Classical Ballet Evening of one-act ballets by Balanchine: "Symphony in C" . "Serenade" World famous Bolshoi Ballet and Opera theatre (established 1776) - Small Stage
Schedule for Evening of one-act ballets by Balanchine: "Symphony in C" . "Serenade" 2022
Composer: Peter Tchaikovsky Composer: Georges Bizet Choreography: George Balanchine Music Director: Igor Dronov Costume Designer: Barbara Karinska Stage Director: Tatiana Terekhova Costume Designer: Mikhail Makharadze
Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Symphony in C Ballet by in one act
to music by Georges BizetChoreography: George Balanchine © The
School of American ballet
Staged by Tatiana Terekhova Costume
Designer: Mikhail Makharadze Music Director: Alexander Titov
The Symphony of a Palace
Le Palais de cristal, one of the most famous ballets of the 20th century,
was presented in June, 1947, at the Paris Opera, and in March, 1948, it was
performed in New York, by Balanchine’s own company, as Symphony in C, the title
under which it is danced to this day by companies around the globe.
The story of the creation of this Balanchine masterpiece is remarkable and
comes close to being improbable. In l947, the Paris Opera Ballet was left
without a choreographer. So George Balanchine was invited to transfer to the
Opera three ballets from his New York repertoire. Having fulfilled his
obligations in this respect, Balanchine became so enamoured of the artistic
charm of the Paris dancers that he decided to present them with an unplanned
work - and this was to be Le Palais cristal. The metaphorical title, an image of
the Paris school of classical dance, was not accidental. In addition to
which, Le Palais cristal, is a choreographic portrait of the Paris Opera Ballet:
its hierarchical structure (which, in his company, Balanchine did away with) is
preserved and secured in the structure of each movement. At the center are
the etoile and the premier danseur, slightly further off are the two
soloist couples, while closer to the backdrop is the corps de ballet. All this
is a reflection of the entrenched, spatial and professional laws of the
Paris Academic Company. Balanchine had no intention of infringing these laws, he
admired them and brought out their artistic wisdom.
The seventeen-year-old Georges Bizet had written his 1st (Youthful) Symphony
as a diploma work in the year - 1855 - that he had completed his studies at the
Conservatoire. Having won the Grand Prix de Rome, Bizet went off to Italy and
was to write no more symphonies, while the score of Symphony in С gathered dust
in the Conservatoire library until 1935, when it was given its first public
performance - which, incidentally, was not a great success. Balanchine heard
about this from Stravinsky. The former read the score, adapted it for the stage,
and only after this did he begin to appreciate the musical world of the
symphonic Bizet as much as he did that of the operatic Bizet.
By giving each of the four movements its own contingent of dancers and
bringing all the participants together in an exultant finale, Balanchine
too achieved an exemplary ’reading’ of the music. Balanchine’s text follows that
of Bizet, repeating the flow of the music and the pattern of the musical form in
a skilful design and exquisite configurations. Theme, elaboration,
recapitulation, general intonation, dynamic play and, finally, the very
sound of the orchestra, its instrumental color, its agility - all this is
translated into the language of choreography with a truly hypnotic skill.
Balanchine has made a ballet about ballet. If one was to attempt to answer
the question, what is its significance, in a single word, this word would
be genius. The genius of the ensemble, the structural genius of the grand
classical pas, each of the four sections of which - entree, adagio, variations,
coda - Balanchine embellished choreographically and developed symphonically,
deploying them in space and uniting them in time - into the flow of the dance.
Le Palais de cristal is an ode to the dance logic of the grand classical
pas and, at the same time, an ode to the dance genius of the classical ballet
company.
Vadim Gaevsky (text from the handbook, abridged)
Characters and performers
Serenade Ballet in one act to
music of Serenade for string orchestra by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Choreography by
George Balanchine (1935)
© The George Balanchine Trust Production of
George Balanchine Ballet © SERENADE prepared in cooperation with the George
Balanchine Fund © and executed in accordance with the standards of Balanchine
Style © and Balanchine Technique ©, as stipulated and made available by the
Fund. Staged by Francia Russell, Suzanne Schorer Costume Designer: Barbara
Karinska Original Lighting by Ronald Bates Music Director: Igor
Dronov Adaptation of the Lighting Design: Alexander Rubtsov
World
premiere took place in New York (Adelphi Theatre) on March 1, 1935. Then the
piece was danced by American Ballet Was premiered on February 13,
2007. For the first time was presented with In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp
and Misericordes (Elsinore) by Christopher Wheeldon. Running time: 35
minutes.
Photo © Damir Yusupov/Bolshoi
Theatre
Schedule for Evening of one-act ballets by Balanchine: "Symphony in C" . "Serenade" 2022
|