes, Orpheus, The Cage, Agon, Monu-
mentum pro Gesualdo, Rubies, Symphony in Three
Movements, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Concerto
for Two Solo Pianos, Suite from L’Histoire du Soldat,
Concertino, and Jeu de Cartes.
MICHAEL TORKE (b. 1961), a graduate of the Eastman
School of Music, enjoyed his first critical success the
same year with his premiere work, Vanada, a cham-
ber ensemble piece for keyboards and percussion.
Torke’s early exposure to jazz and rock is powerfully
expressed in the propulsive rhythms and exciting
energy of his colorfully classical compositions. He
does in fact envision musical impulses in terms of
color. His orchestration for the 1985 work, Ecstatic
Orange, is dappled with such images as “orange pe-
koe in flames” and “unripe pumpkin.” Peter Martins
used this music in 1987 for his ballet, Ecstatic Orange,
and another Torke piece for his 1988 ballet, Black and
White. Torke also composed the score for a third Mar-
tins ballet, Echo, in 1989, and a fourth Martins ballet,
Ash, in 1991.
PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
studied at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg,
where Balanchine later studied piano in addi-
tion to dance. Tschaikovsky is one of the most
popular and influential of all Romantic compos-
ers. His work is expressive, melodic, and grand
in scale, with rich orchestrations. His output
was prodigious and included chamber works,
symphonies, concerti for various instruments, op-
eras, and works for the piano. His creations for the
ballet, composed in close partnership with Marius
Petipa, are Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The
Sleeping Beauty.
GIUSEPPE VERDI (1831-1901) did not have a formal
music education, but rather studied privately, for
the most part, with local musicians. He completely
changed the course of Italian opera with such mas-
terpieces as Rigoletto, La Traviata, Aïda, Otello, and
Falstaff, popularizing the art form like no other com-
poser before or since. Verdi was also a fervent sup-
porter of the movement for Italian unification, which
led to his being nominated for a seat in the Italian
Parliament.

SIR WILLIAM WALTON (1902-1983) was born in
Oldham, Lancashire to a choirmaster and singing
teacher. A chorister at Christ Church Catherdral,
Oxford, where he was later an undergraduate at the
university, Walton began composing from a young
age. His earliest work of note, Façade, was originally
composed to accompany a series of poems by
his patron Edith Sitwell and publicly performed as
Façade-An Entertainment. Choreographer Frederick
Ashton created a ballet to Façade’s first suite in
1931. Walton’s other well-known works include the
cantata Belshazzar’s Feast, Viola Concerto, and
First Symphony; he wrote music in several classical
genres and styles, including the film scores for
Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948),
and Richard III (1955). Walton was knighted in 1951,
received the Order of Merit in 1968, and elected an
honorary member of the American Academy and
Institute of Arts and Letters in 1978. In his later years,
he moved from London to Ischia, Italy, where he
died in 1983 at the age of 80.
The Choreographers
ANTON VON WEBERN (1883-1945), an Austrian,
was part of the neoclassical movement in music.
He was a musical scholar who adopted and ex-
tended Schoenberg’s 12-tone method of compos-
ing music, which meant basing a composition on
a row made up of the 12 chromatic scale notes,
GEORGE BALANCHINE (1904-1983) is regarded as dream, and in 1934, the pair founded the School of
arranged so that no note was repeated within the
one of the foremost ballet choreographers and one American Ballet. The first original ballet Balanchine
row. Webern became more and more rigorous
of the great artists of the 20th Century. His influence choreographed in this country­— Serenade, set to
in his attempt to compress and simplify his own
in the worlds of ballet, music, and modernism is im- music by Tschaikovsky—was created for dancers
style.
mense, and he had a great and lasting impact on from the School and had its world premiere out-
New York’s cultural scene during a particularly cre- doors on the estate of Kirstein’s friend, Edward
DINAH WASHINGTON (1924-1963) was an Ameri-
ative period of the city’s history. Warburg, near White Plains, New York
can singer and pianist. Though known primarily as
a Jazz vocalist she performed and recorded in a
The son of a composer, Balanchine began study- The School remains in operation to this day, train-
wide variety of styles including Blues, R&B, and pop
ing the piano at the age of five, then studied at the ing students for companies throughout the United
music. She sang with Lionel Hampton’s band in the
Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg from 1913 to States and the world, but the first ballet companies
1940’s and worked with many of the leading jazz mu-
1921. He continued his education with three years at founded by Balanchine and Kirstein were not as
sicians of the time. Washington was well known for
the state’s Conservatory of Music, where he studied long-lived. American Ballet, Ballet Caravan, and
singing torch songs, appeared at jazz festivals, had
piano and musical theory, including composition, American Ballet Caravan came and went in the
frequent gigs at Birdland, and sang with Count Basie
harmony, and counterpoint. years between 1936 and 1940. In 1946, following
and Duke Ellington. She was inducted into the Rock
World War II, Balanchine and Kirstein joined forces
and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Balanchine made his dancing debut at the age of 10 again to form Ballet Society, a company which in-
as a cupid in the Maryinsky Theatre Ballet Company troduced New York subscription-only audiences
production of The Sleeping Beauty. He joined the over the next two years to such new Balanchine
company’s corps de ballet at age 17 and also staged works as The Four Temperaments (1946), Stravin-
one work, Enigmas. sky’s Renard (1947), and Orpheus (1948). Morton
Baum, chairman of the City Center of Music and
In the summer of 1924, Balanchine – along with Drama, was so impressed by a performance of
Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Orpheus that he invited Ballet Society to join City
Efimov – left the newly formed Soviet Union for a Center, but with a new name. On October 11, 1948,
tour of Western Europe. All four dancers were invited New York City Ballet was born, dancing an all-Bal-
by impresario Serge Diaghilev to join his Ballets anchine program consisting of Concerto Barocco,
Russes in Paris. After watching Balanchine stage Orpheus, and Symphony In C.
a new version of the Stravinsky ballet Le Chant de
Rossignol, Diaghilev hired him as ballet master to Balanchine served as ballet master for New York City
replace Bronislava Nijinska. Balanchine served as Ballet from that year until his death in 1983. An au-
ballet master with Ballets Russes until the company thoritative catalogue of his works lists 425 works cre-
was dissolved following Diaghilev’s death in 1929. ated from 1920 to 1982, and many of these continue
After that, he spent his next few years on a variety of to be danced today.
projects that took him all over Europe, then returned
to Paris to form his own company, Les Ballets 1933. It
was then that he met American dance connoisseur
Lincoln Kirstein.
Kirstein’s great passion for the contemporary arts in-
cluded the dream to establish an American ballet
school and an American ballet company that would
rival those of Europe. He persuaded Balanchine to
come to the United States and help him fulfill this
The Choreographers (cont.)
ROBERT BINET was born in Toronto, Canada and
is the Choreographic Associate of the National
Ballet of Canada. Prior to his appointment at the
National Ballet of Canada in 2013, Binet was the first
Choreographic Apprentice at The Royal Ballet. In
this position he was mentored by Wayne Mc-
Gregor and created works for The Royal Ballet and
Wayne McGregor|Random Dance. Binet studied at
Canada’s National Ballet School, where he created
ballets and received the Peter Dwyer Award from
the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2011, Binet shad-
owed John Newmeier, Artistic Director and Chief
Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet, and created
his first full-evening work, Die schöne Müllerin, for
the Hamburg Ballet’s second company, the Ger-
man National Youth Ballet. Binet participated in the
Spring 2011 and Fall 2014 sessions of the New York
Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City
Ballet, and has created works for the Dutch National
Ballet’s Junior Company, the Estonian National Bal-
let, Ballet Black, and the Royal Academy of Dance’s
Benee International Ballet Competition, among
others. He also choreographed the music videos
for Owen Pallett’s “Song for Five & Six” and Belle &
Sebastian’s “The Party Line.”
AUGUST BOURNONVILLE (1805-1879) was a Dan-
ish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son
of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreogra-
pher trained under the French choreographer Jean
Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la
Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Bournonville was born in Copenhagen, Denmark,
where his father had settled. He studied under the
Italian choreographer Vincenzo Galeotti at the Roy-
al Danish Ballet, Copenhagen, and under French
dancer Auguste Vestris in Paris, France. Follow-
ing studies in Paris as a young man, Bournonville
became solo dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet in
Copenhagen. From 1830 to 1877 he was choreogra-
pher for the Royal Danish Ballet, for which he created
more than 50 ballets admired for their exuberance,
lightness, and beauty. He created a unique style in
ballet known as the Bournonville School, which, al-
though influenced from the Paris ballet, is entirely
his own. He had a flare for making brilliant enchaine-
ments (groups of steps) out of the basic steps. As a
choreographer, he created a number of ballets with
varied settings that range from Denmark to Italy,
Russia to South America. A limited number of these
works have survived.
Bournonville’s work became known outside Den-
mark only after World War II. Since 1950, the Royal
Danish Ballet has made prolonged tours abroad,
including to the United States, where the Company
performed his ballets.
Bournonville’s best-known ballets are La Sylphide
(1836), Napoli (1842), Le Conservatoire (1849), The
Kermesse in Bruges (1851), and A Folk Tale (1854).
KIM BRANDSTRUP studied Film at the Univer-
sity of Copenhagen and Choreography with Nina
Fonaroff at London School of Contemporary Dance.
He founded his own dance company, Arc, in 1985,
forging a narrative style that owes more to his early
cinematic training than to classical story ballet or to
the kineticism of contemporary dance. Throughout
his career, and at times at odds with current trends,
he has sought a theatre of movement that is both
powerful and subtle, creating poignant and sug-
gestive narratives that are always intensely human
and emotionally revealing. Since 2005, in freelance
commissioned works for a range of international
companies including The Royal Ballet, Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens, and the Royal Danish Ballet, his
narrative approach has found new paths, growing
more refined and precise while enjoying a looser,
more experimental tone in its storytelling.
The Moscow born LEV IVANOV (1834-1901)
graduated from the Imperial School of Ballet in
St. Petersburg where one of his teachers was
Marius Petipa’s father, Jean Petipa. A gifted soloist
and character dancer with the Imperial Ballet, he
ultimately achieved the rank of principal dancer. He
was also a natural musician who could play, by ear,
an entire ballet score on the piano. Ivanov went on
to teach at the Imperial Ballet school and served as
rehearsal master of the Maryinsky Theater. He was
officially appointed as second ballet master, assis-
tant to Marius Petipa, in 1885. His innate musicality
influenced his choreography and it is believed that
he was the chief choreographer of The Nutcracker
(1892) though Petipa received the official recogni-
tion. The beauty of the corps dances for the snow-
flakes is believed to be Ivanov’s work. His musically
sensitive choreography of the second and fourth
lakeside scenes of Swan Lake (1894-95) is heralded
for its lyrical poignancy. Though destined to always
be in Petipa’s shadow, his lasting contribution to the
evolution of ballet is his influence on Michel Fokine.
He saw, in Ivanov’s choreography, how mood and
effect could be achieved by an ensemble dancing
to beautiful music, thereby influencing the creation
of Fokine’s atmospheric yet plotless Les Sylphides
(1909).
Danish-born PETER MARTINS (b. 1946), one of the
greatest classical dancers of our time, has spent
more than 40 years with New York City Ballet as
dancer, choreographer, and ballet master. He has
choreographed over 75 ballets, many of which are in
New York City Ballet’s extensive repertory, alongside
the works of Balanchine and Robbins. His dances
are also in the repertory of the world’s great ballet
companies. Mr. Martins is a champion of contempo-
rary music and has choreographed to a wide range
of composers from George Gershwin, John Adams,
Michael Torke, and Wynton Marsalis to Tschaikovsky
and Stravinsky. As Ballet Master in Chief of New
York City Ballet, he is responsible for the ongoing
operations of the Company and provides opportuni-
ties for emerging choreographers through the New
York Choreographic Institute. He is also the Artistic
Director and Chairman of the Faculty of the School
of American Ballet. Mr. Martins has choreographed
for Broadway and published his autobiography, Far
From Denmark, in 1982. His works have also been
featured on many television programs. Mr. Martins
most recent works include the full-length production
Romeo + Juliet and Grazioso (both premiered in 2007)
Naive and Sentimental Music (2009), Mirage (2010),
Ocean’s Kingdom (2011), Mes Oiseaux (2012), and his
staging of August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (NYCB
premiere, 2015).
JUSTIN PECK (b. 1987) was born in Washington,
D.C., and began his dance training in 2003 at the
School of American Ballet, the official school of
New York City Ballet, where he studied with Jock
Soto, Peter Boal, and Peter Martins. In October
2006, Peck became an apprentice with NYCB, and
he joined the Company as a member of the corps
de ballet in June 2007. He was promoted to soloist
in 2013. Since joining the Company, Peck has per-
formed various featured roles in works by George
Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and
Benjamin Millepied. He began choreographing in
2009 and has since created works for the New York
Choreographic Institute, the Columbia University
Ballet Collaborative, New York City Ballet, Miami
City Ballet, L.A. Dance Project, Pacific Northwest
Ballet, and other dance companies. In 2011, Peter
Martins designated Peck to receive the New York
Choreographic Institute’s first year-long choreo-
graphic residency. In July 2014, Mr. Peck was ap-
pointed New York City Ballet’s Resident Choreog-
rapher.
MARIUS PETIPA was born in Marseilles on March 11,
1818, part of the middle of a three generation dynasty
of dancers, of which he and his brother Lucien, long
of the Paris Opera, were the most important. After an
itinerant dancing career based in France, as well as
Spain and America, Petipa arrived in Russia in 1847
as the replacement for a retiring dancer. In several
months he staged two recent Parisian productions
in St. Petersburg. From 1847-1861 Petipa pursued a
dancing career in Russia and engaged in an informal
apprenticeship with choreographer Jules Perrot (first
ballet master of the Russian Imperial Theatres from
1849 to 1860).
In the late 1850s, Petipa produced his first attribut-
able ballets: The Star of Grenada (1855); a diver-
tissement, A Regency Marriage (1858); The Parisian
Market (1859); and The Blue Dahlia (1860). In 1862 he
produced The Pharaoh’s Daughter on short notice,
initiating a rivalry with Perrot’s replacement, Arthur
The Choreographers (cont.)
Saint Léon, and defining his signature genre, the bal-
let as grand spectacle. Shortly after this premiere, he
was promoted to the rank of ballet master.
The years 1862-1870 were marked by the conten-
tious Petipa/Saint Léon rivalry, of which the artistic
highlights were Saint Léon’s The Little Humpbacked
Horse (1864), Petipa’s Le Roi Candaules (1868), the
elaborate interpolated tableau in Mazilier’s Le Cor-
saire called Le jardin anime (1868, to music of De-
libes), and the first production of Don Quixote (1869,
Moscow). In 1870, Petipa became first ballet master
of the Imperial Theatres upon the death of Saint Léon.
The years 1870-1885 were Petipa’s so-called Rus-
sian period, marked by continued collaborations
with Russian ballerinas (and the ascendancy of his
daughter, Marie Mariusovna Petipa), his assistant
Lev Ivanov, and composer Ludwig Minkus. The pe-
riod featured productions of Don Quixote (1871), A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1876, to the music of
Mendelssohn), and La Bayadere (1877). In 1881, Al-
exandrovich Vsevolozhsky, a lover of ballet, was ap-
pointed Director of Imperial Theatres, and in 1885,
Lev Ivanov was appointed second ballet master.
Petipa’s Italian period, 1885-1901, was marked by the
ascendancy of Italian ballerinas, mostly virtuosas,
between the arrival of Zucchi and the retirement of
Pierina Legnani. In 1886, Ludwig Minkus retired as
official composer of ballet music and Tschaikovsky
was approached to collaborate with Petipa. Their
great collaboration resulted in the 1889 production
of The Sleeping Beauty (Vsevolozhsky served as li-
brettist and costume designer).
The years 1890-1900 were Petipa’s late period,
marked by the last decade of Vsevolozhsky’s di-
rectorship of the Imperial Theatres; sensing pres-
sure from the emergent balletic avant garde, Petipa
continued to stress the first principles of his art: bril-
liant spectacle and expressive choreography, even
at the expense of coherent drama. The Nutcracker
was produced in 1892 (with Tschaikovsky and
Vsevolozhsky); after planning the ballet, Petipa, due
to illness, yielded the choreography to Lev Ivanov.
Petipa became a Russian citizen in 1894 and in 1895
Swan Lake was presented, in collaboration with Lev
Ivanov. In December of 1896, Petipa celebrated 50
years of service on the Imperial stage. Raymonda
was produced in 1898, and a year later, a new direc-
tor of theaters, unsympathetic to Petipa, replaced
Vsevolozhsky. During the last decade of his life Peti-
pa struggled to maintain his position at the Imperial
Theatre, receiving support from Tschaikovsky and
his dancers. Petipa died in 1910 at age 92, and his
remains are buried at Alexandre Nevsky Cemetery
in St. Petersburg. We owe the formal structure of the
full-length classical ballet, climactic pas de deux,
and entertaining divertissements to the brilliance of
this choreographer who created a great repertory of
memorable ballets.
Russian-born ALEXEI RATMANSKY (b. 1968) trained
at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow and was a
principal dancer with the Ukrainian National Ballet
(1993-95) and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada
(1995-97) before joining the Royal Danish Ballet as a
soloist in 1997. There, he was promoted to principal
dancer in 2000, and he returned to Russia in January
2004 to assume the position of Artistic Director of the
Bolshoi Ballet, succeeding Boris Akimov. In 2008, Mr.
Ratmansky stepped down as Artistic Director of the
Bolshoi Ballet in order to pursue choreography full-
time. In 2009 he was appointed Artist in Residence
at American Ballet Theatre.
He participated in the Choreographer’s Workshop at
the Royal Danish Ballet (1999) and the New York Cho-
reographic Institute at New York City Ballet (2002). In
1998, he choreographed Poem of Ecstasy, Middle
Duet, and The Fairy’s Kiss for the Kirov Ballet. In 2001,
he created Turandot’s Dream and a new version of
The Nutcracker for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copen-
hagen. In 2002, he staged a new version of Cinder-
ella for the Kirov Ballet, followed by The Firebird for
the Royal Swedish Ballet. In 2003, he premiered Le
Carnaval des Animaux for the San Francisco Ballet.
His Charms of the Mannerism, Dreams about Japan,
and Leah have been performed around the world by
Moscow Dance Theatre. His works for the Bol-
shoi are versions of Shostakovich’s banned
Stalin-era ballets, The Bright Stream and The
Bolt. Among his ballets in New York City Ballet’s
repertory are: Russian Seasons (2006), Middle Duet
(2006), Concerto DSCH (2008) Namouna, A Grand Di-
vertissment (2010), and Pictures at an Exhibition (2014).
In 1992, Ratmansky was awarded the Benois De La
Dance Award for his choreography for a full-length
Anna Karenina, created for the Royal Danish Ballet in
2004. Ratmansky was made Knight of Dannebrog
in 2002.
JEROME ROBBINS (1918-1998) received world
renown as a choreographer of ballets created for
New York City Ballet, Ballets U.S.A., American Bal-
let Theatre, and other international companies. He
received equal acclaim for his work as a director of
musicals and plays for Broadway as well as a direc-
tor of movies and television programs.
His career as a gifted ballet dancer developed with
Ballet Theatre where he danced with special dis-
tinction the role of Petrouchka, and character roles
in the works of Fokine, Tudor, Massine, Lichine, and
de Mille, and in his first choreographic sensation,
Fancy Free (1944). This ballet was followed by Inter-
play (1945) and Facsimile (1946), all of which were
performed by Ballet Theatre. He then embarked on
an enormously successful career as a choreogra-
pher and later as a director of Broadway musicals
and plays.
Robbins’ first musical, On The Town (1945), was
followed by Billion Dollar Baby (1946), High But-
ton Shoes (1947), Look, Ma, I’m Dancing (1948,
co-directed with George Abbott), Miss Liberty
(1949), Call Me Madam (1950), and the ballet
“Small House of Uncle Thomas” in The King and
I (1951). His work continued with Two’s Company
(1952), Pajama Game (1954, co-directed with Ab-
bott), and Peter Pan (1954), which he directed and
choreographed. In the same year, he also
directed the opera The Tender Land by Aaron
Copland. Two years after that, he directed and
choreographed Bells Are Ringing (1956), followed
by the historic West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959),
and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). In 1988, he staged
Jerome Robbins’s Broadway.
In 1949, he joined New York City Ballet as Associate
Artistic Director. Among his outstanding works for
the Company are The Guests (1949), Age of Anxiety
(1951), The Cage (1951), The Pied Piper (1951), Afternoon
of a Faun (1953), Fanfare (1953), The Concert (1956),
Dances at a Gathering (1969), The Goldberg Variations
(1971), Watermill (1972), Requiem Canticles (1972), In G
Major (1975), Mother Goose (1975), The Four Seasons
(1979), Opus 19/The Dreamer (1979), Glass Pieces
(1983), I’m Old Fashioned (1983), Antique Epigraphs
(1984), Brahms/Handel (1984, with Twyla Tharp), In
Memory of… (1985), Ives, Songs (1988), 2 & 3 Part
Inventions (1994), West Side Story Suite (1995), and
Brandenburg (1997). For his own company, Ballets
U.S.A. (1958-1962), he created N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz
(1958), Moves (1959), and Events (1961). For American
Ballet Theatre’s 25th anniversary in 1965, he staged
Stravinsky’s dance cantata, Les Noces, a work of
shattering and immense impact.
During this extraordinary career, Robbins served on the
National Council on the Arts from 1974 to 1980 and the
New York State Council on the Arts/Dance Panel from
1973 to 1988. He established and partially endowed the
Jerome Robbins Film Archive of the Dance Collection
of the New York City Public Library at Lincoln Center.
His numerous awards and academic honors included
the Handel Medallion of the City of New York (1976),
the Kennedy Center Honors (1981), three Honorary
Doctorates, an honorary membership in the American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1985), and
the National Medal of the Arts (1988).
TROY SCHUMACHER was born in Atlanta, Geor-
gia, and began studying ballet with Atlanta Ballet
in 2000. In 2001, he began studying summer ses-
sions at Chautauqua, where he worked with Jean-
Pierre Bonnefoux, Patricia McBride, and Violette
Verdy. He became a full time student at the School
of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New
York City Ballet, in the fall of 2002. In January 2005
he became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the
Company as a member of the corps de ballet in De-
cember 2005.
Since joining NYCB, Schumacher has danced fea-
tured roles in works by George Balanchine, Peter
Martins, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, and
Richard Tanner. He has originated corps roles in
ballets by Peter Martins, Benjamin Millepied, Alexey
Miroshnichenko, Liam Scarlett, and Christopher
Wheeldon.
Schumacher also appeared in the film NY Export:
Opus Jazz, a scripted adaptation of the Jerome
Robbins ballet of the same name, which aired on
PBS and won an Audience Award at the 2010 South
by Southwest Film Festival.
The Choreographers (cont.)
As a freelance choreographer, Schumacher has
made three works on the Atlanta Ballet’s Trainee
program to music by Poulenc, Raff, and Schumann
respectively. In spring of 2012, Schumacher was
commissioned to create a duet in sneakers by the
92nd Street Y Fridays at Noon series, the music that
he chose was Song by Gabriel Kahane. The follow-
ing fall, Schumacher choreographed an interdisci-
plinary duet for NYCB Principal Dancer Jared Angle
and Metropolitan Opera countertenor Anthony Roth
Costanzo to Vivaldi’s cantata Qual per ignoto calle.
The piece premiered in September 2012 and The
New York Times cited its “mix of intimacy and vul-
nerability… [that] suited the cantata’s amorous an-
guish elegantly.” Also in the fall of 2012, Schumacher
was awarded a residency at the New York Choreo-
graphic Institute, where he choreographed and
presented an in-progress ballet to William Walton’s
Piano Quartet. In early 2013, Schumacher contribut-
ed to two editorials and choreographed a short film
entitled Transformation for CR Fashion Book. In the
summer of 2013, Peter Martins asked Schumacher
to choreograph a ballet for the School of American
Ballet; he created the beginnings of a new ballet to
music by Poulenc. In September of 2014, Schum-
acher premiered his first NYCB work, Clearing Dawn.
Schumacher is the recipient of the 2002 Jackson
International Ballet Competition Award of Encour-
agement.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, RICHARD TANNER re-
ceived his early dance instruction from Robert
Lindgren and Sonja Tyven. He continued his dance
training while simultaneously pursuing a course of
academic study, ultimately receiving a Bachelor of
Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah. Mr. Tan-
ner continued his dance education at the School of
American Ballet, the official school of the New York
City Ballet, where his teachers included Stanley Wil-
liams, Pierre Vladimirov, Andre Eglevsky, and Diana
Adams.
Mr. Tanner danced with Utah’s Ballet West as a
Soloist from 1967 through 1970. He then joined the
New York City Ballet, where he danced for ten years.
In 1971 Mr. Tanner choreographed two ballets for
the Company: Concerto for Two Solo Pianos (Igor
Stravinsky) and Octandre (Edgar Varese). In addition
to appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Com-
pany’s extensive repertory, Mr. Tanner participated
as both a dancer and a choreographer in the his-
toric 1972 Stravinsky Festival, for which he choreo-
graphed Octour. From 1981 to 1983 Mr. Tanner served
as Regisseur Generale at American Ballet Theatre,
and from 1985 to 1990 he served as Associate Artis-
tic Director of the Pennsylvania Ballet.
Mr. Tanner has choreographed more than two dozen
ballets for such companies as Ballet West, Eglevsky
Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, Mi-
ami City Ballet, and numerous touring groups. He
has created a number of works for Pennsylvania
Ballet, including Candide Variations (Bernstein), XVIII
Symphonic Etudes (Schumann), Skin & Steel (Clark),
Rough Assemblage (Tieghem), and Eroica (Liszt).
Other works include Sonatas and Interludes (Cage),
which was created for the Eglevsky Ballet and en-
tered the repertory of the New York City Ballet dur-
ing the Company’s 1988 American Music Festival,
and The Waltz Project (Moran, Harrison, Tcherepnin,
Fennimore, Helps, Constanten, Glass, and Gould),
which was created in June, 1984 for a touring group
led by Edward Villella, and later set for Ballet Oklaho-
ma. In February of 1990, Mr. Tanner choreographed
Prague Symphony (Mozart) for New York City Bal-
let. Mr. Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances (Respighi)
was presented along with 10 other new ballets, as
part of NYCB’s inaugural season of The Diamond
Project, in May 1992. Ancient Airs and Dances was
also performed by the Paris Opera Ballet and Ballet
du Capitole de Toulouse. Mr. Tanner’s latest works
for the New York City Ballet include: Episodes &
Sarcasms (Prokofiev), Operetta Affezionata (von
Weber), Schoenberg/Wuorinen Variations (later re-
named Schoenberg Variations), A Schubert Sonata
(Schubert), Soirée (Rota), and Variations on a Nursery
Song (von Dohnányi).
In addition to his work as a choreographer, Mr. Tan-
ner has staged Balanchine repertory ranging from
Bourrée Fantasque (Chabrier) to Symphony in Three
Movements (Stravinsky) throughout the United
States and Europe.
MYLES THATCHER is a member of the San Fran-
cisco Ballet corps de ballet. He has choreographed
for San Francisco Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, and the
San Francisco Ballet School, and was selected by
American Ballet Theatre Artist in Residence Alexei
Ratmansky to be mentored for the 2014-15 Rolex
Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative. Mr. Thatcher was
born in Atlanta, Georgia, and trained at The Harid
Conservatory, Ellison Ballet, and the San Francisco
Ballet School. He participated in the San Francisco
Ballet School Trainee Program in 2008-2009, was
named an apprentice with San Francisco Ballet in
2009, and joined the company the following year.
At San Franciso Ballet, he has performed featured
roles in works by the company’s Artistic Director
and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson,
George Balanchine, Val Caniparoli, John Cranko,
Liam Scarlett, and Christopher Wheeldon.
CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON (b. 1973, Yeovil, Som-
erset, England) began his ballet training when he
was eight years old. He began studying at The Roy-
al Ballet School at the age of 11. In 1991 he joined
The Royal Ballet and won the Gold Medal at the
Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993, he was in-
vited to become a member of New York City Ballet,
where he was promoted to soloist in 1998. He be-
gan choreographing for NYCB with Slavonic Danc-
es for the 1997 Diamond Project, and his Scènes de
Ballet, a collaboration with artist Ian Falconer, was
created for the School of American Ballet’s 1999
Workshop Performances and NYCB’s 50th anni-
versary season.
After creating Mercurial Manoeuvres for NYCB’s
Spring 2000 Diamond Project, Mr. Wheeldon
retired from dancing to concentrate on his cho-
reographic work. During the 2000-01 Season, he
served as NYCB’s first-ever Artist in Residence,
creating two ballets: Polyphonia, set to piano mu-
sic by György Ligeti, and Variations Sérieuses, set
to music by Felix Mendelssohn. In July 2001 he
was named NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer,
a position he held until 2008. His ballets for NYCB
include Morphoses and Carousel (A Dance) (2002),
Carnival of the Animals and Liturgy (2003), After
the Rain and An American in Paris (2005), Klavier
(2006), The Nightingale and the Rose (2007), and
Estancia (May 2010). His latest works for NYCB,
DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse (company premiere)
and Les Carillons (world premiere), both premiered
in the winter of 2012, and last ballets for NYCB were
A Place for Us and his Soirée Musicale, which both
entered the repertory in 2013.
Mr. Wheeldon has also been in demand with other
leading companies such as San Francisco Bal-
let, The Royal Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and the
Bolshoi Ballet. Outside the ballet world, he choreo-
graphed Dance of the Hours for the Metropolitan
Opera’s production of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda
(2006), as well as ballet sequences for the feature
film Center Stage (2000) and a Broadway version
of Sweet Smell of Success (2002). In Spring 2015,
he won a Tony Award for Best Choreography for his
work on An American in Paris.
STANLEY WILLIAMS (1925-1997) Born in Chap-
pel, England, Williams grew up in Copenhagen and
entered the Royal Danish Ballet School at 9, joining
the company in 1943. When an injury forced him to
retire from the Royal Danish Ballet in 1950, Williams
became a faculty member at the school, teaching
there until 1963. He met George Balanchine in 1956
and began to teach at the School of American Ballet
in 1960, joining the faculty in 1964. In 1985 he was
named co-chairman of the faculty with Peter Mar-
tins. Williams gained worldwide fame as a teacher of
male dancing, attracting leading professionals such
as Rudolf Nureyev, Peter Martins, Edward Villella, and
Mikhail Baryshnikov to his daily classes at SAB.
Mr. Williams was knighted by the King of Denmark
in 1961 and received the Dance Magazine Award in
1981. He staged Bournonville Divertissements for
New York City Ballet in 1981.
For Your Reference
Balanchine, George: Choreography by Balanchine: A Catalogue of Works

Balanchine, George, and Francis Mason: Balanchine’s Complete Stories of the Great Ballets

Beaumont, Cyril W.: Complete Book of Ballets

Beaumont, Cyril W.: The Sleeping Princess (from Impressions of the Russian Ballet)

Buckle, Richard: Diaghilev

Buckle, Richard, in collaboration with John Taras: George Balanchine: Ballet Master

Chujoy, Anatole, and P.W. Manchester, Eds.: The Dance Encyclopedia

Conrad, Christine: Jerome Robbins: That Broadway Man, That Ballet Man

Denby, Edwin: Dance Writings

Duberman, Martin: The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein

Garfunkel, Trudy: On Wings of Joy: The Story of Ballet from the 16th Century to Today

Kirstein, Lincoln: Movement and Metaphor

Kirstein, Lincoln: Thirty Years: New York City Ballet

Koegler, Horst: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet

Reynolds, Nancy: Repertory in Review

Sadie, Stanley, Ed.: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Schonberg, Harold C.: The Lives of Great Composers

Stravinsky, Igor, with Robert Craft: Dialogues and a Diary

Taper, Bernard: Balanchine: A Biography

Volkov, Solomon: Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky

Warrack, John: Tchaikovsky

Wiley, Roland John: Tchaikovsky’s Ballet

© 2015 New York City Ballet

Cover: Illustration by Jamie Lee Reardin © 2015.
Programs and pricing subject to change.

Most of the items listed in For Your Reference are available at the Library for the Performing
Arts at Lincoln Center.