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Five Movements, Three Repeats

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This dynamic programme is a new British-Chinese cultural collaboration exploring where classical meets contemporary dance, showcasing the extraordinary talents of Chinese prima ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan, principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Taiwanese virtuoso Fang-Yi Sheu. The evening includes three UK premieres choreographed by Taiwanese-born American Edwaard Liang, and Sadler'’s Wells’ Associate Artists Russell Maliphant and Christopher Wheeldon.

"Classical, modern ballet, and modern dance in one show. With various dance languages, it is a special night of a special cross over performance "BEIJING EVENING NEWS 

Finding Light, choreographed by Liang, is danced by San Francisco principal dancers Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith. Wheeldon’'s Five Movements, Three Repeats is centred around the luminous music of Max Richter and features a cast of four dancers, including Clifton Brown, former principal dancer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Russell Maliphant presents a new solo work – PresentPast, which was specially created for Fang-Yi Sheu, with lighting design by Sadler'’s Wells Associate Artist Michael Hulls. The evening also features two seminal works: Wheeldon'’s After The Rain and Maliphant’s Two x Two.

The evening premiered in Beijing last year and is a co-production with the National Centre for Performing Arts Beijing, Ballet Star Foundation Beijing and Sadler's Wells.

Sadlers Wells

Liang, Maliphant and Wheeldon at Sadler's Wells, Neil Norman Express, November 18, 2013 

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Liang/Maliphant/Wheeldon – review

Sadler's Wells, London

This collaboration with San Francisco ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan and Taiwanese contemporary dancer Fang-Yi Sheu is at times magnificent, at others superficially decorative

Judith Mackrell


The Guardian, Friday 15 November 2013 12.18 EST

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Falling apart … Fang-Yi Sheu and Clifton Brown in Christopher Wheeldon's Five Movements, Three Repeats. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian


It's not unusual to find Edwaard Liang, Christopher Wheeldon, and Russell Maliphant sharing a stage. In various combinations, these three have been choreographers of choice for the likes of Ballet Boyz, and Wheeldon's former company Morphoses. 


Liang/Maliphant/Wheeldon
Sadler's Wells,

London 

EC1
16 November

Box office: 0844 412 4300 Venue website

Here, however, they're part of a collaboration between San Francisco ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan and Taiwanese contemporary dancer Fang-Yi Sheu. And from the joyous concentration with which the two women dance together in their closing item, I suspect it was this, Maliphant's Two x Two, that inspired the project.

The duet plays up the women's similarities – their composed interiority and power – while dramatising the contrast between Tan's long, delicate line and Sheu's more compact strength. As their two bodies stretch and whirl through the transforming element of Michael Hulls' lighting, their dancing moves from warrior ferocity to a poetry of dissolving speed and light.

The effect is magnificent, but the rest of the programme acts as a very mixed prelude. Best is Maliphant's PresentPast. A solo for Sheu, its lyrical first half is accompanied by a sweetly ancient recording of Enrico Caruso, singing Gaetano Donizetti, before it jolts into a much darker version of itself – Andy Cowton's juddering score combining with the cracked texture of Hulls' lighting to send jagged, unsettling vibrations through Sheu's body.

Running Sheu a close second is Tan's performance of After the Rain, by Wheeldon. Aided by the handsomely sensitive partnering of Damian Smith, Tan's limbs inscribe a rapt calligraphy of emotion over this somewhat familiar duet.

But the other two items fall far short. Liang's Finding Light only intermittently delves below its decorative surface. More disappointing still is Wheeldon's Five Movements, Three Repeats, a work that strives to highlight the differences between its four performers (including the wonderful Clifton Brown ) but dances inconsequentially around them.

Liang/Maliphant/Wheeldon – review – Sadler's Wells, London, Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, November 15, 2013

This collaboration with San Francisco ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan and Taiwanese contemporary dancer Fang-Yi Sheu is at times magnificent, at others superficially decorative

Dance Review

Old Favorite Returns, Freshness Still In Its Step

By ALASTAIR MACAULAY

Published: September 28, 2012

Less than half of the quadruple bill that opens this year’s Fall for Dance season is much good — and yet, like so many Fall for Dance programs over the years, it’s refreshing. This intensely popular annual festival at City Center presents several works by different artists on each program; this year’s, for the first time, are spread over 12 evenings in three weeks. The emphasis is always on the modern and the unfamiliar; even when you decide you don’t care for some offerings, you’re usually still taken somewhere new. (Those of you who need your dance fixes from the “Don Quixote” pas de deux, go elsewhere.)

Thursday’s opening night included a world premiere, a United States premiere, a New York premiere and a work that, though not listed as any kind of novelty, was new to this seasoned dancegoer. It seems characteristic of Fall for Dance that three of them belonged to no single dance genre.

In “Five Movements, Three Repeats” (the New York premiere), Christopher Wheeldon offers a crossover event for four dancers: one of its two women is a barefoot modern dancer, the other a ballerina in point shoes. Jarek Cemerek’s “Void” (the United States premiere), danced by 10 chaps from the British company BalletBoyz, could be called an all-male urban ballet; it tries to be a modern equivalent of Jerome Robbins’s “West Side Story.” “Shutters Shut” (hitherto unknown to me) is a clever, arch construction for a quasi-androgynous man and woman, Astrid Boons and Quentin Roger from Nederlands Dans Theater. To label it modern dance seems at once adequate and misleading.

“Transformation in Tap,” the world premiere by, and starring, Jared Grimes, can be categorized — it’s tap — but actually its subject is transition. With the help of a taped voice-over, Mr. Grimes tells and demonstrates (with four co-dancers) the several stages of tap finesse through which he has to pass: starting with all-aggressive speed, adding upper-body suavity, adjusting his idiom to suit contemporary electronic music. Despite the self-deprecation, this isn’t a completely good idea; even at the end, Mr. Grimes lacks aspects of upper-body grace and softer dynamics. Still, his final sequence is a circuit of tapping turns with endearingly giddy charm. Just as I was settling into what he did best, the curtain descended.

I reviewed Mr. Wheeldon’s “Five Movements, Three Repeats” at the Vail International Dance Festival this summer. Danced by one modern dancer (Fang-Yi Sheu) and three members of New York City Ballet, it’s set to five musical items by the composer Max Richter. One of them, a pas de deux for Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle, is Mr. Richter’s remix of Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth.” Another — a dance for those three and Craig Hall, moving individually in separate zones — is repeated three times, on one occasion spatially reversed, as if seen from behind.

There’s a very welcome open-mindedness here. Not only are the modern-dance Ms. Sheu and the ballerina Ms. Whelan presented as equals, but the bare foot is also made to look at least as interesting as the point shoe. Mr. Wheeldon’s duets are always theatrically effective; Mr. Hall has a duet with Ms. Sheu that wins as much as applause as does Ms. Whelan’s with Mr. Angle.

The repeated quartet earned the least response, but even when seen only once, it is the section whose structural intricacy extends Mr. Wheeldon most as a dance maker. Its cool complexity — four people dancing different phrases at the same time, all satisfyingly studded with absorbing detail — makes it compelling on each viewing.

The irresistible ingredient of the “Shutters Shut” duet, choreographed by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, is its score, Gertrude Stein’s recording of “If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso” (1912); its meters, repetitions, half-rhymes all dryly turn speech into dance music. The accompanying Lightfoot-León choreography is good camp fun. Man and woman, wearing strong facial makeup and near identical attire, face front throughout, and the mood is that of a cheekily absurdist Tweedledum-Tweedledee routine. The dance follows Stein’s meters but without her entrancing wit or fluent brio.

In an introductory video, the founding dance duo of BalletBoyz — the former Royal Ballet principals Michael Nunn and William Trevitt — talk of how they, retired from the stage, are now passing on their skills to a new generation, but their charm, which is considerable, bleeds here into the cheesy. And the dance that follows is more mood than substance. An isolated backbend is used now and then, apparently to indicate existential anguish.

When together, the men, some occasionally wearing hoodies, do virile routines and take turns throwing themselves at one another. It’s forgettable — but, like so much Fall for Dance fare, it enlarges our picture of dance today.

The Fall for Dance festival continues through Oct. 13 at City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan; (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org.

Old Favorite Returns, Freshness Still In Its Step, Alastair Macaulay], NY Times, September 28, 2012

This Bitter Earth

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Music Dinah Washington and Max Richter (from the motion picture sountrack for Shutter Island)

Premiere Sept 20, 2012, New York City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater

Original Cast Wendy Whelan, Tyler Angle

Costumes by Valentino; Costume Supervision by Mark HappelLighting by Mary Louise Geiger

This Bitter Earth, NYCB

2013 Gala, SPAC

Fall for Dance

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2010

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9/28 Tue 8:00 PM 9/29 Wed 8:00 PM Merce Cunningham Dance Company XOVER Choreography by Merce Cunningham


Gallim Dance I Can See Myself in Your Pupil (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Andrea Miller


Madhavi Mudgal Vistaar Choreography by Madhavi Mudgal


Miami City Ballet The Golden Section Choreography by Twyla Tharp


9/30 Thu 8:00 PM 10/1 Fri 8:00 PM Company Rafaela Carrasco Three Movements (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Rafaela Carrasco


New York City Ballet Red Angels Choreography by Ulysses Dove


Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Duet Choreography by Bill T. Jones


Companhia Urbana de Dança ID:ENTIDADES Choreography by Sonia Destri with Companhia Urbana de Dança


10/2 Sat 8:00 PM 10/3 Sun 3:00 PM Shu- Yi & (Dancers) Company [1875] Ravel and Bolero Choreography by Shu- Yi Chou


San Francisco Ballet Diving into the Lilacs (pas de deux) Choreography by Yuri Possokhov


Emanuel Gat Dance My Favorite Things Choreography by Emanuel Gat


Paul Taylor Dance Company Company B Choreography by Paul Taylor


10/6 Wed 8:00 PM 10/7 Thu 8:00 PM Keigwin + Company with Juilliard Dance Megalopolis Choreography by Larry Keigwin


Corella Ballet Castilla y León Soleá Choreography by María Pagés


Russell Maliphant Company AfterLight (Part 1) Choreography by Russell Maliphant


Jason Samuels Smith & Friends Peace of Mind: The Remix Choreography by Jason Samuels Smith and Mr. Wiggles


10/8 Fri 8:00 PM 10/9 Sat 8:00 PM Tero Saarinen Company Man in a Room Choreography by Carolyn Carlson


Dresden Semperoper Ballett The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude Choreography by William Forsythe


American Ballet Theatre Thaïs Pas de Deux Choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton


Ronald K. Brown / Evidence, A Dance Company Grace Choreography by Ronald K. Brown

2011

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10/27 Thu 8:00 p.m.–10/28 Fri 8:00 p.m. Program 1

PROGRAM I

Mark Morris Dance Group, All Fours, Mark Morris Lil Buck, The Swan, Lil Buck Trisha Brown Dance Company, Rogues, Trisha Brown The Joffrey Ballet, Woven Dreams, Edwaard Liang

MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP All Fours Choreography by Mark Morris

LIVE MUSIC

ABOUT THIS PIECE In Morris’ All Fours, Béla Bartók’s spiky String Quartet No. 4 sets the tone for a four-part work in which two teams of dancers conjure contrasting worlds. It uses Bartok’s compositional idea of “cells” – small segments of seemingly unrelated musical information that coalesce after long exploration – almost literally in its choreography. Gestures, postures and stage positions recur, not with driving, headlong force, but with adventurous whimsy. Adventure leads to humor, with the troupe grazing about lizard-like on all fours before an elegiac conclusion.

COMPANY BIO The Mark Morris Dance Group was formed in 1980 and gave its first concert that year in New York City. The company’s touring schedule steadily expanded to include cities in the U.S. and Europe, and in 1988 MMDG was invited to become the national dance company of Belgium. Based in Brooklyn, NY, the Mark Morris Dance Group has maintained and strengthened its ties to several cities around the world, most notably its West Coast home, Cal Performances in Berkeley, CA, and its Midwest home, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. MMDG also appears regularly in New York City, Boston, Fairfax, VA, and Seattle.

LIL BUCK The Swan Choreography by Lil Buck

LIVE MUSIC

ABOUT THIS PIECE Lil Buck became a worldwide sensation when a YouTube video of his performance of The Swan with Yo-Yo Ma went viral earlier this year. His City Center performance of the work, an original blend of Memphis jookin' and ballet danced to the music of Camille Saint-Saëns, marks Lil Buck's Fall for Dance debut. A choreographed improvisation by Lil Buck, The Swan was developed by the New Ballet Ensemble and School, Memphis, TN, for Arts Education and Community Engagement.

COMPANY BIO Lil Buck is known for his Memphis jookin’, a street dance that originated in Memphis, and he is the founder of his own dance group, New Styles Krew. Lil Buck began jookin’ informally and received early hip-hop training from Terran Gary in Memphis. At age 16, he began ballet training at the New Ballet Ensemble, where he performed and choreographed until moving to Los Angeles in 2009. As a choreographer, Lil Buck recently co-choreographed and starred in the video for recording artist Janelle Monae’s Grammy-nominated hit song “Tightrope.” He has performed on numerous television shows, including an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” and three appearances on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.” In April 2011, Lil Buck collaborated with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in performances of The Swan, directed by Damian Woetzel for an "Arts Strike" engagement with students at Inner City Arts in downtown Los Angeles. He also recently appeared with Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble for the opening performance of SummerStage in Central Park. He is the 2011 Artist-in-Residence of the Vail International Dance Festival.

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY Rogues Choreography by Trisha Brown

ABOUT THIS PIECE Trisha Brown’s newest work explores ideas of sculpture, calligraphy, and knots, and playing with the idea of imagined spaces. What has emerged is an interest in interruption: the way one dancer's choice interrupts another’s kinetic intention, very much like Ms. Brown’s own body is filled with kinetic redirection. Collaborating on the piece are Burt Barr (visual presentation), Alvin Curran (sound), Kaye Voyce (costumes) and John Torres (lights).

COMPANY BIO Trisha Brown Dance Company has presented the work of its legendary artistic director for more than 40 years. Founded in 1970 when Trisha Brown branched out from the experimental Judson Dance Theater to work with her own group of dancers, TBDC offered its first performances at alternative sites in Manhattan’s SoHo. Today, the Company is regularly seen in the landmark opera houses of New York, Paris, London, and many other theaters around the world. In 2011-12, TBDC will tour internationally to France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Chile, and within the United States to California, Massachusetts and Arizona as well as performances in New York.

THE JOFFREY BALLET Woven Dreams Choreography by Edwaard Liang

ABOUT THIS PIECE A giant fabric latticework looms over the surreal dreamscapes of Woven Dreams, Edwaard Liang’s abstract ballet for 18 dancers. Liang created the work, set to music by Britten, Ravel, Gallasso and Gorecki, for the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet earlier this year.

COMPANY BIO The Joffrey Ballet has been hailed as “America’s Company of Firsts.” The Joffrey Ballet’s long list of “firsts” includes being the first dance company to perform at the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, the first to appear on television, the first American company to visit Russia, the first classical dance company to go multi-media, the first to commission a rock ‘n’ roll ballet, the first and only dance company to appear on the cover of Time magazine, and the first company to have had a major motion picture based on it, Robert Altman’s The Company. Classically trained to the highest standards, Joffrey expresses a unique perspective on dance, reflecting the diversity of America with its company, audiences, and a repertoire that includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works.

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10/29 Sat 8:00 p.m.–10/30 Sun 8:00 p.m. Program 2

PROGRAM II

Vertigo Dance Company, Mana (adapted for Fall for Dance), Noa Wertheim Drew Jacoby, New Work, Andrea Miller, Artistic Director of Gallim Dance Jessica Lang Dance, Among the Stars, Jessica Lang Richard Alston Dance Company, Roughcut, Richard Alston

VERTIGO DANCE COMPANY Mana (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Noa Wertheim

ABOUT THIS PIECE Eight dancers in flowing black garments conjure hypnotic visions in this 2009 work from Jerusalem-based Vertigo Dance Company, one of Israel’s most revered and dynamic dance troupes. Choreographed by company co-founder Noa Wertheim, Mana has been declared a masterwork by critics in Israel and abroad.

COMPANY BIO Vertigo Dance Company is a highly acclaimed Israeli dance company that has performed around the globe and has received numerous awards in Israel and abroad. Founded in 1992 by Adi Sha’al and Noa Wertheim, Vertigo performs innovative contemporary pieces relating to current social realities. Vertigo also functions as a dance school in Jerusalem that offers classes and workshops for a wide audience (including a special program for disabled dancers). Vertigo represents international standards of artistic excellence, with a social and community touch. This performance marks the company's Fall for Dance debut.

DREW JACOBY New Work Choreography by Andrea Miller, Artistic Director of Gallim Dance

WORLD PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE New Work, a world premiere choreographed by Gallim Dance Artistic Director Andrea Miller, imagines a ballerina transformed into wind. Created for contemporary ballet dancer Drew Jacoby, seen here in her Fall for Dance debut, this solo is set to new music by Radiohead.

COMPANY BIO Drew Jacoby was born in Boise, Idaho, and received her later training at San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She is a 2005 Princess Grace Award recipient and has worked with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, Sylvie Guillem, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Dutch National Ballet, and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. In 2008 she co-founded her independent partnership, Jacoby & Pronk, with former Dutch National Ballet star Rubinald Pronk and was featured on the August 2009 cover of Dance Magazine. In 2010 she founded DancePulp, a media website featuring video interviews with high profile dance industry professionals with distribution to major TV websites, including Hulu.com.

JESSICA LANG DANCE Among the Stars Choreography by Jessica Lang

N.Y. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE Among the Stars is inspired by Tanabata, the Japanese star festival. The piece celebrates the meeting of two lovers, separated by the Milky Way, who are allowed to meet only once a year on theseventh day of the seventh lunar month.

COMPANY BIO Jessica Lang Dance is a newly formed NYC-based dance organization under the direction and vision of Jessica Lang. Since 1999, Lang has created more than 75 works on companies including The Joffrey Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Ailey II and ABT II, among many others. She has also received commissions from the Dallas Museum of Art and Guggenheim Museum, as well as from numerous universities and prestigious institutions. Lang is the recipient of a 2010 Joyce Theater Residency, generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which enabled her to launch her own group, Jessica Lang Dance, in the summer of 2011. This performance marks the company's Fall for Dance debut.

RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY Roughcut Choreography by Richard Alston

LIVE MUSIC U.S. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE Richard Alston’s contemporary classic Roughcut is danced to the cascading peals of Steve Reich’s music. It is a dance about vitality and, as its name implies, it does not bother to be tidy at the edges. But the throw-away energy of the movement is anchored by a very specific use of the body’s weight and pull, and this emphasis has to be there properly to articulate and syncopate the music’s intricate rhythm. Roughcut is a euphoric display of pure energy.

COMPANY BIO Richard Alston Dance Company has grown into the UK’s most avidly followed modern dance company. The company offers a unique combination of the innovative and the entertaining in the work of its Artistic Director, Richard Alston. Richard Alston Dance Company’s reputation on the British dance scene is now increasingly being matched overseas. Music plays a vital part in the company’s identity and since its inception Alston has used the work of a diverse range of composers, including Brahms, Britten, Hoagy Carmichael, Philip Glass, Heiner Goebbels, Astor Piazzolla, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Schumann, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. This performance marks the company's Fall for Dance debut.

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11/1 Tue 8:00 p.m.–11/2 Wed 8:00 p.m. Program 3

PROGRAM III

The Australian Ballet, Gemini, Glen Tetley Steven McRae, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, Something Different, Steven McRae Pontus Lidberg Dance, Faune, Pontus Lidberg Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, THREE TO MAX, Ohad Naharin

THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET Gemini Choreography by Glen Tetley

ABOUT THIS PIECE Glen Tetley created Gemini on The Australian Ballet in 1973. By extending the physicality of classical technique in response to the challenging score by Hans Werner Henze, he created a strong, dynamic and exciting work that exhilarates dancers and audiences alike. Gemini is a masterpiece that explores the synthesis of classical and contemporary movement.

COMPANY BIO Founded in 1962, The Australian Ballet is one of the country's flagship arts companies, and for nearly five decades has been the defining face of ballet in Australia. Now in its 50th Anniversary Season, the company performs works from the classical repertoire as well as contemporary works by major Australian and international choreographers, and new commissions that explore the development and future of this dynamic art form. Versatility, technical excellence and a warm, friendly style are the trademarks of The Australian Ballet, qualities that have earned both critical and audience acclaim.

STEVEN McRAE PRINCIPAL DANCER OF THE ROYAL BALLET, LONDON Something Different Choreography by Steven McRae

U.S. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE No tights or ballet slippers here – with Something Different, Royal Ballet principal dancer Steven McRae is coming to City Center to do something, well, different. The versatile McRae will make his Fall for Dance debut with a tap solo set to Benny Goodman’s rendition of “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

COMPANY BIO Born in Sydney, Australia, Steven McRae began dancing at the age of 7. In 2002 he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Royal Academy of Dance Genée International Ballet Competition before going on to win the prestigious Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition in 2003. In 2004, Steven joined the Royal Ballet and was quickly promoted through the ranks, achieving the title of Principal in 2009. He has guested in numerous countries across the world including Australia, Japan, HongKong, USA, Cuba, Mexico and all through Europe. Other performance highlights include performing for Royalty at Buckingham Palace.

PONTUS LIDBERG DANCE Faune Choreography by Pontus Lidberg

U.S. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE Faune, a work for five dancers set to the emblematic music by Debussy, explores identity and the inevitable question we all face: "Who am I?"

COMPANY BIO Pontus Lidberg Dance, founded by choreographer and filmmaker Pontus Lidberg, is based in Sweden and New York. Lidberg has created more than 25 works for major international dance companies, including Morphoses, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and The Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process series, as well as for his own company. He received international acclaim and numerous awards for his 2007 dance film The Rain. In 2010, he was artist-in-residence at Joyce SoHo and the Baryshnikov Arts Center while working on his latest dance film, Labyrinth Within, featuring NYCB principal dancer Wendy Whelan. This performance marks the company's Fall for Dance debut.

HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO THREE TO MAX Choreography by Ohad Naharin

N.Y. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE THREE TO MAX, a new creation for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, is a collage of excerpts from two works by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Tel Aviv-based Batsheva Dance Company. THREE TO MAX, set to music by J.S. Bach, Brian Eno, Ohad Naharin, Rayon, Seefeel, and The Beach Boys, was created as part of Hubbard Street’s 2011 Celebrating the Art of Israel project.

COMPANY BIO Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates 34 years as one of the most original forces in contemporary dance. One of the only American dance companies to operate year-round, HSDC continues to produce bold and passionate performances for Chicago, national and international audiences, always changing and evolving while maintaining the highest artistic standards. Hubbard Street contributes to the evolution of dance by developing new choreographic talent and collaborating with artists in music, visual art and theater. This performance marks the company's Fall for Dance debut.

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11/3 Thu 8:00 p.m.–11/4 Fri 8:00 p.m. Program 4

PROGRAM IV

TAO Dance Theater, Weight x 3 (adapted for Fall for Dance), Tao Ye CCN de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne / Compagnie Käfig, Agwa, Mourad Merzouki Royal Ballet of Flanders, The Return of Ulysses (adapted for Fall for Dance), Christian Spuck Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, Pa’ Cuba me voy, Lizt Alfonso

TAO DANCE THEATER Weight x 3 (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Tao Ye

U.S. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE Weight x 3 is a selection of works choreographed over the course of a year and performed to the music of Steve Reich. The work is permeated with our conceptions of “body” and physical practice. In our pursuit of the corporeal, our spirit becomes free.

COMPANY BIO TAO Dance Theater, one of China’s leading modern dance companies, was founded by Tao Ye in 2008. A graduate of the Chongqing Dance School in Chongqing, China, Tao Ye began his career with the Shanghai Army Song and Dance Ensemble before joining the Jin Xing Dance Theater in 2003. Tao Ye went on to perform with the Beijing Modern Dance Company, touring extensively throughout China and internationally. His works have been performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Belgium, The Netherlands, Singapore, USA, Amsterdam, France, Sweden and Switzerland. This performance marks TAO Dance Theater's Fall for Dance debut.

CCN DE CRÉTEIL ET DU VAL-DE-MARNE / COMPAGNIE KÄFIG Agwa Choreography by Mourad Merzouki

ABOUT THIS PIECE French hip-hop choreographer Mourad Merzouki’s Agwa is a high-energy mix of samba, hip-hop, capoeira, bossa nova and electronic music. Glasses filled with water double as props and a precarious obstacle course in this innovative work that has been called "the best hip-hop show of the last 10 years."

COMPANY BIO Compagnie Käfig is French hip-hop company founded by Mourad Merzouki. Born in Lyon in 1973, Merzouki started learning martial arts and circus skills at age seven. At 15 he discovered hip-hop and began exploring the world of dance. He soon decided to orient his hip-hop style toward more professional horizons, but at the same time had no qualms about testing himself in other dance fields, notably with Maryse Delente, Jean-François Duroure and Josef Nadj. With all this experience came the urge to undertake his own artistic projects, mixing hip-hop with what he had learned about performing publicly. In 1996, feeling the need to create an artistic world linked to his personal history and sensibility, Mourad Merzouki decided to found his own company: Käfig.

ROYAL BALLET OF FLANDERS The Return of Ulysses (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Christian Spuck

N.Y. PREMIERE

ABOUT THIS PIECE Penelope awaits the return of her husband, Ulysses, while fending off the advances of lusty suitors in The Return of Ulysses, a dance theater work by German choreographer Christian Spuck.

COMPANY BIO The Royal Ballet of Flanders was established in 1969 thanks to the persistent inspiration of Jeanne Brabants. Today the Ballet is an enterprise with a contemporary corporate structure and culture, in which artistic and commercial knowledge and capability go hand in hand. Being the only professional, classically trained dance company makes the Ballet a monument in Flanders and far beyond. But most of all the Ballet is a dynamic company. Under its roof 52 professional dancers work hard to stay in shape, refine their technique, and practice their next performance to perfection, six days a week. They can count on the commitment and craftsmanship of an in-house workshop for scenery and costumes, and a fully-fledged technical team. Together with the artistic and commercial management and their administration, the number of employees at the company adds up to 90, each and every one living and working gladly and passionately to the rhythm of the Ballet.

LIZT ALFONSO DANCE CUBA Pa’ Cuba me voy Choreography by Lizt Alfonso

LIVE MUSIC

ABOUT THIS PIECE The all-female Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba makes its Fall for Dance debut with Pa’ Cuba me voy, a work that features 17 dancers and seven musicians in a sensual combination of flamenco, ballet, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms.

COMPANY BIO Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba is a genuine expression of the mixture that characterizes Cuban culture, with its abundant rhythms, movements and colors. Made up only of women, its shows originally mixed elements of flamenco, ballet and dance with Spanish and Afro-Cuban rhythms, creating a repertoire full of virtuosity and sensuality. The company includes its own music group, which composes the shows’ original soundtracks and accompanies it in each live performance. Long, standing ovations and excellent reviews have accompanied Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba wherever it performs.

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11/5 Sat 8:00 p.m.–11/6 Sun 3:00 p.m. Program 5

PROGRAM V

Maurice Chestnut, Floating, Maurice Chestnut New York City Ballet, Polyphonia, Christopher Wheeldon Liz Gerring Dance Company, Lichtung/Clearing (adapted for Fall for Dance), Liz Gerring Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Festa Barocca, Mauro Bigonzetti

MAURICE CHESTNUT Floating Choreography by Maurice Chestnut

LIVE MUSIC

ABOUT THIS PIECE Floating, choreographed by tap artist Maurice Chestnut, showcases tap dance as the leading instrument in a musical mix of jazz, R & B and soul.

COMPANY BIO Tap dancer Maurice Chestnut performs with The Above Ground Project, a group of artists who have come together to preserve the traditions of all different art forms and genres of music. They have been performing together at venues across the world. This performance marks Chestnut's Fall for Dance debut.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET Polyphonia Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

LIVE MUSIC

ABOUT THIS PIECE "Romantic with comic twists," is how Christopher Wheeldon describes his 2001 work choreographed to 10 eclectic piano pieces by György Ligeti. The composer’s music finds its match in the choreographer’s interweaving of ballet and modem dance movement.

COMPANY BIO New York City Ballet is one of the foremost dance companies in the world, with an active repertory of more than 150 works, many of which are considered modern masterpieces. The company was established in 1948 by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, and quickly became world-renowned for its athletic, contemporary style, and compelling ballets. Now under the direction of Peter Martins, the company has more than 90 dancers, a 62-member orchestra, an official school (The School of American Ballet), and an annual 23-week season at Lincoln Center.

LIZ GERRING DANCE COMPANY Lichtung/Clearing (adapted for Fall for Dance) Choreography by Liz Gerring

ABOUT THIS PIECE Lichtung/Clearing is a collaborative visual, sound and movement environment created by Gerring along with visual artist Ursula Scherrer and electronic music composer Michael J. Schumacher. Cinematic in proportions, the dance is enveloped in video and sound.

COMPANY BIO Since its inception in NYC in 1998, Liz Gerring Dance Company has been exploring non-narrative, abstract movement, often derived from natural gesture. Works are characterized by their intense physicality and intricate choreography. Movement evolves from cause and effect rather than storytelling, and is framed by independent media elements – often a multi-channel sound score, or video set design. The company is noted for its close collaboration with contemporary visual artists and a longtime association with electronic music composer Michael J. Schumacher. The company currently numbers eight dancers including Liz Gerring herself. Since 1998, The Liz Gerring Dance Company has presented work at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Danspace Project, The Connelly Theater, The Kitchen, and other venues nationally.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER Festa Barocca Choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti

ABOUT THIS PIECE Acclaimed Italian ballet choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti brings his highly dramatic style, complex partnering, and seamless blend of classical and modern to the Ailey repertory in Festa Barocca, his first work for an American modern dance company. Set to the music of Handel, this festive piece for 30 dancers showcases the Ailey dancers’ emotional intensity, wit and technical prowess.

COMPANY BIO Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African-American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance. The Ailey company has gone on to perform live for an estimated 23 million people in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents – as well as millions more through television broadcasts. Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey designated Judith Jamison as his successor, and over the next 21 years, she brought the Company to unprecedented success. In July 2011, Ms. Jamison passed the mantle to Robert Battle. In announcing his appointment as Artistic Director, Ms. Jamison stated, “Combining an intimate knowledge of the Ailey company with an independent perspective, Robert Battle is without question the creative force of the future.”

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cello
piano
Move, Members, Move
Pilgrim of Sorrow
Take Me to the Water
Sinner Man
Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel
Fix Me, Jesus
I Been 'Buked
I Wanna Be Ready
Processional / Honor, Honor
Rocka My soul in the Bosom of Abraham
The Day is Past and Gone
Wade in the Water
You May Run On
Katerina Bychkova
Vanya Verikosa

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[1875] Ravel and Bolero AfterLight (Part 1) American Ballet Theatre Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Choreography by Andrea Miller Choreography by Bill T. Jones Choreography by Carolyn Carlson Choreography by Emanuel Gat Choreography by Jason Samuels Smith and Mr. Wiggles Choreography by Larry Keigwin Choreography by Madhavi Mudgal Choreography by María Pagés Choreography by Merce Cunningham Choreography by Paul Taylor Choreography by Rafaela Carrasco Choreography by Ronald K. Brown Choreography by Russell Maliphant Choreography by Shu- Yi Chou Choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton Choreography by Sonia Destri with Companhia Urbana de Dança Choreography by Twyla Tharp Choreography by Ulysses Dove Choreography by William Forsythe Choreography by Yuri Possokhov Companhia Urbana de Dança Company B Company Rafaela Carrasco Corella Ballet Castilla y León Diving into the Lilacs (pas de deux) Dresden Semperoper Ballett Duet Emanuel Gat Dance Gallim Dance Grace I Can See Myself in Your Pupil (adapted for Fall for Dance) ID:ENTIDADES Jason Samuels Smith & Friends Keigwin + Company with Juilliard Dance Madhavi Mudgal Man in a Room Megalopolis Merce Cunningham Dance Company Miami City Ballet My Favorite Things New York City Ballet Paul Taylor Dance Company Peace of Mind: The Remix Red Angels Ronald K. Brown / Evidence, A Dance Company Russell Maliphant Company San Francisco Ballet Shu- Yi & (Dancers) Company Soleá Tero Saarinen Company Thaïs Pas de Deux The Golden Section The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude Three Movements (adapted for Fall for Dance) Vistaar XOVER

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Official website

James Fayette

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  • promoted to principal [4]

FFD 2012

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2012

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week one, September 27–30

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week two, October 2–7

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Four Temperaments

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Balanchine choreographed The Four Temperaments for the opening program of Ballet Society, the 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 elements (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 individual's temperament. Thus a person dominated by black bile was melancholic (gloomily pensive), by blood was sanguinic (headstrong and passionate), by phlegm was phlegmatic (unemotional and passive), and by bile was choleric (bad-tempered and angry). The titles of the ballet's four movements — "Melancholic," "Sanguinic," "Phlegmatic," and "Choleric" — reflect these principles.

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 elements (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 individual's temperament. Thus a person dominated by black bile was melancholic (gloomily pensive), by blood was sanguinic (headstrong and passionate), by phlegm was phlegmatic (unemotional and passive), and by bile was 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.

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.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), a key representative of the neo-classical school, is considered one of the greatest German composers of this century. He fled the Nazis (who banned his music) and was a professor of music at Yale from 1940-1953. A conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and theorist, he wrote several books on music theory.

Repertory notes

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provided courtesy of and adapted from New York City Ballet Online Repertory Index.

Additional sources

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Choreography by George Balanchine: A Catalogue of Works , An Eakins Press Foundation Book, published by Viking (1984); and Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet by Nancy Reynolds (1970; The Dial Press).

Note

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The three main themes are stated in the opening section by three successive couples. The variations are named after the four temperaments of medieval cosmology. The score, commissioned by Balanchine and completed in 1940, was partially choreographed by Balanchine during the 1941 American Ballet Caravan tour of South America for an entirely different ballet titled The Cave of Sleep; Pavel Tchelitchew created designs for costumes and décor, but the work was never produced.

Revisions

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1947, Ballet Society: Original finale, which resembled an undulating football huddle from which an erect figure (Dollar) was raised aloft, completely rechoreographed. Resulting linear formations have remained basically the same over the years, despite Balanchine's frequent small alterations. The most radical of these, the 1977 changes for Dance in America, retain the essence of the linear structure; most were transferred to the stage version. The original MELANCHOLIC VARIATION was more acrobatic than it later became. For the 1975 New York City Ballet revival, the PHLEGMATIC VARIATION was rechoreographed in part in a brighter, more extroverted style.

Film

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1989, Seahorse Films, Dancing for Mr.B (excerpts from 1947 Ballet Society rehearsal).

Video/DVD

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1995, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: Dancing for Mr.B (excerpts from the 1947 Ballet Society rehearsal); 1995, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: Choreography by Balanchine [1977]; 2004, Kultur, Balanchine (MELANCHOLIC [excerpt]).

Archival Video

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George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive (SANGUINIC), 1997; (PHLEGMATIC), 1998.

Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet

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archived notes 2006 - 2007

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Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet archived notes 2006 - 2007

Backstage at The Suzanne Farrell Ballet On Balanchine's Scotch Symphony On Balanchine's Mozartiana On the scène d’amour from Béjart’s Romeo and Juliet On Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue On the Balanchine Preservation Initiative On George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream On Bolshoi Ballet: Cinderella On Bolshoi Ballet: Don Quixote On Matthew Bourne: Edward Scissorhands On ABT: Othello and Mixed Repertory On Kirov Ballet: Romeo and Juliet

Backstage at The Suzanne Farrell Ballet

I hope you had the opportunity to attend our performances June 6-10 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Below, I've compiled some memorable statements overheard during our rehearsals for the engagement. Indeed, bringing ballet to the stage is hard work - but it's also a lot of fun! But first, I've posted a backstage photo album that captures another side of our dancers during the performances. Enjoy your behind-the-scenes tour!

Overheard ...

During the scène d’amour from Romeo and Juliet

"Death isn't convenient" - Me (Suzanne Farrell) to 'Romeo' as he was trying to not trip over a 'dead Montague'

During Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

"Oh, this is me dead." and "Oh, right!" - Katelyn Prominski, when told she could not help her partner in lifting her, being that she is still dead at that point.

"You have a week to train your hair." - Me to the 3 'strippers' who can't seem to keep their hair out of their faces

"It's just as crooked as it was before." - Neil Marshall referring to his nose after getting hit in it during rehearsal

"Rough him up! Make it look real!" - Me

"I'm nimble, you can rough me up." - Bannon Puckett, the gangster

Both to Paul Lavrakas, the 'arresting officer'

During Divertimento Brillante

"Well, he's standing there..." and "She starts where it gets harder." - Ron Matson, to Glen Sales, our piano player during the rehearsal. First when Glen couldn't figure out why he had to keep playing and couldn't stop to turn the page, second when trying to figure out where in the music to pick up from.

"Now I know I have to drink some coffee before." -Glen Sales referring to the tempo of the music

Other Memorable Moments

"You always watch the conductor." - Me, in response to a dancer asking who starts the piece, her or the maestro

"You can't be a one-person line." - Me, quoting Balanchine

"It's just a hairdo!" -Elisa Holowchuk to a fellow female dancer who was having issues with fly-aways as she was attempting to create a bun.

"A stay is not a stop!" and "You're always dancing, even if you're not moving, you're always dancing." - Me

On Balanchine's Scotch Symphony, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, June 6–10, 2007

Scotch Symphony is Balanchine's homage to Scotland, performed to Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 - which in turn was inspired by the composer's visit to the country in the 1800s.

A lovely gesture, the ballet plays out in three movements. The first features the ensemble and a solo girl dancer, followed by the pas de deux accompanied by eight men from the corps de ballet. The finale joyously ends in a choreographic tattoo, which mirrors the colorful Scottish synchronized marching.

Scotch Symphony premiered in 1952; the original cast included Maria Tallchief, André Eglevsky, and Patricia Wilde. I first performed the ballerina role as an 18 year old in 1964, at an arts festival in Germany, when Jacques d'Amboise asked if I would join him in the Munich Ballet's production. I went on to dance Scotch Symphony many other times, including performances with André Prokovsky in the fortress high atop a windy mountain in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia.

On occasion, I caution audiences that Scotch Symphony is not Balanchine's answer to the Romantic La Sylphide of 1832. Balanchine's evokes the mood of elusiveness and reverie in the pas de deux. The ballerina seems like an apparition, as if in the man’s memory. They return in the finale with a harmonious resolution.

One of the many reasons Scotch Symphony is special to me is because it's the first large-scale ballet I ever staged. In December 1988, I flew to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to teach it to the Kirov Ballet. It was the first time I had assumed this responsibility. I only had 10 days to stage the ballet, so I spent weeks preparing detailed, absolutely beautiful notes. When I got to Leningrad, however, my notes didn't seem to make any sense at all. They became irrelevant.

Luckily, the act of writing them down had imprinted the choreography in my mind, and I was successful in teaching it. Divertimento No. 15 was the next large-scale ballet I staged, and again, I made copious notes. But I haven't made many notes since. It requires an enormous amount of writing before you finally get to the essence of what you want. And during rehearsals, if you're constantly referring back to notes, the focus and energy gets scattered. My note-taking days were brief, albeit necessary, so that I could learn to trust my muscle and music memory. In certain instances, I do make pattern and meter notes in the score.

Though the Mariinsky Theatre is where Balanchine got his start, in 1988 the Kirov dancers were not very familiar with his work. I feel my notes became irrelevant because the whole process was therefore entering a different world. For example, they weren't used to the speed of Balanchine's tempos - they wanted them slower. I had to remind them that if you haven't performed to Balanchine's tempos, which follow the conductor, you haven't performed Balanchine.

My lead Kirov dancers in Scotch Symphony, Elena Pankova and Yuri Zhukov, were also perplexed by a particular running step in the pas de deux. Balanchine tended to stress the importance of transitions, so this part in the sequence had never been odd to me. Elena and Yuri wanted to do more with it though - add some "real ballet steps" to the run - but to Balanchine, running is the step!

Over 10 days, I came face to face with many other Soviet conventions: not wanting to dance anything in rehearsal until it's polished in private first; perceiving the corps de ballet primarily as scenery vs. Balanchine insisting on its vital importance. But ultimately I brought Scotch Symphony to the Mariinsky stage as part of "An Evening of Balanchine" in February 1989. Elena and Yuri learned to love speed and running and were wonderful in the ballet.

I knew I was going to retire from dancing soon, but I wasn't sure what came after. This experience marked a new path for me.

On Balanchine's Mozartiana, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, June 6–10, 2007

I've said before that Mozartiana changed my life more than any other ballet Balanchine made on me. It has an aura about it unlike any other ballet, which partly has to do with Balanchine's fragile health when he choreographed it in 1981. There was this sense that it might be his last ballet. This is one reason why Mozartiana is so profound.

Prior to this version, Balanchine had choreographed two others to Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 4, Mozartiana. Each time, he created different choreography to the composer's tribute to Mozart using different configurations of dancers. Our version premiered at New York City Ballet's Tchaikovsky Festival, with me and Ib Andersen in the original cast.

The choreography is divided into five sections. It begins with a Preghiera, or Prayer, in which the ballerina is accompanied by four young girls, performing to Mozart's "Ave Verum." A male soloist then dances a Gigue, and four women dance a Minuet. The ballerina returns with the male principal for multiple complex Variations on the musical Theme and ending with a haunting, sustained pas de deux. The finale is an exultant celebration that only Balanchine could devise.

Balanchine loved having children in his ballets. He always treated them with respect, just like young adults, and never spoke down to them. Mozartiana is a great ballet for children to see. The four girls from the Prayer return for the Finale and perform steps that are very challenging and complicated. They have to do them just like the adults, with the same level of sophistication. I think that shows how much faith Balanchine had in young people.

My costume for Mozartiana went through numerous changes before everyone settled on the final, formal, all-black look. For the premiere only, there was a shorter tutu. In the 1950s, Balanchine had choreographed a ballet called Roma. It featured wonderful costumes - velvet bodices in rich colors, sort of puff-white organza sleeves, and the soft skirts reached to around the mid-thigh. Roma had a short life, but each time Balanchine choreographed a new ballet in the '60s, out these costumes would come. They even appeared in Don Quixote! I loved them, but I never got to dance in one.

Years later, for Mozartiana, I finally got my wish, and a similar costume was made for me. Once I stepped into it, however, I realized it didn't seem right for the ballet. Costumes are extremely important, of course - they add great visual interest, but as a dancer, each one also makes you move so differently. The "weightiness" of Mozartiana's choreography felt like it required a longer dress, but we had no choice at this late time, so the shorter costume stayed for the first performance. I must admit, I felt like one of those 1950s hat-check girls in the movies, who come around selling cigars!

During the June premiere, it turned out, I injured my foot, and with no understudy for me, Mozartiana was cancelled for the rest of the season. By the time I danced it in Saratoga Springs later that summer, the costume was very different. Balanchine also realized the costume was inappropriate; perhaps he had been tied to the costumes from his previous versions of Mozartiana. Once the skirt was longer, all seemed right with the world.

I've staged Mozartiana many times - for my company, for Boston Ballet, and for National Ballet of Canada. I also taught it in Moscow, at the Bolshoi. Every time I stage one of Balanchine's ballets, I see something different. I'm constantly discovering another facet of his genius. Though he was a brilliant man, Balanchine never acted like he knew everything about everything. He was also a very good listener. It was that kind of connection - with his dancers, with the music, and with himself - that made working with him so extraordinary. Mozartiana was Balanchine's last great masterpiece. It was because this ballet existed that I could survive the death of the man who made it.

On the scène d'amour from Béjart's Romeo and Juliet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, June 6–10, 2007

In 1970, Maurice Béjart invited me to join his Belgium-based company Ballet du XXe Siècle ("Ballet of the 20th Century," now based in Switzerland and called Béjart Ballet Lausanne). Though his company was known for its emphasis on male dancing, he said he wanted to do new ballets for me. I accepted the invitation and moved to Brussels for four years. Soon after joining the company, I began portraying Juliet in Béjart's full-length production of Romeo and Juliet, which had premiered to wide acclaim in 1966.

Béjart's scène d'amour from the ballet is not the typical balcony sequence in other versions of Romeo and Juliet. It takes place following the Capulet ball, as in the traditional narrative, but Béjart gives the scene a more dramatic edge by choreographing it as an extended pas de deux. This inspired format uniquely encapsulates the core tension of the story and cleverly foreshadows some of the tragedies to come.

In the scene, Romeo and Juliet's feelings for each other ignite, burn bright, and ultimately crystallize as they dance. They know their families are hostile toward each other, yet they pursue their destiny despite this conflict. Béjart not only explores the euphoric potential of their love with his passionate partnering style, he portends the terrible harm their union will bring about. Further increasing the ill-fated mood of the scene is Hector Berlioz's symphony. It's not like Prokofiev's balcony music for Romeo and Juliet, which is very beautiful and harmonious throughout. Berlioz's score for the scène d'amour shifts from loving and dreamlike to more ominous and discordant.

I have many fond memories of dancing Béjart's Romeo and Juliet. He originally choreographed it to be presented in the round - as he did with many of his ballets. We frequently performed in this style of venue. You can never let your guard down, whether you're the lead or in the corps de ballet. And performing in three-dimensions like this offers great possibilities for your character. For example, when Jorge Donn's Romeo was carrying me, I knew I was being seen from all angles, and that sensation was incredibly freeing.

The floor was a canvas painted with a dynamic design, which added even more depth and drama to the story. When we were filming the ballet in Florence, Italy, in the Boboli Gardens, there was an enormous ramp that we ran up and over and down and around during the pas de deux. It expanded the dance into a passionate marathon. I loved it!

This doesn't mean transposing Romeo and Juliet to a proscenium stage, like in the Kennedy Center's Opera House, makes the ballet any less interesting. On the contrary, it challenges you to make your performance even more theatrical - larger, more vibrant, and more vital than ever.

I have staged the scène d'amour at the Kennedy Center twice before. In 1999, prior to the official creation of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, I staged it for the Center's "Masters of 20th Century Ballet" celebration, which in addition to Béjart also featured classics by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. During the engagement, I presented lecture-demonstrations with my dancers to explore how love - its possibilities and also its consequences - can be expressed through ballet in different ways.

I truly enjoyed this aspect of our engagement that year. We used as examples Titania's tender and lighthearted pas de deux with Bottom, the donkey, in Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the innocent love in Robbins's Afternoon of a Faun, and of course Béjart's Romeo and Juliet. The Shakespeare in Washington festival is the perfect opportunity for me to bring Béjart's masterpiece back again.

On Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, June 6–10, 2007

Originally, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was not programmed as part of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet's season. My initial plan was to honor Maurice Béjart and the collaboration we shared through my staging of his Rite of Spring. We had been discussing this idea for a couple of years; I visited him in December for his 80th birthday and he is not well. Travel from Switzerland would have been dangerously difficult for him. It was vital for both of us that he oversee final rehearsals, and now this became impossible.

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was a huge success when it premiered in 1968. The work is derived from Rodgers and Hart's musical comedy On Your Toes, which Balanchine originally choreographed in 1936. A parody of Broadway, ballet, and the mob, the full musical follows a Russian danseur who hires a gangster to kill his rival during the premiere of a new ballet. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue focuses on that "story within the story," about a strip tease girl and the tap-dancing hoofer who's in love with her.

Balanchine always loved the movies and the theater, and he choreographed numerous musicals in the 1930s before co-founding New York City Ballet, among them Babes in Arms, Where's Charley?, Cabin in the Sky, and Goldwyn Follies. Back then, Hollywood and Broadway offered prime opportunities for choreographers and musicians, so that's where many of them went - Balanchine, Stravinsky, and others.

In the 1960s, I had seen the movie version of On Your Toes and had adored the music. So I approached Balanchine and told him I really wanted to dance it. (I actually think I said, "If you don't do it, I'll choreograph it myself!"). Balanchine obliged and re-choreographed the "story within the story" to create Slaughter on Tenth Avenue on me.

Arthur Mitchell was also in the original cast - he portrayed the hoofer. The choreography uses a few ballet steps, but it's mostly Broadway and tap-dancing, and definitely not classical. For me, it was intriguing to perform, for example, the exquisite Symphony in C in the first part of a program, and then return after intermission to dance something so comedic and whimsical for sheer entertainment. The music is delightfully infectious. Most audiences have heard it at some point in their lifetime, and they always leave the theater humming.

Portraying the strip tease girl brought about many firsts for me. It was my first opportunity to play overtly seductive, sexy, and worldly in performance. It was my first time dancing in high heels - my character wears them throughout the story, which brought back childhood memories of my backyard carnival days. And it was also my first time dying on stage, all in tongue-in-cheek fashion, of course.

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue once again proved to audiences and critics that Balanchine wasn't just a master of so-called "plotless leotard ballets." He knew how to tell a story through multiple dance forms and styles. This work appeals to audiences of all ages and shows another side of Balanchine, another category of his craft. I personally believe every ballet he created is a category unto itself.

On the Balanchine Preservation Initiative, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, June 6–10, 2007

Since its formation, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet has been committed to carrying forth the legacy of George Balanchine through performances of his classic ballets. With my new project called the Balanchine Preservation Initiative, I hope to further our mission by sharing some of his rarely seen or "lost" works with audiences who have never experienced them before. I also plan to document their re-creation so that they don't fall out of performance again. Incredibly, most of these works haven't been staged in nearly 40 years!

Ballets are generally passed down from one dancer to another - and with so many roles to learn, steps can certainly slip from a dancer's memory over time. Perhaps the choreography or music is extremely unique or unusual. Perhaps the absence of certain elements, players, or resources makes it impractical to produce a ballet again. Or perhaps some parts of a ballet continue to be performed while others do not. Whatever the case, sometimes even real gems get forgotten along the way.

The Balanchine Preservation Initiative aims to breathe new life into some of these glittering gems. As part of our Opera House program in June, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will perform the Adagio from Concierto de Mozart, featuring the composer's Violin Concerto No. 5, and Divertimento Brillante, featuring music by Mikhail Glinka. Next season, in November, we'll continue with Pithoprakta, meaning "action by probabilities" and danced to music by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis, plus various "lost" divertissements from Balanchine's Don Quixote.

Because of my closeness to George Balanchine, I had always considered seeking out some of his rare works to help build a unique repertoire for my company. In 2001, I began this process by re-working Variations for Orchestra, a solo that he originally made on me in 1967. The pas de deux from Clarinade soon followed - it was another ballet I had originated in the 1960s, and one that Balanchine had always wanted us to do again but never got the chance. In 2005, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performed Don Quixote, which Balanchine bequeathed to me, but which hadn't been performed in more than 25 years.

Reaching deep into my memories and personal archives, and working closely with the Balanchine Trust, I began to uncover other "lost" ballets recorded on film, which was quite uncommon back then. The quality of this footage runs the gamut - from a polished BBC video of Divertimento Brillante, to a dark, shaky version of Ragtime (II), shot by my sister with an 8-mm camera. Filmed from the audience, Arthur Mitchell and I are practically dots, dancers jump in and out of the frame, and there's no music!

Regardless of what I've had to start with, the process of reviving these works has been a fascinating one. As I aspire to remain as true as possible to Balanchine's original vision, I know that some of these puzzles have missing pieces. But that's no reason to let these ballets completely disappear. The fragments that remain are still very much enlightening - they're windows into the evolution of Balanchine's craft. The 1960s was filled with Stravinsky, jazz, and eclectic elements. It was also the era of going to the moon and thinking about space. Many of these lost works reflect how Balanchine was exploring new ways of using, filling, and transforming space during that time.

Of course, with this project come many personal choices for how to "fill in the gaps" between surviving sequences of choreography. Balanchine did it with Petipa, and I frequently did it with Balanchine at my side. For example, during rehearsals for Tzigane, he'd say, "Suzi, you know what I want, so fill it in somehow!" It's all part of how ballet gets passed down. But I have to admit, it will be interesting to see if balletomanes can de-code what is Balanchine's and what is mine!

Enthusiasm for the Balanchine Preservation Initiative has spilled over into my dancers - they're thrilled to be a part of the process. In rehearsals, they continue to comment on how wonderful these works are, wondering how any of them got lost in the first place.

As for Concierto de Mozart, its world premiere was performed in 1942 by Argentina's Ballet of the Teatro Colon. Tulsa Ballet gave its American premiere in 1987, but to my knowledge, no other company has performed it since. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is performing the pas de deux featuring only the solo couple, as opposed to the extended version surrounded by an ensemble. Though I never performed in the ballet myself, I was attracted to it because Balanchine did not choreograph many works to Mozart's music. So the pas de deux is unlike any other he created. The score is so exquisite and soothing, and the dance has the serene, peaceful quality of Elysium - the paradise-after-death in Greek mythology. There's a lot of contact and connection between the man and the woman, but there's really no earthly word to describe the emotional world that develops between them.

Divertimento Brillante is also a pas de deux, and the final section from Balanchine's 1967 four-part Glinkiana. The first part, a polka, and the third part, a Spanish jota, have not survived as far as I know, but the second part, the Valse-Fantaisie, has been performed many times. Balanchine always liked Glinka's music, and he constantly sought to expose the Western world to more Russian composers like him. Patricia McBride and Edward Villella were the original cast for Divertimento Brillante; its themes are based on Bellini's opera La Sonnambula, which was also Balanchine's inspiration for another ballet.

As the Balanchine Preservation Initiative continues to grow, everyone involved has come to realize the incredible fragility of these works. But in the same spirit, the journey is also very empowering. It's almost like having Balanchine taking the reins again, working directly with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet to create something completely new.

On George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, New York City Ballet, Feb. 28 – Mar. 4

Though William Shakespeare and George Balanchine were born 250 years and worlds apart, they were both great storytellers. Each concerned himself with showing the truth about love in all of its forms. It was as a young child, performing in a Russian production of the play, that Balanchine came to know A Midsummer Night's Dream. He could recite the play from memory, and it stayed with him throughout his life. When you think of the play's themes: love and art, change and constancy, reality and illusion - ideas that had already been crystallized in so many of Balanchine's ballets - it's easy to understand why Midsummer appealed to him.

Balanchine was a wonderful musician - he played the piano, composed, and once even conducted the New York City Ballet Orchestra! He had long known Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for the play, completed in 1842, and once said this: "What really interested me more than Shakespeare's words [was] the music that Mendelssohn wrote to the play. And I think it can be said that the ballet was inspired by the score. Mendelssohn, did not, however, write music for the whole play. To fill out the dance action that developed as the ballet was being made, I selected other scores of Mendelssohn that neatly fitted into the pattern we were making."

Balanchine did such beautiful work with the choreography that, when seeing Midsummer, it truly feels as though Mendelssohn must have created his score specifically for the ballet. The music and the movement are so seamless, such a perfect match. Indeed, the overture - which Mendelssohn composed at the age of 17 - introduces each of the characters with his or her own theme and weaves together all the story lines that get resolved by the end of the first act. Balanchine's choreography is genius stagecraft, giving the audience all the information they need to understand the characters and relationships to come. You don't need to see or read the play to know what's going on - it's all made clear through the dance.


In the original cast, I was one of the attendants to Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. It was my first original part - one that hadn't already been made on someone else - and I was 16, so it was all very intriguing. The part of Titania was originally designed for Diana Adams, who became pregnant during rehearsals and then told me that Balanchine wanted me to watch Titania as I was learning my own part. I noted that he asked me to watch it, not learn it. So I approached the process differently than if I were only studying the part directly in front of me. I wanted to observe it in context within the larger world of the ballet going on around us.


As it happened, eight months later I did perform the role of Titania (and again in the 1969 film version of Balanchine’s ballet.) But her pas de deux with the character of Bottom was posing a challenge to me. In the story, the mischievous Puck turns Bottom, a mortal, into a donkey. And then Oberon, the King of the Fairies, casts a spell on Titania to fall deeply in love with the creature. In rehearsals, I worked through various challenges of dancing with a partner wearing a donkey mask, such as not having arms long enough to extend beyond its long, protruding snout. But I was also having trouble connecting with the intensity of Titania's love for this creature. Balanchine came up to me on stage and asked, "Don't you have a pet at home that you talk to?" I told him no. And he said matter-of-factly, "You should have an animal."


That night, I took the subway home and stopped by the corner delicatessen in my neighborhood. Every deli in New York seems to have cats, so I asked the owner if I could buy one from him. He said I could actually have one. Their cat had just given birth to kittens. So I picked up a little ball of black-and-white fur, named her Bottom, and started talking to her all the time. For 21 years, she was my best friend - and our relationship helped inspire and inform my dancing with a donkey.


Titania's pas de deux with Bottom, in fact, is one of the most romantic I've known. It's so touching - though it often elicits chuckles from the audience because it looks so outrageous. Balanchine took great satisfaction in quoting, and a particular line from Midsummer meant a lot to him. Upon awakening from his dance with Titania, with his human head restored, Bottom declares, "The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was." The point of his remarks - that dreams are beyond human comprehension - is the essence of Titania and Bottom's dance together, and one of the reasons why it's so meaningful.

There are more than two dozen children in Midsummer - how it must feel to play various bugs who help animate the enchanted forest! One of them is a little page who carries Titania's train. But Oberon wants the page to carry his train, so that's where their entire argument begins, leading to all the foibles of the first act. The second act is devoted to dance and pageantry and a lovely divertissement, leading up to the marriage ceremony. And all is well. But then the entire palace scenery disappears and suddenly we're back in the forest. It's a final, fleeting moment where all the magic and drama of Midsummer began, before one last good-bye.

On Bolshoi Ballet: Cinderella, Feb. 21-23, 2007

Having performed the role of Cinderella in Paul Mejia's version of the ballet, I know how thrilling it is for a ballerina to dance this part - to step inside the magical world of a fairy tale and bring the audience along with you.

I've always felt that fairy tales are really for grown-ups. Though we read them when we're young, fairy tales convey morals that should stay with us throughout our entire lives. We shouldn't dismiss them because we're no longer a child. Many of these fairy tales also have sub-stories and sub-texts, and that's why it's fascinating to revisit them again - just as choreographer Yuri Possokhov has done with this new production. The Bolshoi premiered it last year in Moscow and will enjoy its U.S. premiere here at the Kennedy Center.

Yuri Possokhov received his training at the Moscow Ballet School, danced with the Bolshoi for a time, and is currently Choreographer in Residence at San Francisco Ballet. He was commissioned by the Bolshoi to create this new Cinderella to Sergei Prokofiev's score, which was originally created for the company's 1945 production. Without even seeing the ballet, Prokofiev's music alone helps you visualize what's happening on stage because it's so powerful and moving.

The plot in Possokhov's Cinderella is generally the same story we all know, though there are some original twists. These elements include fanciful sets aglow with the moon and stars, costumes and characters inspired by the 1930s, and the replacement of the fairy godmother with a male narrator. Some say this narrator may represent Prokofiev while he was composing his score for Cinderella more than 60 years ago.

Many other versions of Cinderella have been created over the years, but whatever surprises the Bolshoi has in store for us, its timeless story has always been captivating. At its core is a young woman whose noble character triumphs over depravity and cruelty. Despite all the obstacles, the prince perseveres in his quest to find Cinderella. Their reunion – which is the moral of the story– teaches how goodness of heart prevails.

On Bolshoi Ballet: Don Quixote. Feb. 24 & 25, 2007

Over the past 250 years, there have been many ballets inspired by the characters and themes in Miguel de Cervantes's novel Don Quixote. The interpretation that the Bolshoi is bringing to the Kennedy Center is one of the company's crown jewels. With choreography by Aleksey Fadeechev after Marius Petipa and Aleksandr Gorsky, the Bolshoi's version follows the love story between Kitri, the daughter of an innkeeper, and Basil, an amorous barber. Perhaps more than anything, the ballet is popular for the bravura dancing that always takes center stage, matching the exuberance of Ludwig Minkus's score along the way. I've always enjoyed dancing in class to his music.

The Don Quixote that I'm personally closest to is George Balanchine's ballet, featuring music composed specifically by Nicolas Nabokov. His 1965 interpretation closely follows Cervantes's story and the relationship that develops between the title character and his beloved Dulcinea. The premiere was life-altering for me, because I portrayed Dulcinea to Balanchine's Don Quixote.

In 2005 with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, I re-staged Balanchine's production at the Kennedy Center. It was the 400th anniversary of the novel, so there was enormous interest in what we were doing. Petipa's version is so ingrained in world consciousness that some people would say to me, "Oh, I saw that ballet last year!" And I'd explain to them that what they must have seen was Petipa's version, because Balanchine's ballet hadn't been performed in over a quarter of a century.

There were many other fascinating and challenging facets to the process of re-staging Balanchine's work. For example, in companies like the Bolshoi, Petipa's Don Quixote and other ballets are handed down to future generations. Every student learns these roles in their training, commits them to memory, and performs them many times through to graduation day.

But in re-creating Balanchine's Don Quixote, I was viewing and analyzing a 28-year-old film, much of which was poor quality and very dark. And if someone was dancing off camera, I'd have to imagine what they were doing and go from there. So my personal "preservation" process was not to embalm Balanchine's work, but rather to allow it to have a new life. I think there's a fine line between preserving something and having it preserved. Preservation is active; preserved is passive. Dancing is an active profession.

In reviewing the cast of Bolshoi dancers performing in Don Quixote, a few names and faces are familiar to me. For example, I worked with Sergey Filin when I taught Balanchine's Mozartiana at the Bolshoi in 1998. So I'm looking forward to welcoming the company to the Kennedy Center and re-visiting with the Bolshoi during their engagement. So I’m looking forward to welcoming the company to the Kennedy Center and re-visiting with them as well.

On Matthew Bourne: Edward Scissorhands, Feb. 13-18, 2007

The Kennedy Center is presenting Matthew Bourne's "dance play" adaptation of Edward Scissorhands. The production features his company New Adventures in a story based on the film directed by Tim Burton. The music of Terry Davies is influenced by themes in Danny Elfman’s film score.

While I have not yet seen the production, I did love the movie, which starred Johnny Depp in the title role. Matthew Bourne is one of many choreographers today who are telling stories by combining dance with theater and other genres. Directly or indirectly, these choreographers have been influenced by Maurice Béjart, who used this format throughout his long career. However, for The Suzanne Farrell Ballet's engagement in the Opera House later this season, we will present two Béjart works that are pure dance: Rite of Spring and the scène d'amour from Romeo and Juliet.

For Edward Scissorhands, I'm curious to see how Matthew Bourne has created dance movement and partnering choreography for a character - and a performer - who must wear large and dangerously sharp-looking scissors as appendages. It's a very magical and whimsical story, and that always makes good material for dance.

I suppose that's why the elements of fantasy and suspension of disbelief are so important, just like in the ballet of Cinderella. There's no way to make a toe shoe be a glass slipper, though costume designers have been trying for ages! For many young girls, I think the dream of getting their own toe shoes is just as compelling as wishing for a glass slipper, because being in the ballet is all part of the fairy tale too. Exploring how a character can transcend their physical reality to find the heroine or hero within – whether it be with a glass slipper or scissors for hands – is a fascinating adventure.

On ABT: Othello and Mixed Repertory, Jan. 9 & 10 (Mixed), Jan. 11–14 (Othello), 2007

A new year is upon us, and as I'm beginning to travel and rehearse my own company for our new project called the Balanchine Preservation Initiative, I'm also looking forward to many other ballet productions coming to the Opera House in January and February.

ABT's three-act Othello, which is being presented as part of the citywide Shakespeare in Washington festival, was originally co-produced with the San Francisco Ballet. It premiered in 1997 when, interestingly enough, Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser was ABT's executive director. Some of you may have seen the television broadcast of the production, which was nominated for an Emmy.

The choreography for ABT's Othello was created by Lar Lubovitch, whose early career at Juilliard included training by Antony Tudor, Anna Sokolow, Martha Graham, and Jose Limón. Limón's The Moor's Pavane is another interpretation of the Othello story.

Mr. Lubovitch's style tends to combine elements of classical and modern movement. Many people who have seen his Othello say one of the most memorable moments is Desdemona's death scene (I hope I'm not giving too much away here!). It uses to great effect the handkerchief that leads Othello to doubt his wife's fidelity. As their dance comes to its inevitable conclusion, Othello slowly ties the handkerchief around Desdemona's neck and, in a final spin, seals her fate.

The drama in Othello is further intensified by the music, composed by Academy Award winner Elliot Goldenthal. If you've seen any of the movies he's created music for - like Frida, Interview with a Vampire, or Titus - you'll know how visual and atmospheric his scores are. USA Today even called his music for Othello “worthy of a Hitchcock tingler” - so hopefully that gives you a sense of how edge-of-your-seat the whole experience is.

Along with a full-evening ballet, ABT usually brings a program of mixed repertory for their annual Opera House engagement. This year, the rep program includes “Kingdom of the Shades” from Marius Petipa's La Bayadère, Agnes de Mille's Rodeo (to celebrate de Mille's centenary), and Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies. The program showcases a wide range of choreographic styles and emotional contexts: de Mille's lighthearted vision of the American pioneer West, Tudor's somber tale of a village lamenting the death of its children, and the haunting dream from Act II of Petipa's ballet about a beautiful temple dancer.

On Kirov Ballet: Romeo and Juliet, Jan. 16-21, 2007

The Kirov Ballet's three-act Romeo and Juliet premiered in 1940 at the Mariinsky Theatre, the company's home in St. Petersburg. Leonid Lavrovsky created it for the Kirov to Sergei Prokofiev's monumental score, which was also commissioned by the company.

Russia, of course, has given birth to many ballet visionaries, including George Balanchine, who began his training at St. Petersburg's Imperial School of Theater and Ballet. Whereas Balanchine tended to focus on the movement instead of the narrative, Lavrovsky's choreography in Romeo and Juliet is Soviet-era classicism, a fusion of storyline, dancing, and pantomime with many gestured emotions, power-lifts, and death throes timed to the music. His ballet was a historically significant and influential one, in that it achieved great international success, becoming a touchstone for many others to model themselves after or differentiate from.

Growing up in Cincinnati, I remember seeing the 1956 film version of Lavrovsky's Romeo and Juliet. At the time, ballet only came to us about once a year, so when I was beginning to gravitate toward dance, the film let me see professional ballet up close, in a way I hadn't experienced before.

Lavrovsky's production weaves together all the key moments from Shakespeare's tragedy: the sword fights, the romantic balcony pas de deux, the lovers' final death scene. The court dancing at the Capulet ball is a good opportunity to see how the choreographer creates different levels of energy for various characters. The Capulets move differently than the Montagues, and their conflict is reflected in their contrasting physicality. This heightened level of energy is much different from the quiet intimacy of the balcony scene.

Another interesting aspect of the Kirov's production is that their Juliet role is often portrayed by a coryphée, a level of dancer recognition between the Kirov's corps de ballet and their star soloists. This engagement could be your chance to witness performances by Kirov ballerinas of tomorrow.

Come June, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will perform the scène d'amour from Maurice Béjart's Romeo and Juliet, set to music by Hector Berlioz. It's very different from the Kirov's production, but when I go to the ballet, I look forward to the sheer entertainment of it - to immerse myself completely, rather than “be on the lookout” for something in particular.

I hope you'll find many opportunities throughout the rest of our ballet season to do the same.

archived notes 2007 - 2008

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Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet archived notes 2007 - 2008

Ballet Across America Protégés II Serenade Agon Symphony in C La Bayadère The Sleeping Beauty Remembering Maurice Béjart Backstage at The Suzanne Farrell Ballet On Bugaku On Fourth Movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet On Pas Classique Espagnol On Ballade On Pithoprakta On Chaconne On Meditation Photos and more from my summer programs An invitation to 2 free events in September

Ballet Across America. June 10-15 in the Opera House

This weeklong celebration presented by the Kennedy Center is a unique way to explore, under one roof, some of the work being done by flourishing companies throughout the United States. Some of the ballets are relatively new, while others are considered modern classics. Three different programs will be presented throughout the week; each one highlights a company from the East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast. The first program features Pennsylvania Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Salt Lake City's Ballet West. The second features The Washington Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet. The third features Boston Ballet, Chicago's The Joffrey Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theater.

Of the ballets on the first program, I've performed two. One is George Balanchine's Serenade, to be danced by Ballet West. Click here to read my Notes on Serenade, which I wrote earlier this year for another Kennedy Center presentation. The other is Jerome Robbins's In the Night, to be performed by Pennsylvania Ballet.

I first danced In the Night upon my return to NYC Ballet in 1975. Created five years earlier, the ballet was choreographed to nocturnes by Chopin. Robbins mentioned to me that he initially intended the music to be part of Dances at a Gathering, but later decided to create a separate ballet. There are three couples in all, each representing a different mood in separate movements before coming together for the finale. My personal interpretation is that the first couple is new and peaceful, the middle couple is more mature and independent – but still a harmonious unit – and the final couple depicts emotions at odds. I was cast in the couple from the middle movement; my role had originally been made on the wonderfully musical Violette Verdy.

Robbins spent much of his early days in the world of Broadway, where choreographers typically rehearse with dancers for only a few weeks and then move on once the show premieres. Thus, he was known for having somewhat of a gypsy-like relationship with many dancers in the ballet company. He loved to make movement look spontaneous and enjoyed experimenting, though it was a kick to observe the times he'd wind up circling back to the instinctive ideas he started with. I had great pleasure working with Jerry on In the Night and some of his other ballets. (In 1985, he made a powerful ballet on me called In Memory of…). Robbins was still very energetic at the time and we shared a harmonious, respectful friendship both on and off the stage.

From the second Ballet Across America program, though I've never seen it, I've heard much about Todd Bolender's The Still Point, to be performed by Kansas City Ballet. Jacques d'Amboise and Melissa Hayden – both originals from the 1956 NYC Ballet premiere of the work – would frequently talk about it. Bolender, who passed away in 2006, was also a NYC Ballet company member from its earliest beginnings. I never had the opportunity to see him perform, though we often came together at galas and other functions and I enjoyed our talks. He was an original interpreter of roles in The Four Temperaments and Agon, so if you know those works, that might give you some insight into the kind of dancer he was and the artistic integrity he had.

Bolender choreographed The Still Point for a modern dance company a year before putting it on point for NYC Ballet. The work begins with three women and two men, but then four members pair off in couples. The final woman is left to ponder why she's been left behind, until she meets another male dancer. The music, by Debussy, is characteristically lyrical, so it will be interesting to see how the music's flowing sensibilities juxtapose with the final woman's anxieties of not fitting in.

Of the three ballets on the final program, Antony Tudor's Lilac Garden has the longest history. The Joffrey Ballet will be dancing it for this engagement. Lilac Garden follows a distinct narrative story about Caroline, a young woman engaged to marry someone she does not love. Tragically, she has feelings for another man. Tudor created several of these psychological ballets, filled with tension and secrecy, flowing period costumes, and themes of marriage by arrangement and impossible love. In 1964 at NYC Ballet, Tudor's Dim Lustre entered the repertoire. Originally choreographed for American Ballet Theatre, this ballet also offered great dance drama. Observing Tudor rehearse the dancers, I regarded the very tall, statuesque, and proper-looking English choreographer a formidable presence.

Protégés II, June 6-8 in the Opera House

The Kennedy Center’s international ballet academy festival returns, this time with students from the Royal Ballet School, the Paris Opera Ballet School, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and the School of American Ballet, which I attended for one year. I’m pleased that my former school will be performing Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco (more about that later in this article). The program enables us to see different training styles from around the world, and it appeals whether you’re a ballet fan, a young aspiring dance student, or just culturally curious.

I’ve staged ballets for the Bolshoi (Mozartiana and Agon), danced at the Paris Opera (Meditation, Liebeslieder Walzer, and Agon) and also staged Tzigane there, and earlier this year taught Tzigane to London’s Royal Ballet. Each summer, I also provide two educational programs for students – “Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell” (EBSF) for three weeks at the Kennedy Center, and a workshop at my Cedar Islands retreat in upstate New York. In just a few short weeks, I will be surrounded by many young dancers with stars in their eyes, just as I had at the School of American Ballet.

The return of Protégés makes me reflect on some of the similarities and differences between my training and some academies today. When I joined the School of American Ballet at 15, we didn’t have many resources beyond ourselves, and we didn’t have workshops or many chances to visit other companies. So all of us aspired to become a company member, in order to finally see and learn all the ballets we dreamed of dancing. In the meantime, we could only go home, close our eyes, and let our imaginations run wild.

Today, students have more access to visual content regarding a ballet, whether it’s a video, the Internet, or touring ballet companies. While it’s important for performances to be archived, learning ballets by these visual assets alone could make a dancer become comfortable with imitating, versus cultivating their own self. It is a great experience to learn a ballet from the original creator of the role, or even a ballet that’s never been done before, so that everything has to come from within. As a ballet student, it’s also enlightening to view other art forms – such as painting, sculpture, and even nature – in the world. Each summer, I do this with my EBSF students.

Some ballet schools provide their own academics in addition to ballet training. There were no dormitories while I was at the School of American Ballet, and I took separate courses at Professional Children’s School, which generously worked in tandem with my ballet schedule. At the end of the day, it was grounding to hop on the bus and go home across town, to my mother and sister and a life that seemed “normal.”

Which brings me to Concerto Barocco – a ballet I know from many different angles, because I’ve performed both of its solo roles at different times in my life. Originally created in 1941, the ballet was ornately costumed initially. In 1962, as a first-year corps member, I was thrown into the role of the second solo girl. I had never seen the ballet and now it was being revived with white leotards and skirts as costumes. Diana Adams was having knee trouble so she could not dance. Mr. Balanchine had me stand next to her and Pat Neary to determine whose height went best with Allegra Kent, who was replacing Diana in the first soloist’s role. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether being the shortest of the three (but still tall in my own right) was advantageous or not!

The second movement evokes a mood of peace and purity, while the two outer movements are fast and wonderfully energetic. The music is Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, and one fascinating element to Balanchine’s choreography is that each solo girl, at times, represents one of the two solo violins, while the eight corps girls are the remaining strings. Once while rehearsing the ballet, I glanced down in the pit and saw the two solo violinists playing very close together, almost as though one bow might collide with the other if the musicians didn’t remain completely in sync with one another. Balanchine’s choreography has that same sense of precision/precariousness and action/reaction tension to it.

A year later, in 1963, I made my debut as the first soloist – the adagio girl – in Concerto Barocco, this time partnered by Jacques d’Amboise. Learning the other role was an adventure, as I had to keep my body from instinctively moving to the counts I knew from the second soloist role. But in the end it was heaven to learn both parts, and that made it easier for me to stage the ballet later in life. I’ve taught it several times to other companies, including Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Serenade, to be performed by New York City Ballet Feb. 27, 28, & Mar. 1 evenings, & Mar. 2 matinee

Serenade is the first ballet that Balanchine created for American dancers on American soil. It began, in 1934, as a lesson on technique with students from his School of American Ballet. This was a formative period in the building of Balanchine's company, so the students he had to work with led to many unique configurations of dancers. He also integrated unexpected events into the choreography, for instance, one girl arriving late for class and another dancer falling. Over time, the number of dancers changed and the costumes changed (the final version features long blue costumes against the blue background). At one point, Balanchine re-inserted a repeat of the music that he had originally removed. Then in the 1970s, he decided the three girls in the final movement should wear their hair down and loose. But the choreography remains pure and Serenade is considered a cornerstone of the Balanchine repertoire.

As a child, I owned a record of the music – Tchaikovsky's "Serenade in C for String Orchestra" – and once choreographed my own ballet to the music's "Russian Dance."

Serenade has four movements in all: Sonatina, Waltz, Russian Dance, and Elegy. I have fond memories of dancing the Dark Angel, one of three ballerinas in the final movement. One of the images that inspired Balanchine for this more "yearning" part of the ballet is a sculpture by Antonio Canova, in which Cupid brings his dying love Psyche back to life with a kiss.

This role, called the Dark Angel, was actually my very first solo. The company was on summer tour at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival in 1962 when Jillana sustained an injury. I had only 72 hours to learn the part and only one chance to perform it, on the last day of the festival. The schedule did not allow me a rehearsal with all the other 26 swirling bodies running in intricate patterns. Even though Mr. Balanchine would not be there to see me, I rehearsed it around the clock, working on it backward and forward, choosing places in the music to determine where I’d be at that exact moment.

After the performance, I wrote in my diary: "I was so nervous I could hardly put my make-up on... Once I got out there it was really heaven, even more so with Diana [Adams] dancing with me... At the end of my first entrance Diana said, 'Very good, Suzanne'." Click on the picture to see up close the Ravinia program I saved in my scrapbook. I wrote a few more notes in there and underlined all of the ballets I performed that week.

I've since staged Serenade for my own company and others, and thrill that a new generation of dancers will know this wonderful ballet. I love watching their eyes light up when they see for the first time how all of Balanchine's elaborate elements come together and take on life and meaning.

Agon, to be performed by New York City Ballet Feb. 29 & Mar. 2 evenings, & Mar. 1 matinee

Balanchine commissioned Stravinsky to write the score for Agon, which he composed between 1953 and 1956. They worked very closely together, creating the choreography and the music in concert with one another. (I love this photo of the two of them – they’re so intense!)

In an interview I did with Bomb Magazine a few years ago, in the Fall 2003 issue, I reflected on their frequent collaborations: "Stravinsky was a great mentor and friend," I said, "and Balanchine wanted people to appreciate him. Some people had a problem with Agon. They thought the music sounded too harsh. The choreography doesn't try to modify or mollify the music - it justifies its harshness, it explains the music."

I went on to say, "Stravinsky and George loved discussing the difference between time and timing. Timing can be slowed down or speeded up as an image on a movie screen, but time and our life goes on - the universal clock. It will always be a 24-hour day. Stravinsky and George loved pointing out the importance of time." And that's why it was always exciting to perform their ballets - no one could break down time musically the way Stravinsky did - and no one could break it down in movement like Balanchine. Even the silences have timing and life in them.

Agon, which premiered in 1957, is a very athletic work, small but epic. The word is Greek for "contest," though there's no literal sense of competition in the ballet. There is a sense of contrast, however, among the fanfares played before each of the three sections. These interludes feature identical music, but Balanchine has phrased them differently. And then there's a conquest of various energies in the three main sections, first with two women and a man, then two men and a woman, and finally one woman and one man.

This pas de deux was originally made on Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell. I learned the role by watching Diana perform it and she coached me before I first danced it with Arthur. For ballets that I didn't originate myself, I’m grateful to have learned many of them this way, by observing their creators directly. It helped me absorb key musicality phrases in order to remain as true as possible to Balanchine's original vision. This is the way I continue to teach these ballets today.

I have staged the pas de deux and also the full ballet many times, including in St. Petersburg with the Kirov Ballet. The year was 1999, and I didn't want the world to go into the new millennium without the Russians having performed Agon - a labor of love between two of Russia's most brilliant native sons!

Symphony in C, to be performed by New York City Ballet Feb. 27, 28, & Mar. 1 evenings, & Mar. 2 matinee

Symphony in C was on the program the first time I ever saw Balanchine’s company perform. I was 14 and NYCB toured to Bloomington, Indiana. After watching the program, it was clear to me that everyone in a Balanchine ballet dances – not just the soloists. I told myself that if I ever became a professional dancer, his company was where I wanted to be. I could go home at night invigorated from dancing my heart out, and not just as a piece of scenery.

This did come true. As a young corps member I was in the third movement of Symphony in C. (See the photo to the right – can you spot me?) One-and-a-half years later, as was often the case, we were on tour at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles when I was thrown into the lead female role in the second movement. I was ecstatic because I was finally going to dance in a tutu and tiara, the "crowning symbols" of a real ballerina! The performance went well, even the famously nerve-racking balance on pointe with one leg held high to the side.

Performed to Bizet's "Symphony No. 1 in C major," Balanchine first choreographed this work in 1947 for the Paris Opera Ballet, while serving as a guest ballet master there. Its original title was Le Palais de Cristal. Each movement was costumed in different colors, though by the time Balanchine re-staged it for City Ballet’s very first performance in 1948, everyone was costumed in the now-famous white. I once mentioned to Balanchine how fun it would be to go back to the colors, to see the fantastic kaleidoscope created by the dancers as they all return, one movement after the other, for the grand finale. But of course the white is just so stunning.

A few months after my first performance in the second movement, Balanchine changed one step in the choreography, with dramatic results. During rehearsal, while I was in the deep penché arabesque on pointe, holding both of Conrad Ludlow's hands, Balanchine asked if I would be able to bend further, and touch my head all the way down to my knee. It was a moment of spontaneity, and as unorthodox as it may have seemed for such a classical adagio, I honored his request.

Balanchine's eyes lit up with pleasure – perhaps he felt the image was now more true to the music, the ultimate extension of a conventional movement. Or perhaps since the company had recently moved into the larger expanse of the State Theater, Balanchine desired a bolder movement to fill out the generous space. Whatever his reasons, we kept it in performance. It is now the most famous sequence in the ballet, as ballerinas all over the world have been stretching their bodies vertically like this ever since.

La Bayadère, to be performed by the Kirov Ballet on Jan. 22–27

La Bayadère is more familiar to audiences today than it was in 1969, when I danced it with the National Ballet of Canada. Few companies performed it in North America then, and those that did typically excerpted the "Kingdom of the Shades" scene for their programs.

The ballet was created in 1877 by Marius Petipa at the Kirov, then known as the Imperial Ballet. This production at the Kennedy Center will feature Petipa's original choreography with the revisions made by Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani in 1941. Set in India, La Bayadère follows the love story between Nikiya, a temple dancer, and Solor, a young warrior.

I never saw any version of La Bayadère before I danced the role of Nikiya in the Kingdom of the Shades scene. In my autobiography, I mentioned how strange it felt to go from all my years of Balanchine training to the National Ballet of Canada's more reserved English style, and their approach to Russian choreography. After the first performance, I released myself to Ludwig Minkus’s lovely music and ultimately found my own way. I particularly enjoyed performing Nikiya’s scarf dance. She and Solor dance holding opposite ends of a long scarf – a lovely image that symbolically ties them together.

I finally saw La Bayadère nearly 20 years after I performed it, during my first visit to the Kirov in 1988. Their production was lavish, colorful, and larger than life – I recall some of the women wearing parrots strapped to their wrists, and a huge elephant making a grand entrance in one scene. (These were not real animals, of course!). This earthiness heightens the contrast to the otherworldly atmosphere in the Kingdom of the Shades scene, which begins with the seemingly endless line of girls in white tutus.

The Sleeping Beauty, to be performed by American Ballet Theatre on Jan. 29–Feb. 3

Tchaikovsky was one of the few composers who wrote music specifically for ballet. I believe his Sleeping Beauty is one of the most glorious scores ever created – it makes me well up with emotion every time I hear it. Whenever I'm teaching and the pianist plays a passage, it's magical to let his music take over and move through you.

I never performed The Sleeping Beauty professionally, though as a child, when the Royal Ballet came to Cincinnati, I did portray one of four mice who pull Carabosse's wagon. The ballet also played a part in Balanchine’s childhood: he made his stage debut as Cupid at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Many years later, Balanchine created his own Garland Dance for the 1981 Tchaikovsky festival. Around this time, I remember warming up in the wings during an intermission when he revealed his hopes for staging a full version of The Sleeping Beauty. I was excited at the prospect of dancing the Rose Adagio, when in his often ambiguous way he said, "Though you know, Suzi, the real story of Sleeping Beauty begins after they’re married."

He didn't elaborate, but he went on to say, "I can’t do it just yet." Balanchine's intentions never came to fruition; he fell ill before he could put them in motion. But perhaps that's where he was headed – exploring what happens after happily ever after. I have investigated whether there are any classic Russian or French fairy tales that take the story beyond the marriage, but I haven't found anything.

Soon after our backstage conversation, Balanchine went on to create one of his last works, Davidsbündlertänze, a provocative piece performed to Robert Schumann's haunting piano solos. There is no direct correlation to the music, but I wonder if Davidsbündlertänze in some way was a stepping stone in Balanchine's fascinating creative process toward the real awakening of Sleeping Beauty…

Remembering Maurice Béjart

On Thanksgiving Day, my good friend Maurice Béjart passed away in Lausanne, Switzerland. Earlier this year, on January 1st, he had turned 80.

I joined Béjart’s Ballet of the Twentieth Century in 1970, then based in Brussels. He gave me a home following my initial departure from New York City Ballet. I had not been on a stage for over a year, so I was grateful for his invitation. We worked together for four years, and many of the things I learned with him I could never have learned anywhere else.

Béjart had a revered, very handsome company made up of dancers from all over the globe. It was a good time to be living in Europe. Béjart was choreographing vital works – many of them considered innovative and avant-garde at the time – and we had thrilling tours. His dance/theater pieces were fascinating. We often performed in huge arenas with the audience surrounding us on all sides. It was great training to learn how to “play” to them from every angle – this 360-degree awareness both enhanced and broadened how I danced. Béjart’s theatrical concepts have also helped inform my work as an artistic director today.

One of my favorite Béjart ballets is the first one he made on me, a pas de deux with a fast, darting variation called Bach Sonate. In creating the work, he strived to be true to classicism, but also true to his own style and to me.

His Romeo et Juliette premiered a few years prior to my arrival in Brussels, with music by Hector Berlioz. Béjart’s production was devoid of props, so it was always an interesting challenge to stab myself as Juliet without an actual sword, and make it look convincing to an audience. In tribute, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performed the scène d’amour from Romeo et Juliette at the Kennedy Center this past June.

I have other Béjart favorites. For example, his compelling version of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring was a major departure for me. When I first joined the company, I didn’t want to be in a ballet unless I was in pointe shoes, because that’s how I always danced. The Rite of Spring was in ballet shoes, so I initially resisted performing it. But eventually I gave in, because I knew it was an amazing work, universally considered one of Béjart’s greatest triumphs. In Berlin 1981, there was a Stravinsky celebration and a small group from City Ballet was invited to perform. Balanchine and I were at a press conference and he was asked why he never choreographed to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring – they were such good friends and collaborators. Balanchine replied, "I don’t feel that the music needs a physical realization. Anyway, there is already a very, very good Rite of Spring and it’s by Maurice Béjart."

For Nijinsky, Clown of God, I portrayed several incarnations of Nijinsky's wife Romola, culminating in a long pas de deux with five men representing Nijinsky's greatest roles: Petrouchka, Afternoon of a Faun, Schéhérazade, Le Spectre de la Rose, and the dancer himself. We brought the ballet to Paris, where it was a huge success. We were treated like rock stars there – it was surreal to see life-size cutouts of me on taxis driving along the Champs-Élysées! At this time, I became the L’Air du Temps girl for Nina Ricci perfume ads wearing a gown from this ballet. Life was good.

In 1974, I departed Brussels to return to Balanchine's company, but I remained close to Béjart throughout the years. Our connection led me into a rather novel situation soon after I returned to the States: Ballet of the Twentieth Century toured to New York in 1976, and I found myself performing double-duty for a week – dancing with Balanchine one night, and Béjart the next. Both were very gracious to let me do this!

Béjart traveled to the U.S. less as the years went on. As of this past year, he hadn’t been abroad in quite some time; this was one of the reasons I had wanted to stage The Rite of Spring this past June. Initially, the ballet was on my company's programs, but once Béjart's health prohibited him from traveling at all, our plans had to change. I last saw him in Lausanne for his 80th birthday celebration. The event included a gala dinner and a moving retrospective of his work. It was an honor to attend.

Béjart was a kind human being, and he could be very funny. He was extremely well read, spoke several languages, wrote the text for most of his theater/ballets, and was knowledgeable and curious about many things. I’m happy that I had those years with him. The day after his passing, I dedicated that Friday’s performance of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet to the memory of my dear friend. I will miss him.

Backstage at The Suzanne Farrell Ballet

I’ve put together a slideshow of photos taken backstage during my company’s performances over Thanksgiving week in the Opera House. I hope you enjoy them.

On Bugaku, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on both Program A and Program B, Nov. 20–25

Bugaku (pronounced "boo-GAH-koo") is the term for Japanese court music. In 1963, it was a bold step for Balanchine to take something so steeped in ancient culture and transpose it to Western ballet. The intent was not to imitate traditional Japanese manners and rituals, but to respect their spirit and decorum.

In the late 1950s, before I joined the company, New York City Ballet had traveled to Japan, and their performances had been a tremendous success. Over the next few years, Balanchine invited some of the Japanese musicians and dancers he had seen to perform on his programs in the United States. Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein soon commissioned Toshiro Mayuzumi, a popular and adventurous Japanese composer, to create a ballet score reflecting the music of Japan's Imperial Court, but using Western instrumentation. (Interestingly, Mayuzumi was a pupil of Iannis Xenakis, the composer who inspired Balanchine's Pithoprakta. This ballet is also part of my company's November engagement at the Kennedy Center.)

The end result was Balanchine's Bugaku, which calls for a principal couple and an ensemble of 4 women and 4 men. The ballet was originally made on Allegra Kent and Eddie Villella. When I performed it, beginning later in the 1960s, I was partnered by Arthur Mitchell and sometimes Eddie Villella.

Balanchine always said that the minute you place a man and a woman on stage, there’s already a story. So you don’t have to specifically tell the audience what to see. Yet critics were quick to label the first part of Bugaku as a formalized courtship, and the second part a ceremonial wedding ritual. Balanchine referred to this pas de deux as "a dance of discovery."

True to Balanchine, the movement is born from the music. Mayuzumi's score features a wealth of violin glissando, sliding up and down along the strings, as if extending the instrument beyond its means. This tautness in the music fits perfectly with the tension in the pas de deux. Once the ensemble removes the couple's robes, their duet becomes more intricate, intertwined, and almost slow-motion in places. The man seems to mold and shape his female partner into physical positions of the most extreme nature.

The set was conceived by David Hays, the designer for several of Balanchine's ballets including A Midsummer Night's Dream and Liebeslieder Walzer. The design echoes many traditional theatrical presentations in Japan. When I danced Bugaku, I remember that the floor's patterned green tapestry stained my toe shoes. I’d have to replace them for every new performance. Bugaku features an abundance of pale makeup, and our wigs at the time were stiff, lacquered horsehair layered with miniature umbrellas and cherry blossoms. Needless to say, this ballet required a long preparation time.

For my company's premiere performances of Bugaku, we will be using the costumes designed by Karinska. I think Karinska's inspiration to model the women's skirts after lotus blossoms was particularly clever and beautiful.

Our performances of Bugaku are a nice tie-in to the Kennedy Center's upcoming festival JAPAN! culture + hyperculture. It's an exciting "sneak peek" of what the Center has in store for audiences next February.

On Fourth Movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on "Program B" Friday, Nov. 23, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, matinee, and Sunday, Nov. 25, evening

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet is performed to Arnold Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1. Each of the music's four movements is matched to a different movement in Balanchine’s ballet. Much like Diamonds, Rubies, and Emeralds from Balanchine's Jewels, the movements could be performed independently from the others. They each have a separate beginning, middle, and end, and their only link is the music.

Balanchine liked Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1, but he tended to avoid choreographing to chamber works because of their length. According to my research, Robert Craft, a close friend to Stravinsky, informed Balanchine that Schoenberg had created an orchestration of the quartet in the late 1930s, employing a huge orchestra. He listened to a recording and loved it, leading to the premiere of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet on April 12, 1966.

The Fourth Movement, which Balanchine originally made on me and Jacques d'Amboise and an ensemble of eight other couples, is also called the "Rondo alla Zingarese." It evokes a specific mood of invigorating gypsy vitality. From its first moments – where the lead couple swiftly enters – it's a wild display of flamboyant, yet elegant fun.

The ballet incorporates seductive jauntiness, a great deal of spinning turns, and silent repartee. The woman is extremely fiery – fiercely independent, and ready to meet her partner on equal terms.

Balanchine's Tzigane also evokes the geographic locale of Hungary and gypsies, but otherwise the two ballets are completely different. Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet is not the earthy gypsies of Carmen – they're not bandits or in the mountains around the campfire. Rather, the ballet suggests a more aristocratic lifestyle near the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And Brahms's music is very grand, as opposed to Ravel's plaintive violin in Tzigane.

I'm looking forward to my company's premiere of the Fourth Movement. Staging the entirety of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet is an elaborate undertaking – a dance extravaganza employing 55 dancers. I hope for The Suzanne Farrell Ballet to perform all four movements in the future.

On Pas Classique Espagnol, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on “Program A” Tuesday, Nov. 20, evening, Wednesday, Nov. 21, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, evening and Sunday, Nov. 25, matinee

In the 1970s, Balanchine reworked Act I of his full-length Don Quixote, the ballet he originally made on me in 1965 and bequeathed to me. For example, in addition to my role as the Don’s beloved Dulcinea, Balanchine inserted an extra solo for me as a gypsy woman for a time. Similarly, Balanchine added this 15-minute divertissement to the first act of Don Quixote to supply it with more dancing.

With its own pas de deux, ensemble variations, and finale, Pas Classique Espagnol clearly works as an independent ballet. I did not include it in my re-staging of Don Quixote for my company in 2005, so this is the first time that most audiences will have seen it.

To bring this lovely divertissement back to the stage, I consulted the black-and-white video with tiny images from the 1970s. There isn’t any sound, so I sat down with Ron Matson, my company’s Music Director, and we searched for the music. “This looks like a waltz,” I said, “and this looks like a mazurka.” Eventually he electronically recreated the music. But Nikolas Nabokov’s score is tricky – he frequently accents the second beat in a measure, so we had to be careful not to plot that as the first beat.

Our re-constructed music for Pas Classique Espagnol is unmistakably Nabokov. Even though Dulcinea never appears in the divertissement, the music includes themes reflective of her character, because everything the Don sees during his journey refers back to his vision of her.

Our re-imagined costumes will be colorful, with a hint of Spanish flavor. Here are some sketches of the costumes by Holly Hynes, our costume designer. (Click on them to see a close-up.) Audiences will actually take quite the journey on our “Program A” – we’ll venture from Japan (Bugaku) to Spain (Pas Classique Espagnol) to the Elysian Fields (Chaconne)!

On Ballade, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on "Program B" Friday, Nov. 23, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, matinee, and Sunday, Nov. 25, evening

Ballade is one of Balanchine's rarely performed ballets. I never danced the ballet, but I always thought it was beautiful. Balanchine made this extended pas de deux on Merrill Ashley, who performed the premiere in 1980 with Ib Andersen. Throughout the ballet, the central couple appears and disappears, accompanied at times by a corps of 10 women. The choreography is set to "Ballade for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 19," a late 19th-century work by French composer Gabriel Fauré.

The ballet was originally costumed in tulle and very French – the dancers wore black ribbons around their necks, as they did in the early days of the French ballets. Ballade was later re-costumed in chiffon, which I think makes the romance in the movement more visible.

Many people will recognize Fauré's music. The mood of the ballet is reflective, like a memory. In this way, people may draw a parallel between Ballade and Balanchine's Meditation, though the two are very different ballets – completely separate worlds, sensibilities, and people. Still, I think it will be interesting for audiences to experience them both on the same program.

On Pithoprakta. to be performed by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet on “Program B” Friday, Nov. 23, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, matinee, and Sunday, Nov. 25, evening

Balanchine made Pithoprakta on me and Arthur Mitchell in 1968. The ballet also calls for 7 women and 5 men. Until now, no one else has ever performed it. It had always been paired with Balanchine’s ensemble ballet Metastaseis, because both are set to music created in the 1950s by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis.

Pithoprakta was popular when it premiered. The music and choreography were very radical and innovative at the time. It was the era of going to the moon; a complete departure from what Balanchine had done before, and from what other choreographers were doing in ballet. The title is Greek for “action by probabilities” – Xenakis’s music was frequently based on mathematical and scientific formulas. His score calls for more than 50 instruments to each play something different, from musical sounds to sound effects.

One day, Balanchine archived Pithoprakta on film, but Arthur Mitchell couldn’t be there. So I had to perform the ballet, including the pas de deux, without him. This is the same – and only – film that exists to re-construct the ballet for my company now. To re-insert Arthur’s role, I’ve had to work with an unknown quantity. In some places, I remember he danced my mirror opposite, or we performed back-to-back. But in other places, I’m re-creating his choreography via a process of elimination. Whenever there’s a phrase of music where nothing seems to be happening, I say to myself, “Aha! That must be where Arthur dances!”

The original costuming was eclectic, much like the dance itself. I wore white tights and a fringed bikini with little pink rhinestones on the end of the tassels. Arthur Mitchell was dressed in shimmering gold pants, and the ensemble wore black practice clothes. For my company’s premiere of the work, we’ve designed new costumes – there’s still some gold in there, and white. And though the ballet did not originally feature a set, I have the idea to reflect the music’s mathematical and scientific characteristics.

On Chaconne, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on Tuesday, Nov. 20, evening, Wednesday, Nov. 21, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, evening and Sunday, Nov. 25, matinee,

The version of Chaconne in my company's repertoire is the choreography Balanchine originally created for the dance sequence in the Hamburg Opera's 1963 production of Orpheus and Eurydice. (This was around the same time he made his first ballet on me, Meditation.) I first learned and performed Chaconne in 1976, the year Balanchine added it as an independent ballet to his repertoire, though this version includes an additional pas de deux. Balanchine may have been inspired by the music in Orpheus and Eurydice, by the 18th-century German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, but there is no connection to the opera's characters or plot. Chaconne is pure dance - those who are familiar with the opera, however, will enjoy seeing another art form set to the music.

By definition, a chaconne is a form of music in ¾ time signature. The exact music he formatted for the ballet does not exist in the opera, or in any recording. He was such the musician that he tied together various pieces from the opera's score to create something uniquely his own.

The version of Chaconne that The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will be performing follows Balanchine's adaptation for television. It begins with the additional pas de deux, followed by nine young women in translucent gowns and long, flowing hair. The couple meets again for a more formal pas de deux, followed by virtuoso solos for the man and the woman. The ensemble enters for the finale danced to a chaconne, in which the couple also celebrates.

Balanchine intended for the first and second halves of Chaconne to be very different from each other. The opening of the ballet evokes the timeless, ethereal mood of Elysium, or the afterlife - while in the second pas de deux, the tone is more courtly, formal, and stylized.

When Chaconne premiered, people were uncertain regarding its two distinct halves, with no story or immediately observable similarities to link them. But the absence of a narrative thread doesn't mean there's an absence of drama. I never questioned anything Balanchine did when he was putting together a ballet, because it was always answered by the end of the choreography. I think Chaconne shows Balanchine juxtaposing people's private lives with their public personas, exploring how they might behave in each of those worlds.

Balanchine created these often-dubbed "plotless" ballets like Chaconne for a reason. People would ask him, "What am I supposed to look at when I come to the ballet? What should I pay attention to?" I believe Balanchine created works where people could appreciate movement for its own sake. It's not necessary to see a story if you don't want to - just come and enjoy the dance. Of course, Balanchine also created story ballets like Don Quixote, giving audiences even more choices.

As far as the designs for Chaconne, the costumes were primarily blue and white. The stage version does not include scenery, though Balanchine did agree to some rather ornate backdrops - complete with clouds and abstract-looking topiary sculptures - for the Chaconne filmed in 1978, which is now on DVD.

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet presented its premiere of Chaconne in 2002; the following year, we featured the first pas de deux in a program called "The Balanchine Couple," which I scripted and narrated. This fall, Chaconne will be the cornerstone of a special artistic partnership between The Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. I think it's fitting that my company's first partnership of this nature will take place in my hometown. My idea for the partnership brings many things full circle for me, as well as for Cincinnati Ballet's Artistic Director, Victoria Morgan. "Suzanne Farrell is a hero of mine," she said in a press release earlier this year. "When I was dancing, I imagined the freedom of expression and innate musicality that she exuded every moment on stage, influencing my own expression on stage."

Cincinnati Ballet will first host The Suzanne Farrell Ballet for a three-week residency, culminating in a joint performance of Chaconne on November 9 and 10. In return, select members of Cincinnati Ballet will perform in Chaconne during The Suzanne Farrell Ballet's engagement at the Kennedy Center November 20-25.

I look forward to our collaboration.

On Meditation, to be performed by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet on Friday, Nov. 23, evening, Saturday, Nov. 24, matinee and Sunday, Nov. 25, evening

Meditation was the first ballet that Balanchine made on me, and it was the first ballet to which he gave me ownership. A pas de deux of approximately 8 minutes, the work is performed to Tchaikovsky's music of the same name for violin and piano, and orchestrated by Glazounov. Meditation premiered in December 1963 at the New York City Center of Music and Drama; my partner was Jacques d'Amboise. He and I were both tall, so Balanchine saw us as a good match.

At the time Balanchine was creating Meditation in New York, he was also working on the dance sequence in Orpheus and Eurydice for the Hamburg Opera. Based on the Greek myth, the opera follows Orpheus as he attempts to bring his wife back from the underworld, only to lose her again. Perhaps this theme of "impossible love" inspired Balanchine when he started Meditation. It certainly proved to people that Balanchine was not just an "abstract" or "neo-classical" choreographer, as he had been so often labeled. He could also create something founded on pure emotion.

I first became aware that Balanchine had me in mind for a ballet when we were on tour in Russia, in 1962. I was nursing an injured knee after adjusting to all the steeply raked stages in Europe, so I was unable to dance and thoroughly frustrated. But when we stopped to perform in Tbilisi - Balanchine's home town in Georgia - he calmed me. As I recorded in my diary: "The Nutcracker is not so important. Don't dance," Balanchine said. "Next season, though, you will see…" He pointed his index finger to me, and then upward. I wasn't really sure what that meant, but by the fall of 1963, we were back in the studio and I was to find out.

At the time, I was 18, and had not yet been in love. So creating a pas de deux around the concept of romance was the furthest thing from my mind. Yet it evolved into an evocation of passion, love, and loss. A man, kneeling, his head in his hands, begins and ends the ballet alone. In between, he is visited by a young girl in a white, translucent gown and long, flowing hair. (This was the beginning of a career of loose hair for me, one of Balanchine's signature breaks from tradition.) She invites him into a duet, tender at first, but increasingly passionate and reckless as the dance continues. Many people have filled in their own story here, and I eventually discovered mine. But I don't believe you need to explain everything in a ballet. A sense of mystery can be very powerful. The more you reveal to an audience, the more mysterious you become. The less you reveal, the less interesting you are. However, if you work at being mysterious, it just comes across as disingenuous.

Tchaikovsky's violin gives Meditation a certain Russian sensibility. I remember Jacques d'Amboise, after a performance once, innocently suggested that Balanchine created Meditation because "every Russian likes to suffer." But Balanchine – who was generally a happy person – immediately diffused this maudlin notion. "No!" he said. "That's not true! Who wants to suffer? Suffering comes into our lives whether we like it or not!" I believe Balanchine choreographed life on stage. His ballets reflect and celebrate life and love in all its poignancy.

Balanchine gave Meditation to me saying he didn't want anyone else to dance it, and I was loyal to his wishes for more than 35 years after it premiered. (At one time, Mikhail Baryshnikov asked to perform it - of course he understood it was not possible, once I explained Balanchine's request.) But when I began teaching, a few years after Balanchine passed away, I thought, what good is a ballet if it's never seen? Leaving these works "in the vault" wasn't preserving them - it was destroying them. So I decided to teach Meditation to a new generation.

In 2003, forty years after the ballet's world premiere, audiences saw The Suzanne Farrell Ballet perform Meditation for the first time - and I was seeing it for the first time as well. We are the only company in the world to perform it.

For three weeks in August, I had the joy of working with 27 eager and talented young adults as part of my annual Kennedy Center summer program called “Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell” (EBSF for short). Since 1993, I’ve been leading and nurturing promising U.S. and international students ages 14 to 18 in this intensive residency, which focuses on ballet technique and performance dynamics, as well as offering cultural exploration around D.C.

Our three weeks together – many of those hours spent deep in the Kennedy Center’s rehearsal catacombs – culminated in a performance of my choreography in the Family Theater on August 17. I’m always excited to give the students this opportunity to showcase their efforts. The final performance is typically attended by parents, friends, and teachers, and followed by a very enjoyable reception. Here I’ve put together a slideshow of photos taken during this year’s classes and rehearsals:

EBSF is not the only summer program I lead for aspiring dancers. Every year at my Cedar Islands retreat in Upstate New York, I spend a working vacation with approximately 10 young girls for two weeks. Between EBSF and Cedar Islands, I’m especially grateful that I can offer the kind of individual attention that is sometimes difficult to find in other top training programs. (Some of them have to accommodate 200 or more students at a time!)

I’ve gathered a couple of letters written to me by former students. I love hearing from them – what they remember from our time together, and what intriguing things they’re up to now. Click on these images to read three of my favorites:

I also seek out new generations of talent through my summer sessions - whether it's recruiting students for children's roles in ballets like Balanchine's Mozartiana, or considering them for a more permanent role in my company. Early next year, I'll be holding auditions for my 2008 summer programs, so I welcome you to read more about EBSF and the application process. You can also watch a video of me and some of my former students talking about our experiences together.

A special invitation to 2 free events in September

EBSF is just one example of how the Kennedy Center is as committed to arts education and preservation as it is to the performances themselves. In September, two free events I'm involved in are further testament to the Center's mission: a Millennium Stage world-premiere film screening of Balanchine's Don Quixote in 1965, and preview performances by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet during the Open House Arts Festival. I invite you to join me for both of them.

World-Premiere Film Screening Of Balanchine's Don Quixote, Wednesday, September 5 at 6 p.m. in the Terrace Theater

After my company's re-staging of Balanchine's Don Quixote in 2005, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center approached me with their interest in digitally re-mastering and restoring a black-and-white film that had been made of the ballet's world premiere 40 years earlier. The gala benefit performance, which took place on May 27, 1965, featured Balanchine as Cervantes's Don in 16th-century Spain, and me as his Dulcinea. Balanchine's inspiration for the ballet follows their love story as depicted in Cervantes's novel. In one particular passage that has always moved me, the Don says he will glorify Dulcinea as "the lady of his thoughts, for the knight-errant without a ladylove was a tree without leaves or fruit, a body without a soul."

Among the many circumstances that made this gala performance special, it marked Balanchine's first time on stage since performing in a televised production of The Nutcracker seven years earlier. And at age 61, portraying the Don was no small feat. Though the role was primarily an acting role, not a dancing one, it still required a lot of physical acumen - the Don battles, falls, kneels, and is tormented throughout the ballet as he attempts to hold nobly to his dreams. I was 19 at the ballet's premiere, and as much as the gala was an historical event, if Balanchine was aware it was being recorded at the time, I was unaware until years later. Other New York City Ballet staff took initiative to commit the performance to celluloid.

I had used a VHS copy of the film to re-stage the ballet in 2005, since it had been 25 years since the last performance. I had struggled with more than a few dark, grainy patches in the video as I pieced together Balanchine's original choreography, so I was excited about the idea of restoring it. However, I wanted to be hands-on involved in the re-mastering, primarily because the music and movement were out of sync throughout the original recording. In some instances, the music can't even be heard! I certainly didn't want an archival record created that wasn't true to the actual performance – and since Balanchine had made the ballet on me, and had bequeathed it to me, it was of paramount importance for me to be as true as possible.

Now that I've seen the final cut, I know the restoration has enhanced the film immensely, making it a much richer viewing experience. Filmed using two cameras, the original video recorded all three acts of the full-evening ballet, which runs approximately two hours. Now the wide angle shots capture the atmospheric, moody mis-en-scène with more vivid detail of background pantomime and surrounding "dance-drama" – while the close-up shots express more of the characters' emotional nuance. Don Quixote is one of Balanchine's most elaborate works, with seven scene changes, a 40-foot giant wielding a sword, a 30-foot rotating windmill, a miniature puppet theater, firecrackers, and a cast of seemingly thousands, including a horse, a donkey, and children. So the clarity added to these elements is all the more vital.

Perhaps one of the most unexpected outcomes of the restoration process is that it has helped bring back into focus one of the ballet's main themes: the dark, deceitful nature of mankind. At its core, Don Quixote is a philosophical tale of life, death, and love. The Don is a man of chivalry living in a cynical world. For example, there's a sequence in the ballet where court people put on commedia dell'arte masks with huge Cyrano de Bergerac noses and begin to dance with the Don, pushing and taunting him until he is bruised, beaten, and alone. In the original film, this intentionally darkly lit scene is just that - dark. In the re-mastered version, you can now see the full detail of the dance, yet the darkness remains and takes on its own meaning. It practically becomes a character itself.

At the Kennedy Center on September 5, I'll briefly introduce the film alongside Michelle Potter, from The New York Public Library, who has worked with me throughout this restoration project. I'll then head to New York City on September 19 for a second screening at Lincoln Center. I'm looking forward to the journey.

Preview Performances by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Saturday, September 8 ... in the Family Theater

Filled with dozens of free performances, the Kennedy Center’s annual Open House Arts Festival is a full day of family fun – and this year, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will be a part of the festivities. Our participation is part of my ongoing commitment to give back to ballet audiences, and to the art form that has enabled me to have such an extraordinary life.

For parents whose children begin to express interest in ballet and dance, it can sometimes be difficult to know how to get them more involved, and where to go to start. Finding quality time and the financial resources for regularly sharing the arts with your family can also be challenging.

The Open House Arts Festival is a great opportunity for parents and children to spend the day together fully immersed in the arts. And you can speak directly with members of our Education staff about ways to get children more involved in ballet at the Kennedy Center and beyond.

At the festival, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will perform a program featuring excerpts from three works by Balanchine: Chaconne, Bugaku, and Pas Classique Espagnol. Since the full versions of all three of these works will be featured in my company's November performances in the Opera House, I'll be sharing more stories about each of them in future editions of my Notes from the Ballet.

I hope you'll join us in the Family Theater on September 8. In the meantime, enjoy this free "sneak peek" at our performances to come.

archived notes 2008 - 2009

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Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet archived notes 2008 - 2009

Swan Lake Don Quixote George Balanchine Giselle The Four Temperaments The Nutcracker Liebeslieder Walzer Ragtime Episodes

Swan Lake, to be performed by American Ballet Theatre Feb. 20-22, 2009

I've always loved Swan Lake, ever since I was a child making up choreography to Tchaikovsky's music playing from a full-length record, late into the night with my best friend. We used a picture window as our mirror and fell into the outstretched arms of chairs, imagining them to be our handsome princes. When I finally had my chance to dance Mr. Balanchine's Swan Lake, I found it profoundly moving.

There I was, still a teenager, dancing the ballet that I and every young girl dreamed of dancing, and doing so in a professional ballet company. Of course, I was just one of many swans, and I was tall, so I was in the back line. But still, I was on stage with Jacques d'Amboise and Melissa Hayden, playing part in this historical and profound piece. I can still feel the music in my veins every time I hear it. It is so powerful, and at the time everything came together to create one very passionate and moving moment. When I came off stage I was overwhelmed with complete and tearful emotion.

While Mr. B's Swan Lake was only the second act, it allowed me to imagine myself a swan and to act and move with the grace of a swan. I did eventually get the opportunity to explore both sides of the swan, dancing as the enchanted White Swan and the deceitful Black Swan in a full-length production with the National Ballet of Canada. Playing both roles was an athletic and mental endeavor. I had to consciously ignore the Balanchine choreography that my muscles knew so well, and instead learn new movements to that familiar music. But as always, Tchaikovsky was there for support.

I so admire and respect Tchaikovsky. Not only is his music so full of life and passion, but he was one of the few composers to write music specifically for ballet, Swan Lake being his first. That original version of Swan Lake, performed in 1877, was incomplete and unsuccessful, but the music was too powerful to simply go away. In 1895 Swan Lake was premiered again with new choreography, and to a large extent this is the dance that we still see today. I love the pas de deux in the second act, and it's interesting to note that this music was actually salvaged from Undine, an otherwise discarded Tchaikovsky opera.

Regardless of the many avenues taken to arrive at today's Swan Lake, it will always have a place in the ballet canon. Its embracing music and captivating story inspires budding ballerinas and seasoned pros alike. Swan Lake serves the dance world well by being the single image that springs to mind when most people hear the word "ballet." It can be seen time and again, each time as if with fresh eyes, and I'm sure American Ballet Theatre is thrilled to present this classic to Kennedy Center audiences.

Don Quixote, to be performed by Mariinsky Ballet Jan. 13-18, 2009

In seeing Mariinsky Ballet perform Don Quixote, you have a tale that has been interpreted through dance for over 250 years, as performed by a company which has been in existence under its former name of Kirov Ballet for nearly as long. These two artistic forces–story and storyteller–occasionally cross paths and each bears influence on the other with the audience as witness. In 1965 it pleased me to be a part of Mr. Balanchine’s vision of Don Quixote. The prospect of seeing Mariinsky Ballet’s staging of this legendary tale piques my curiosity, since it is based on the Petipa-Minkus version that Mr. B first danced as a boy of 12, in St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.

Read my Notes from the 2007 performance of Don Quixote by Bolshoi Ballet.

George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, to be performed by American Ballet Theatre Feb. 17-19, 2009

Part of American Ballet Theatre's mixed repertory program is a Company premiere of Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, performed to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3. This ballet remains dear to me both for its beauty and for memories it always brings to mind. The story takes place when I was still new to the New York City Ballet, shortly after the formation of the New York State Council on the Arts. They asked Mr. B to send members of the company into rural regions of the state to promote the Council's pro-art message. From here I will pick up the story, as told in my book Holding On to the Air.

"After the New York winter season, I went on my first company tour of upstate New York. At one point the company split into several concert groups in order to dance in various smaller theaters and schools. I was with the Allegro Brillante group headed by Melissa Hayden and Nicholas Magallanes. We were in Batavia on the tiny, well-waxed stage of a high school auditorium. When the curtain is raised on Allegro Brillante, there are four couples already moving with fast runs and jumps in a tight circle. Before the curtain was all the way up—crash! I was down, flat on my rump.

The audience of high school students broke into loud laughter, and my initial physical pain dissolved into humiliation. I wanted to leave the stage in shame, but I didn't. I heaved myself onto my feet to the sounds of whistling eleventh graders (kids my own age) and finished the ballet. I have never particularly minded falling onstage since. Nothing could be as cruel as that first time, and even then I realized that I only felt destroyed. I wasn't. This was just an unpleasant situation that taught me something, and learning something, however small, became my new rule. Balanchine never minded mistakes, even stupid ones, but he did mind repeated ones. From that point on, I planned not to make any."

Giselle, to be performed by San Francisco Ballet Nov. 28-30

I never danced the role of the doomed Giselle but I encountered it at an early age when a film of the Bolshoi's Giselle came through town. My mother took my two sisters and myself. Seeing the ballet so large up on screen made quite an impression on me. Keep in mind, in a Midwestern town during the '50s, there were not very many opportunities for exposure to the arts. A touring ballet company would visit perhaps once a year. To see Giselle produced with grandeur in this larger than life way fed my imagination.

Giselle is probably the oldest ballet that remains largely intact and untouched by later choreographers since its first production in 1841. Ballets in those days were usually about a romantic ideal and interspersed with a healthy dose of magic and spirits. Romantic ballet is very much about seeing who you are and wishing for something entirely different—and that requires magic and a character who can make that magic happen. Because of its legacy, Giselle holds a revered place in the canon of dance and often is an introduction for young and aspiring dancers into the realm of ballet.

The Four Temperaments, to be performed by San Francisco Ballet Nov. 25 & 26

During Mr. Balanchine's Broadway and Hollywood days in the late '30s he managed to save $500 and commissioned Paul Hindemith, at the time in exile and teaching composition at Yale, to compose the music. What he received was 30 minutes of stunning music for a string orchestra and piano in the form of a theme with four extended variations. The composition originally had a different name and scenario, but what Balanchine eventually called The Four Temperaments was something entirely ahead of its day.

The title is based on the Greek belief that the body could be cured by effecting its four humors, or temperaments: Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic and Choleric. However, this idea was only a departure point for the piece. It was not meant to be a deep exploration of the humors and the original cumbersome costumes were quickly discarded for a more "stripped down" style. Mr. B. did not want the audience thinking, "Oh, so that's what melancholy looks like." With The Four Temperaments he could leave behind the entire idea that ballet has to have a narrative and focus on the pure emotion through the dance itself.

Occasionally, I still hear people say that they don't go to the ballet because they don't know what to see. But you don't HAVE to see anything. You just see what you see. Let your mind form its own connections and interpretations, which can be different with each viewing. This idea can act as a canvas for the audience's emotions.

The Nutcracker, to be danced by The Joffrey Ballet Dec. 11-14

Of course there are many different Nutcracker productions in many cities, but the constant element is Tchaikovsky's enchanting music. In some ways this piece is overexposed and underappreciated. Everyone has heard the music, but when you REALLY listen, it is full of whimsy, passion and complexity.

As a dancer, I found the music provided seemingly limitless ways to dance. The Nutcracker exists today as a holiday tradition, and it has a power and place in that role. However, I don't see any reason that it necessarily has to be performed around Christmas. In fact, Mr. B. scheduled The Nutcracker once in the middle of summer in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was refreshing to put everyone in a winter state of mind on a hot day.

I had a chance when I was eight to play the role of the well-behaved Clara in the second act of a touring Ballet Russe production. The role didn't entail much. In fact, no dancing at all. My sole responsibility was to sit on a red velvet bench on the side of the stage and clap politely after each divertissement. Naturally, being a budding performer, I found a unique way to applaud each time. I really got into the role and felt I was contributing to the enjoyment of the performance. Needless to say, they had a little blond girl in every town they played, but this was my night, and it ignited my dreams.

Liebeslieder Walzer, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Oct. 8, 9, 11 evenings, 12 matinee

Liebeslieder Walzer, set to music by Brahms with two pianists and four vocalists on stage, is in two parts. The first part is performed in period costumes. After a brief pause, the women return in flowing gowns and toe shoes.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a performer for me is getting to “live” in a past age, if only for an hour on the stage. Liebeslieder Walzer takes us back to the genteel era of elegant gowns, whirling dances, and proper manners. I know it’s a romanticized vision of the past but like a whiff of perfume it evokes so many wonderful sensations.

The piece is of course based on the 3/4 meter of the waltz. The classical ballet vocabulary is still there but it takes on a different “world” and time period.

Liebeslieder is German for “love songs.” Although Mr. B did not want translations of the lyrics in the program (he felt they would influence audiences to look for a literal interpretation), the emotions being expressed can certainly be felt. In the dance, the four couples could perhaps represent the different stages of love, from young passion to bittersweet reflection, tempered by the grace of social behavior.

I began learning Liebeslieder Walzer one year after I joined the company, while we were on tour in Europe. After returning to New York, Diana Adams suffered an injury and I took over her role.

This work has had several stagings over the years. The original 1960 production had dreamy scenery that just suggested a ballroom. After Mr. B’s death, Liebeslieder Walzer was restaged with a very elaborate and literal recreation of a Viennese ballroom. Walking out onto that marble floor under the palatial set was a little overwhelming!

For my company, I have chosen to return to the simpler staging. I feel a whisper can ignite the imagination. The audience is free to be provoked into re-creating their views on life. And for me, this is one role of the arts, to remind us what life could—and should—be like.

Ragtime, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Oct. 8, 9, 11 evenings, 12 matinee

Balanchine first used this music in 1922. And then again as a dance for Diana Adams and Bill Carter. Six years later, in 1966, he reworked it completely for Arthur Mitchell and me. This jazz-inspired version was completely different although they share the same music. It was for the occasion of a Stravinsky Festival at the new Philharmonic Hall and, along with the orchestral selections, Balanchine was asked to create a pair of dances. Mr. B admired Stravinsky immensely (he set ballets to his music many times over the years) and appreciated this opportunity to pay tribute to his mentor. Stravinsky attended the concert so it was a very special evening for us all.

Stravinsky’s music for Ragtime suggests the quick and lively syncopated rhythms of that style without being a literal imitation. It was written in 1918 so he was certainly influenced by the compositions of Scott Joplin and those other great ragtime musicians. The work is a lively pas de deux and having the 11 musicians on stage adds an extra dimension to the work. For me, it felt like going back in time and stepping out onto the dance floor.

After the dance concert, Ragtime was put into the repertory in 1967 but it only remained there for a year. Arthur Mitchell was beginning to start his own company (which became of course Dance Theatre of Harlem) and was not around as much to perform it with me, so the piece eventually fell out of the company’s offerings. Mr. B frequently did not have understudies for his ballets, so when those who danced them left the company the works were unfortunately lost to the past.

When I was thinking back on work that would be appropriate projects for the Balanchine Preservation Initiative, Ragtime came to mind. It was a delightful piece that few people had the chance to experience. When it came to the task of restoring this “lost” work, all I had was my memory and a short film clip that my sister had taken with an 8 mm camera when the company was on tour in Saratoga Springs, NY. It was taken from the back of the audience and I’m afraid my sister was not an expert cinematographer for I am frequently dancing out of the frame! On top of that, there was no audio, since this was well before the days of video cameras. Therefore, I relied heavily on my memory.

Certainly this was a greater challenge than some of my past reconstructions since I had fewer fragments to work with but I find that often the fragments can be very revealing. With Ragtime, it’s almost as if Mr. B is re-choreographing for my dancers since they have no visual memory of the piece. Of course, neither do the audiences so they will be discovering it as if it was the first time.

This restaging also includes new costumes. The dance-concert performance in 1966 was done in practice clothes and the piece in the repertoire had a green costume. Our resident designer, Holly Hynes, has created ensembles for the dancers that are a reflection of the music’s period. Click here to read an interview with Holly and see two of the sketches. Once I saw the dancers in their costumes, I adjusted a few of the movements I created to work better with the flow of the fabric.

I enjoyed making Ragtime come together and I know my dancers will have a special treat performing it for a new generation of audiences.

Episodes, to be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Oct. 8, 9, 11 evenings, 12 matinee

Episodes was created in 1959 and was unique in that the first half of the piece was choreographed by Martha Graham and the second half by Balanchine. They did not collaborate on its creation and over the years only the second section remained in active repertoire. We will be performing Mr. Balanchine’s section. I am also pleased that this engagement marks The Suzanne Farrell Ballet’s second Artistic Partnership with the Ballet Austin under the Artistic Direction of Stephen Mills.

Episodes is set to the music of Anton Webern, whose music was introduced to Mr. B by his friend Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine said that this dance is about the music.

You can see this clearly in the Third Movement pas de deux. The way the man partners the woman is the same way the conductor has the musician work the instrument.

The last movement is Webern’s tribute to Bach whose liturgical music is well loved. It is a musical offering, a serene canon that conveys a sense of peace. When you see it, it seems as if everything in the world is as it should be.

The work is performed in black and white practice clothes, which enable the audience to see the pure line and movement. Some like to group these as “leotard ballets” but I feel their only connection is a similarity of costume. The movements from Agon are as unique to that work as the movements of Episodes are to it. You could not mistake one for the other.

archived notes 2009–2010

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Archived Notes 10 - 11 Archived Notes 09 - 10 Archived Notes 08 - 09 Archived Notes 07 - 08 Archived Notes 06 - 07Stay Connected Musings…The Official Farrell Ballet Blog Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet Archive 2009 - 2010 Ballet Across America II Haieff Divertimento Afternoon of a Faun Donizetti Variations A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II pas de deux Agon Apollo The Sleeping Beauty Spartacus American Ballet Theatre New York City Ballet George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™

Ballet Across America II June 15-20, 2010 Buy Tickets


This June, the Kennedy Center brings back Ballet Across America, which first graced the Opera House stage two summers ago. For 2010, this biennial celebration will feature nine ballet companies from all corners of the U.S. performing in three mixed repertory programs. Among this year's participants are Houston Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Tulsa Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Arizona, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and my own company, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. With the talents of so many choreographers, composers, and dancers to be enjoyed over one week's time, Kennedy Center audiences are in for a real treat of discovery.

My company will be performing Monumentum Pro Gesualdo & Movements for Piano and Orchestra – two ballets that were created independently, but are now typically performed together. Both works feature the choreography of George Balanchine and the music of Igor Stravinsky. Their pairing has been a part of my company's repertory since 2001, though I first staged them in 1995 for the Kennedy Center's 25th anniversary season.

On Monumentum Pro Gesualdo Balanchine premiered Monumentum in 1960 for a program celebrating the 100th anniversary of Italy's unification. (That program also included his Donizetti Variations, which was part of my company's March engagement earlier this year.) The ballet was originally made on Diana Adams and Conrad Ludlow. Costumed in white practice clothes, Monumentum is danced in three sections and features an ensemble of six couples who frequently echo the lead couple's movements.

For the score, Stravinsky re-orchestrated the madrigals of Italian composer Don Carlo Gesualdo (c. 1560-1613) to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his birth. Stravinsky's music always has so many fascinating layers, but a madrigal is a complex musical form in its own right. Popular during the Renaissance, madrigals are love poems set to vocal music and filled with unexpected harmonies and "word paintings" – musical devices used to convey a word's emotional context, such as love, pain, death, or ecstasy. The purpose of a madrigal was to signify the Renaissance era's core values of true love and living for the sake of others.

Though Stravinsky's score for Monumentum is instrumental, his music still resonates with these emotional meanings – and Balanchine's choreography signifies them visually. There are moments in the ballet where true love shines through, in simple movements and graceful gestures. The boy gently takes the girl's hand and kisses it, for example. But as with all Balanchine ballets, it's beautiful without being overly affected, and without needing to establish any specific relationship story between these two people.

Gesualdo's music – and Stravinsky's interpretation of it – is so heavenly and serene. But the history books tell us that Gesualdo murdered his wife and her lover, yet his noble status exempted him from punishment. It shocks me that music this calm could come from the mind of such a dark soul! Or perhaps the music was his penance.

On Movements for Piano and Orchestra

Though it's the second ballet in the sequence, Movements was the first one I learned and performed. I danced its premiere in April 1963, though that was not the original plan. Balanchine had initially cast Diana Adams in the lead ballerina role, partnered by Jacques d'Amboise.

As I write in my autobiography, two weeks before opening night, Diana had learned she was pregnant and was confined to bed rest. Balanchine was about to cancel the premiere until Jacques suggested that the ballet might be saved if they could teach me Diana's part. I was still only a corps member in the company, but Balanchine acquiesced. So Jacques took me to Diana's apartment one evening to learn the choreography.

The experience left my head spinning; no recording of Stravinsky's atonal score existed, and along with the rest of the world, I had never heard the music before. Jacques and Diana grunted, clapped, and sang to help me "hear" the music and get through the steps. And Diana's living room – complete with couch, coffee table, and slippery parquet floor – was a fraction of the size of a real studio. But after a couple of hours, things started to click, and the next day Balanchine scheduled full rehearsals with me, Jacques, and the six corps girls.

Two days before the premiere, however, I was still unnerved and unsure. Everything was happening so fast, and there had been no time for me to absorb the complete world of the ballet. My feelings of inadequacy compelled me to approach Balanchine and say, "I don't think you should let me do this ballet." (Can you imagine?) But he replied, "Oh dear, you let me be the judge." That brief exchange turned out to be a pivotal moment for us, as it marked the beginning of our lifelong trust in each other. I stopped second-guessing myself, put my total faith in his judgment, and performed the ballet opening night in an all-Stravinsky program. Lo and behold, audiences and critics loved Balanchine's latest creation.


Balanchine's highly charged choreography is the exacting physical counterpart to Stravinsky's complex, landmark score. Indeed, none of us had ever danced to something so electrifyingly charged before. Stravinsky filled his music with split-second rhythms and ever-changing meter, and Balanchine's steps matched that lightning-fast frenzy note-for-note. In fact, Balanchine was once quoted as saying, "Nothing gave me greater pleasure afterwards than Stravinsky's saying the performance ‘was like a tour of a building for which I had drawn the plans, but never explored the result.'"

As difficult as it is to dance, Movements is equally a challenge to teach. If the music were more classical, dancers could hum the melody to help reinforce the steps. However, there are few places in Movements that you can latch on to as anchors. So I teach my dancers the counts I first learned, now ingrained in my body, but I do it very slowly at first. Of course, I warn my dancers that eventually it will be 10 times faster! For all its seemingly wild energy, Stravinsky's music has a very precise structure, and laying that foundation is the key to everything else.

On putting the two ballets together

I can't say exactly what inspired Balanchine to merge Monumentum and Movements together, other than that they both feature the music of Stravinsky, they're both white costumes, and they're both rather short. But in 1965 he revived Monumentum and had me perform both ballets back-to-back. The two had never been staged in tandem prior to this, but they've been performed as a unit ever since. A brief lowering of the curtain signifies the transition.

Danced together, Monumentum and Movements are a revelation in stylistic contrast: the former is so classical and pure, while the latter is so modern and stark. I found great joy in moving from one style to the other in a matter of seconds. Plus, audiences are treated to completely opposite sides of the Balanchine-Stravinsky spectrum in such a short amount of time. With the dream-like perfume of Monumentum still hanging in the air, Movements charges onto the stage and knocks the wind out of everyone. The juxtaposition is just so palpable and invigorating – just as Balanchine knew it would be.

On the chance to see old friends during Ballet Across America June's performances will give me the opportunity to reconnect with some dear friends who are now artistic directors of their own companies: Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Peter Boal, and Ib Anderson.

Jean-Pierre, who leads North Carolina Dance Theatre, is married to Patricia McBride – a wonderful dancer who I shared a close friendship at City Ballet, as her dressing room was right next to mine. I'm looking forward to seeing both of them again during the celebration. North Carolina Dance Theatre will follow The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on Program A with Jean-Pierre's Shindig, featuring live bluegrass music by the Greasy Beans.

Peter Boal, artistic director of Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet, was also once a principal dancer with City Ballet. I taught him Chaconne during our brief overlapping tenures there, and later I invited him to perform in my staging of Mozartiana for the Kennedy Center's 25th anniversary season. Peter was also a featured dancer with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet in 2001, and we continue to have a dialogue. I'd love to conduct a partnership with his company in the future, where I get to work with his dancers and vice-versa. Pacific Northwest Ballet will perform Benjamin Millepied's 3 Movements on Program B.


I also have a Mozartiana connection with Ib Anderson from Ballet Arizona – he originated the ballet with me in 1981. Ib joined City Ballet in 1980 after dancing with the Royal Danish Ballet for many years; Balanchine soon cast him opposite me in Mozartiana. In my autobiography, I write about how I was initially concerned with Ib's height – he was not as tall as most other men I had danced with – but Balanchine felt Ib was the perfect stature. Perhaps this was because the shorter Balanchine saw a little of himself in the male lead. During Ballet Across America, Ballet Arizona will perform Ib's new work Diversions on Program B.

Haieff Divertimento Featured on "Program A" – Mar. 3, 4, & 6 at 7:30 p.m.; Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

I first saw Haieff Divertimento when it was revived for New York City Ballet's 1993 Balanchine Celebration. I thought it was charming and wonderful – I didn't understand why it never had much of a performance life. Surely, the dancers who performed it in the early days have felt the same way. There's little history with this ballet, but it should have one, which is why it's the newest addition to my Balanchine Preservation Initiative.

Balanchine originally choreographed the work in 1947 for Ballet Society under the title of Divertimento. Two years later, he premiered it with his newly formed New York City Ballet as Haieff Divertimento, renamed to acknowledge Alexei Haieff, the music's composer. For some reason, it fell out of repertory. Todd Bolender, one of the ballet's original cast members, briefly revived it in 1985 for his Kansas City Ballet. But the work has not been seen since the 1993 restaging.

Haieff Divertimento is a pure dance ballet in five parts: the Prelude, Aria, Scherzo, Lullaby, and Finale. There's a lead couple and four other couples, so it's a relatively small ballet, but everyone in it dances energetically. The Lullaby is the solo for the ballerina, and the Aria includes the ballet's only pas de deux. I've seen reference to it as a “blues” pas de deux, but I don't view it as so. The music is based on the jazz of the day, but it's not jazzy per se. And it's also jazz as interpreted through Alexei Haieff's Russian-American sensibilities.

In my staging of the ballet, I want it to radiate the same kind of youth, happiness, and vulnerability of the late 1940s, but at the same time not convey that era so overtly. Ballet in America was a much younger art form then, so it should feel new – not green, of course, but with a sense of freshness, as if you've never performed or seen this kind of ballet before.

Though it will be performed here with live music by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, there is currently no physical recording of the score, making it a challenge for my company to take Haieff Divertimento on tour after our Kennedy Center engagement. So this might be your one chance to see this lovely ballet for some time to come!

Afternoon of a Faun Mar. 3-7 Buy Tickets

I danced Jerome Robbins's Afternoon of a Faun many times, and added it to my company's repertory in 2001, but The Suzanne Farrell Ballet has not performed it as part of the Kennedy Center's mainstage season since.

The music is Claude Debussy's swirling and dreamy "Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune." It reminds me of my youth, when I choreographed to another of his classics just for fun, "Claire de Lune." I think many people have heard the music, but they may not know it has twice been interpreted as a ballet.

Afternoon of a Faun was first a ballet by Vaslav Nijinsky, so it has an extensive history. Created in 1912, nearly 20 years after Debussy composed his score, Nijinsky's version follows a faun in the forest, torn between a beautiful nymph and his own watery reflection. In 1953, Robbins transposed the setting to a dancer's studio, turning faun and nymph into shy, young dancers who discover an attraction to one another, but who are also consumed by their own images in the mirror as they dance.

As Robbins imagined it, the mirror is the audience – the "fourth wall." This device has been employed throughout the performing arts, but Robbins might have been the first to ever use it this way in dance. Billowing silk enchants the rehearsal studio, very much a part of a dancer's world. We constantly look in the mirror and get used to that kind of gaze, that back-and-forth energy between reflection and self. In dancing Afternoon of a Faun, however, it's one thing to imagine your audience in a rehearsal mirror, it's quite another to be on stage and look out to a real live audience as your reflection. It plays tricks with your brain a little!

Robbins designed his ballets with enormous precision, and with Afternoon of a Faun, he was very particular about how his dancers looked into the "mirror." You have to be sure you're looking at the correct angle – which changes depending on whether you're looking back at yourself or your partner's reflection, and also where on stage you're positioned. The trajectory of the eyes has to be exactingly accurate for the unseen mirror to be convincing to an audience. I impart that to my dancers as well.

There's reflection, there's imagination, and there's a kiss that changes everything. With my Notes, I'm always careful not to say too much. Words can paint you into a corner, especially when trying to describe such a physical profession as dance. So I'll leave it to you, our audience, to experience the dreamy mystique of Robbins's ballet.

Donizetti Variations Featured on “Program B” – Mar. 5 & 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Mar. 6 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

Donizetti Variations is a pure dance ballet – very exuberant with an Italian flair, and so much fun to dance and watch. It's the first work on my company's second program, starting things off with a flourish of joy.

Balanchine originally choreographed the ballet in 1960, so my company's premiere coincides with its 50th anniversary. He created Donizetti Variations for a salute to the centenary of Italy's unification, and wanted a sunny contrast to the more somber works on the program, which included La Sonnambula and Monumentum pro Gesualdo. While not officially a part of my Balanchine Preservation Initiative, it's nonetheless not seen as often as other Balanchine works.

Featuring a lead couple and a corps of six ladies and three gentlemen, Donizetti Variations is fast, lighthearted, and technically demanding. There's a central pas de deux and an abundance of dancing for every role. A comedic break in the middle of the ballet tends to take audiences aback – they laugh but they're not sure they should.

The music comes from the little-known 19th-century opera Don Sebastian by composer Gaetano Donizetti, though there's no connection between the ballet and the opera's plot. Karinska designed the colorful costumes; they have a somewhat pinafore, “elegant peasant” look to them. The ballet was originally performed in tutus, and I think it's fascinating that Balanchine's ballet could change costuming so drastically, yet not lose its essence in any way.

Though I danced the lead many times, my very first experience with Donizetti Variations was in the corps. I was thrown into the ballet mid-performance as one of the supporting girls, and in my book, I wrote about my unexpected baptism:

“I found myself in the wings one night watching Donizetti Variations…. Suddenly, one of the girls twisted her foot and came hobbling offstage in tears. There was a ten-minute pas de deux before she had to go on again, and I volunteered my services even though I was not an understudy and hadn't rehearsed a single step of the ballet. I had watched it many times, and I loved the music; that was all I needed to plunge in. They carried the poor girl upstairs to the dressing room, removed her shoe, and gave her an ice bag, while someone else eased her out of her costume and I climbed into it. I whisked my hair on top of my head, wrapped the little pink silk scarf from her bun around it, shoved on a pair of pink tights and soft toe shoes, and ran downstairs with someone following me fastening the back of my costume… I found myself volunteering often in emergency situations after this. I knew it was the best way for me to learn my craft, because nothing in the rehearsal studio can compare to the real moment of quick decision in front of an audience. The only place to learn is ‘out there,' on the edge, when the beginning and end of your career hinges on that one performance, that one moment.” I'm excited to add Donizetti Variations to The Suzanne Farrell Ballet's repertory – it's musically and physically very different from any of our other ballets.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II pas de deux Featured on all programs Mar. 3 - 7 Buy Tickets

The Act II pas de deux from Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream is simply exquisite. Whereas Act I of the ballet – inspired by Shakespeare's play – follows the misadventures of mortal lovers and fairies in the forest, Act II begins with a grand triple wedding that unites the main characters. As part of the celebration, anonymous couples arrive to perform a divertissement, and this pas de deux is its centerpiece.

This is the first time The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will be performing a selection from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the second full-evening ballet that Balanchine created in America, premiering in 1962. Though the Act II pas de deux has been showcased in various lecture-demonstrations and workshops over the years, I don't believe any other company has extracted it for a fully staged performance before.

My 2007 Notes on A Midsummer Night's Dream offer an overview of the full ballet and Felix Mendelssohn's music; that's also where I discuss my role as Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. I don't remember exactly when I also began performing the Act II pas de deux, but I've always loved it, because for all intents and purposes, the anonymous couple could be anyone in the audience.

The music is Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 9, which is very tranquil and hushed – we only hear strings. Balanchine's choreography reflects this; it's long, languorous, and so sustained as to almost be in slow motion. It's as if they're dancing on clouds, and the couple remains in physical contact nearly the entire time. Perhaps this was Balanchine evoking a perfect union, what a marriage ideally should be. That kind of intertwining, of not letting go – the intensity of being so close can be felt in the tautness of Mendelssohn's violins. Balanchine had a way of visualizing things without getting intellectual. There are very few breaks in the music where you can break the connection physically.

You won't find any major overhead lifts or bravado technical feats in this pas de deux. It's just spellbinding in its simplicity, and particularly in Balanchine's contrast to all of the chaos and comedy and danger of Act I. With Act II, the audience can breathe, and the pas de deux brings love's true form into full focus. It's harmonious, beautiful, complete.

Agon Featured on “Program B” – Mar. 5 & 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Mar. 6 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

Agon is regarded as one of Balanchine's most iconic works. The pas de deux has been in my company's repertory since 2003 – we've performed it as part of my program "The Balanchine Couple" – but this is our Kennedy Center premiere of the complete ballet.

When it premiered in 1957, Agon was on a "Greek Trilogy" program along with Apollo and Orpheus, two other Balanchine works featuring the music of Stravinsky. The ballet was considered daring at the time, with the black/white casting of Arthur Mitchell and Diana Adams in the pas de deux, and it was revered for taking modernist ballet further than ever before. Agon marked the beginning of Stravinsky's experimentation with his 12-tone musical technique, but also the last time he and Balanchine fully collaborated on a ballet.

To me, the iconic status of Agon rests in the way the steps were put together. They could only have become Agon and nothing else. Everything astrologically just seemed to be in alignment when Balanchine and Stravinsky created this ballet. More than 50 years later, that perfect design is still palpable.


My 2008 Notes on Agon focus mostly on Stravinsky and Balanchine's collaboration and the pas de deux, which I started performing at 17. Regarding the full ballet, it begins and ends with four male dancers, their backs to the audience. Eight women complete the cast of 12, which Balanchine parallels to Stravinsky's 12-tone technique. (Even if audiences remain unaware of that connection, there's still a subconscious order to it all.) Conversely, the music is inspired by French court dances – there are places in the choreography that look like a Balanchinian minuet, for example. But it's French court dance as sieved through the ear and the genius of Stravinsky.

There is no story, but as Balanchine's oeuvre is testament, the absence of a story does not negate the drama. The dancers, dressed in black and white, interact in myriad formations – duos, trios, quartets, etc. – and their relationships to each other keep changing from moment to moment. Just as Stravinsky's meter keeps changing, and drastically so: as a dancer, you count on six here, then three there, then five in the next breath, and each of those counts belongs to a different tempo. That's one of the things that makes Agon so fascinating and challenging to hold together. But when it is held together, it's so much more edgy, impressive, and exciting.

I'm reminded of Stravinsky once rehearsing an orchestra for one of Balanchine's ballets. He was conducting, and stopped to implore the musicians: "Please, do not slur my music." When it comes to Balanchine's choreography, one could replace slur with blur. Balanchine was so skilled at designing ballets refined down to their core essence.

That's not to say Balanchine never changed things in his ballets. I remember we were once performing Agon in Boston, and Balanchine was leading a rehearsal. There was a particular passage where each of the eight girls was to execute a turn, one after the other, on individual counts. But he stopped the rehearsal to adjust the timing, so that a pair of girls executed the turn on two counts, another pair on two counts, and so on. I felt terrible about it, and afterward I approached Balanchine to ask him why he altered the counts. "It gets blurred" he said, "and it's not musically what I want, so I thought I'd change it." To this day, I'm still partial to his original steps!

Apollo Featured on “Program A” – Mar. 3, 4, & 6 at 7:30 p.m.; Mar. 7 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets


Apollo is another Balanchine ballet on my company's March program featuring the music of Stravinsky.Though The Suzanne Farrell Ballet has performed the complete work many times, this is the first time it has been a part of our Kennedy Center mainstage season. Audiences may have previously seen the pas de deux from Apollo in my program "The Balanchine Couple."

The ballet follows the Greek god Apollo from birth to youth to adult immortality. Over the course of the ballet, he is visited by three muses: Calliope, the muse of poetry; Polyhymnia, the muse of mime, and Terpsichore, the muse of rhythm and dance. As with Agon, I began dancing in Apollo at 17, as one of two handmaidens in the birth scene. Later I portrayed Terpsichore, and I have many fond memories of performing the role. One of the most magical was when I danced the ballet in an outdoor amphitheater at the foot of the Acropolis – we climbed natural rock formations for the final pose.

Many people may not know that the official world premiere of Apollo did not include Balanchine's choreography. The Library of Congress first commissioned Stravinsky's score for a ballet that was performed in 1927, as part of a contemporary music festival in Washington, D.C. Adolph Bolm both choreographed and danced the title role of Apollo for that performance. (Interestingly, the music was conducted by Hans Kindler, who later founded the National Symphony Orchestra.) Balanchine's choreography for Apollo, created for Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes, premiered in Paris in 1928, and it was with this ballet that Balanchine first garnered international recognition.

Balanchine was ahead of his time with Apollo, and when you see it now, it still looks ahead of its time. As I've mentioned in "The Balanchine Couple," Apollo was the score through which Balanchine learned the art of elimination. By removing theatrical distractions of story, scenery, costumes, and preconceived interpretations, he learned he could reveal the true essence of the music, and reduce many possibilities down to the one inevitable possibility. And that became the catalyst for everything he eventually did. Even with A Midsummer Night's Dream, he condensed the story to such wonderful essence.

Balanchine's tactics of elimination came back to Apollo in the late 1970s; while staging the ballet for Mikhail Baryshnikov in the title role, Balanchine caused a public outcry when he removed the birth scene and Apollo's final ascent to Mount Olympus. My company, however, has always performed the complete version.

The Sleeping Beauty To be performed by Mariinsky Ballet on Feb. 9-14 Buy Tickets

One of the first LP records I had as a child was Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty and I have fond memories of dancing for hours in my living room to this glorious music. Please read my notes from 2006 on ABT's production of The Sleeping Beauty and come see Mariinsky Ballet when they bring Sergeyev's 1952 version of the classic fairy tale to the Center.

Spartacus To be performed by Bolshoi Ballet on Feb. 16-21 Buy Tickets

During a tour of Russia in 1962, the thing that impressed me again and again was the grand nature of the country. The Kremlin Theatre was huge, and the Bolshoi Theater was also grand and steeped in rich ballet history. Now, as the Bolshoi Ballet returns to the Center with Spartacus, I realize how Russia's immense scale helped cultivate this enormous spectacle.

The idea for a ballet about Spartacus dates back to the 1950s, when Russian patriot Aram Khachaturian began composing a four act ballet entitled Spartak, premiering in 1954. The ballet had a 1956 Kirov staging, closely followed by a 1958 version for the Bolshoi with choreography by Igor Moiseyev. Spartacus, which has at its heart the strength of the working class, became a popular ballet in then-Communist Russia. The story was big and the themes were classic, and we can witness this in the three act 1968 version by Yuri Grigorovich.

In a ballet like Spartacus, there are many high-powered male ensemble dances, and the role of a king who becomes a slave and then a fighter is truly an athletic tour-de-force. To fill roles like these, Russian companies have scores of strong male dancers, most likely as a result of ballet's historic popularity in the country.

Mr. Balanchine went to The Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, where for him and his schoolmates, ballet was a matter of patriotism and national pride. Today, many of the political factors are gone from the equation, but the legacy of the athletic male dancer lives on in the Bolshoi Ballet's dramatic epic, Spartacus.

American Ballet Theatre Jan. 26-31 Buy Tickets

On Birthday Offering:

When I was growing up as a young dancer, there weren't any videos of famous ballets. Most of my reference to ballet was not from visiting companies, because they didn't come very often. Instead, most of my ballet awareness came from ballet books – some from America but also from London. I had books about Margot Fonteyn, Svetlana Beriosova, Moira Shearer, and others. Through these books, I developed an idea of what ballets looked like before I ever saw them, which was key to my development as a dancer.

There was an insert in one of my books advertising the Royal Ballet in Sir Frederick Ashton's Birthday Offering. Though Royal Ballet premiered the work in 1956, in celebration of their silver anniversary, ABT began performing this ballet in 1989.

As I learned to dance some of these roles later on, I quickly learned that while I knew what a ballet might look like and how others looked while dancing it, one cannot "wear" another dancer's role. I always tried to bring something of myself to the movements. History is made in the present, and when it was my turn to perform ballets I'd seen in my books, I did not simply reproduce these photos.

On Romeo and Juliet

ABT's production of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet had its U.S. premiere in the Metropolitan Opera House in April of 1965. At the same time Mr. B and I were absorbed in creating his Don Quixote, which premiered a month later. I was just across the plaza but in an entirely different world.

When I first saw MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, it was a good reminder of the imagination a choreographer can bring to even the most familiar story. Almost everyone knows Shakespeare's tragedy of young unrequited love, but each choreographer's version of Romeo and Juliet is their own. So many decisions are made. Should the music be Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev or something new entirely? How many characters and when should they be used? Even the action can be different, depending on the choreographer's interpretation of the story. That puts the burden on the dancer to put all knowledge of other choreographers' works out of their minds. You have to become the character your choreographer envisions, leaving behind even the preconceived notions that you have about these famous roles.

Staging decisions can have huge bearing on the atmosphere of the ballet. Maurice Béjart's 1965 production of Romeo and Juliet has no props at all, drawing all attention to the dancers. Conversely, ABT's version has period costuming and rich scenery, fully realizing Romeo and Juliet's Shakespearean world. I'm also reminded of a production of Romeo and Juliet that I danced with Paul Mejia's choreography set to Tchaikovsky's music. There were no props in this version either. Instead there were "forces"—dancers dressed all in black who moved around on stage physically keeping Romeo and Juliet apart—drawing the audience's attention to the circumstances of life that are beyond anyone's control.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless and simple story that we know so well in some form or another. Yet every time we see it performed by a different company, we are given new insights into the forces that drive the story.

New York City Ballet December 9 - 13 , 2009 Buy Tickets

On Dances at a Gathering During much of my early years with New York City Ballet, Jerome Robbins was away working on Broadway and touring with his own company. He returned to NYCB shortly before I joined Maurice Béjart's company in Brussels, Belgium. When I came back, my focus was on Balanchine repertoire. But, meeting in the hallway one morning, Jerry said "If there are any of my ballets that you would like to do, feel free to do them."

A while later, vacationing at my summer home, I was doing a barre in the studio to a tape of Ashkenazy playing Chopin. A particular mazurka and etude got under my skin, and I thought, "I simply have to dance to this." The music is part of Jerry's Dances at a Gathering. When I returned to the city, I spoke with Jerry about my reaction to the music and I asked to perform the ballet. It was a joy to do, and Jerry eventually created two ballets for me: In G Major and In Memory of ...

Balanchine admired Jerry. There was mutual respect between them and a history. (Jerry had danced Balanchine's Prodigal Son in the 1950s.) When Jerry decided to shift his focus from Broadway back to the ballet, Mr. B was happy to have him return. Jerry brought his ideas and a new voice. I remember seeing Mr. B often standing in the wings to watch Dances at a Gathering.

I always got along very well with Jerry, but for some, he was famously temperamental to work with. However, I very much enjoyed our close working relationship. Jerry and I shared many dinners after performances and wrote letters to each other up until he died in July 1998 at age 79.

On Stravinsky Violin Concerto Stravinsky Violin Concerto premiered in 1972 as part of NYCB's ambitious Stravinsky Festival and was immediately declared a masterpiece. It is often referred to as one of Balanchine's "black and white" ballets after the basic costuming. Instead, I call it one of Mr. B's symbolic Stravinsky ballets. He definitely saw Stravinsky's music as being clear and precise, and the choreography and costuming visually reflects the music.

In a way, Mr. B and Stravinsky each grew as artists through one another. Stravinsky often said he learned to understand his music differently when he saw Balanchine's visual concept. And for his part Mr. B returned to Stravinsky over the years, reexamining the music and letting it inspire new movements and new visions.

Interestingly, Violin Concerto was the second time Mr. B choreographed to this Stravinsky music. In 1941 Balustrade was premiered by the Original Ballet Russe as a highly costumed production. Thirty years later, Mr. B heard the music differently as his understanding of the music had grown to another level. Through this type of evolution, Balanchine choreography and Stravinsky music became a seamless whole-perfectly integrated.

I invite you to read my past notes on other ballets being performed by NYCB: Mozartiana and Liebeslieder Walzer. George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ To be danced by The Pennsylvania Ballet Nov 24 - 29, 2009 Buy Tickets

Hello again! I would like to welcome you to the Kennedy Center's 2009-2010 Ballet season. As Artistic Advisor for Ballet at the Center, I can tell you that we are very excited to host some of the world's most talented companies this season including the return of Ballet Across America. My own, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, has been busy touring this fall and will return to the Eisenhower Theater in March. It is an exciting year with much to see at the Kennedy Center!

The first ballet performances of the season are George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™, a work which Mr. B had a special fondness for, having danced various roles as a small boy in Russia—even appearing as the dashing Nutcracker Prince at age 15! So it's not surprising that many years later this became the first full evening ballet he choreographed for his new company in America.

This Nutcracker is very near and dear to my heart as well. While a student, I was chosen by Mr. B to apprentice as an angel. At the time, Mr. Balanchine used only eight tall angels in his production, which gave me a thrilling chance to be on stage with a company I had only before dreamed about. Over time, he changed the angels to small girls holding miniature Christmas trees and roles for children in this production have expanded ever since. Pennsylvania Ballet's presentation of Mr. B's Nutcracker will feature 67 children from the Washington area as angels, mice, and other members of the tremendous holiday cast.

From the beginning, Balanchine's Nutcracker was a big success. He was aware that the Nutcracker audience would be filled with children, so he made certain the child roles played out on stage served as good examples—that is, with the exception of Fritz, the menacing little brother. I'm thinking back now to an image I've often seen of Balanchine as a little boy in his cadet uniform at the Imperial Russian School. I'm sure he was brought up to be very reverential, disciplined, and good, and I've always appreciated how Mr. Balanchine took a cue from Hoffmann's original German translation of the Nutcracker story and taught his Nutcracker children to reflect these values on stage. When Fritz breaks the Nutcracker toy, he is shown the consequences of bad manners. Moreover, everyone sees the reward Clara receives for her courage.

For me, Mr. B's Nutcracker is still the best, always meaningful, and bursting with wonder, dazzling costumes, a magical growing tree, glittering snowflakes, and the spirit of the holiday season. 

The Kennedy Center Ballet Season is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc.

Photo credits: Ballet Across America II: FIRST: George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky collaborating, photo by Martha Swope. SECOND, THIRD, AND FIFTH: Suzanne Farrell and Jacques d'Amboise in Movements for Piano and Orchestra, photo by Fred Fehl. FOURTH: Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine rehearsing Movements for Piano and Orchestra, photo by Fred Fehl. SIXTH: Suzanne Farrell and Ib Anderson in Mozartiana, photo by Martha Swope.

Photo credits: SUZANNE FARRELL: Photo by Paul Kolnik.

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Ballet Nacional de Cuba May 31-June 5 Buy Tickets

Immediately following Memorial Day weekend, Ballet Nacional de Cuba returns to the Kennedy Center for the first time in a decade to perform two programs: an evening of highlights from favorite ballets called The Magic of Dance, and Artistic Director Alicia Alonso's version of Don Quixote. Alicia Alonso has been leading the company since founding it in 1948, and I have had the pleasure of meeting her twice.

The second time our paths crossed was at a gala event in Brussels, in the early 1970s, when I was performing with Maurice Béjart's company. But the first time I met her, in 1955, just also happens to be the first time I ever saw (and actually performed with) a professional ballet company!

I was a child and Ballet Russe was touring to Cincinnati's Music Hall. Alicia Alonso was traveling as a guest artist with the company, portraying the Sugar Plum Fairy in their production of The Nutcracker. Through a recommendation by my ballet teacher at Cincinnati's Conservatory of Music, I was asked to play a young Clara in the ballet's second act.

My role was little more than a walk-on—I only needed to greet the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier (played by Igor Youskevitch) when they arrived on stage in a wheeled boat, and then sit quietly on a little red velvet bench and applaud after each divertissement. But I was in heaven from the moment the curtain rose, and I relished the whole experience by clapping differently each time, truly enjoying my sense of "character development" until all the dancers began to take their bows at the end of the ballet.

Not knowing what to do next, I decided also to curtsy, but that seemed to ruffle the feathers of a couple of other dancers on stage. My embarrassment at their reaction was fleeting, however, since backstage, I was able to ask Alicia Alonso for her autograph.


She was still in her tutu and makeup, sitting on an orange ballet touring trunk and holding a silk stage lily. She graciously sat me down to tell me the story of Giselle—one of the roles she's most famous for dancing—while my mother excitedly snapped photographs. In fact, here I am in the photo costumed as Clara, with my hair pulled back in a ribbon and wearing a white Empire-waist dress, blue sash, ruffled pantaloons, and the little white ballet slippers I had brought with me for the performance.

That entire evening was such a delight, made all the more memorable by Alicia Alonso's warmth and willingness to share a teachable moment with me, her "Cincinnati Clara." She's a lovely inspiration, and I hope you enjoy her company's long-overdue Washington engagement from May and June.

The Royal Danish Ballet June 7-12 Buy Tickets

Though Denmark is relatively small, the country has an expansive history when it comes to ballet, harkening back to the mid-18th century, when The Royal Danish Ballet was founded. For its first engagement at the Kennedy Center since 2004, the company will bring two popular full-evening works by August Bournonville, who reigned as its Ballet Master from 1830 to 1877. One of those ballets will be Napoli, re-staged by current Artistic Director Nikolaj Hübbe, a former principal dancer with New York City Ballet.

First performed in 1842 at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Napoli follows the fairy tale story of a beautiful Italian girl named Teresina, who falls for Gennaro, a poor fisherman, despite her mother's objections. Their love is further complicated by a terrible storm and the dark magic of Golfo, a demon of the sea who rules the "Blue Grotto."

Bournonville was the ballet's first Gennaro, and I found the following passage about his work—from The Dictionary of Modern Ballet, a book from my youth—to be quite charming:

"Napoli is a firm favorite in the Copenhagen repertoire, chosen for many festive occasions and conducted occasionally in the 1950s by the King [of Denmark], who always sends champagne to the dancers… Traditionally, all children from the Danish Ballet School make their first appearance on the bridge in the last act of Napoli, waving flags and cheering on the Tarantella dancers." This excerpt shows how much Napoli is such a celebrated part of Denmark's heritage, even compelling royalty to brandish a baton at a performance! And I love the "rite of passage" of the bridge. Be on the lookout for fresh, eager faces there whenever you see the ballet. Whether they're Danish youngsters, local students, or otherwise, perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of one of tomorrow's brightest stars.

Once in the 1970s, I performed the Tarantella in Copenhagen, as a guest artist in a gala. Peter Martins and I performed the pas de deux from Balanchine's Diamonds before joining the other Danish dancers on the program for some steps from Napoli's grand finale. It's a very joyous ending, featuring some fun and innocent flirting with a scarf, and plenty of wedding happiness.

The only other time I performed Bournonville's choreography was during New York City Ballet's 1976–77 season, when I was cast in his famous "Flower Festival" pas de deux. As I write in my autobiography, Holding on to the Air:

"Balanchine had admired the choreography of the great 19th-century Danish ballet master August Bournonville all his life, and now he suggested to Stanley Williams, the distinguished Danish teacher at the School of American Ballet, that he stage a set of divertissements and pas de deux from Bournonville's surviving repertoire… For a few hectic weeks, the company became a mini-Royal Danish Ballet, which was not so surprising if one considered just how much of Bournonville's tight, fast footwork, smooth jumps, and easy grace were also an integral part of Balanchine's contemporary work." I hope you'll join The Royal Danish Ballet for their performances, which close out the Kennedy Center's 2010-2011 ballet season. Next season won't begin until October, when The Suzanne Farrell Ballet marks its 10th anniversary season with two exciting programs. Until then, have a wonderful summer!

New York City Ballet April 5-10, 2011 Buy Tickets

On Balanchine's Square Dance By now, you've probably read about the Kennedy Center's upcoming 2011-2012 ballet season. I'm especially looking forward to the 10th anniversary celebration of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet in October, which will feature my company's premiere of Balanchine's Diamonds, originally made on me in 1967 as part of his full-evening Jewels.

In the meantime, there are still many exciting ballet events remaining in the Kennedy Center's current season. For New York City Ballet's performances April 5-10, the company will present three programs of Balanchine ballets. Among these striking works is Square Dance. Balanchine premiered Square Dance in November 1957, and in doing so, united the traditions of classical ballet and American folk dance on the same stage. When I joined his company a few years later, I had never seen anything like this charming ballet before.


Balanchine was fond of American Western culture; he traveled many times out West and was always wearing cowboy shirts and string ties. He also loved Westerns at the movies and on television. So it comes as no surprise that he sought to explore the patterns and formations of American square dancing in a uniquely crafted ballet for his company.

In traditional square dancing, a "call" refers to the name of a specific dance movement – and in its original 1957 format, Square Dance featured an on-stage caller who shouted out rhythmic phrases and cues, as if guiding the dancers into various steps and partnering. Elisha C. Keeler, one of the famous square dance callers of his day, was frequently showcased in this role.

Accompanied by the musicians on stage, and donned in full Western regalia, cowboy hat and all, Elisha would call out such cues as "chase the rabbit, chase the squirrel, then go promenade your girl" and "whickety-whack, there goes Pat" just as ballerina Patricia Wilde took the spotlight. Every couple of measures had a different description like this.

The work eventually fell out of repertoire, but Balanchine revived it in 1976. His updated version removed the caller, moved the musicians to the orchestra, and added an elegant solo variation for the principal male. It's just as lively and beautiful of a ballet as its predecessor. Over the years, various companies have re-instated the caller for their performances of the ballet.

The rest of Square Dance remained the same: the lovely string music of Vivaldi and Corelli, the dynamic square-based configurations, the central pas de deux, and all the speed and quick pacing of the original choreography. From the beginning, the ballet has always been costumed in white, black, gray, and blue leotards and skirts, as opposed to pinafore dresses and decorative suits – another example of how Balanchine's vision was inspired by American square dance but not a literal translation.

More than 50 years after its premiere, it's still so easy to get caught up in the music, formations, and joyous energy of this wonderful ballet.

For my previous Notes about the other works on the programs, click on these links: Duo Concertant, Monumentum pro Gesualdo / Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Agon, Apollo, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in Three Movements, The Four Temperaments, Episodes, and Concerto Barocco.

American Ballet Theatre January 18 - 23, 2011 Buy Tickets

In January, the Kennedy Center will commemorate the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's Inauguration with a special tribute concert and other events. As part of that celebration, American Ballet Theatre has lined up a sampling of Kennedy family favorites for one of two programs they'll be performing. (The other is a company premiere by Alexei Ratmansky, called The Bright Stream.) Among ABT's mixed repertory offering are two ballets by George Balanchine - Theme and Variations and Duo Concertant - as well as Jerome Robbins's Fancy Free and Antony Tudor's Jardin aux Lilas.

On My Memories of the Kennedys

When Kennedy first took office in January 1961, I had just begun my training at Balanchine's School of American Ballet. Indeed, that year was one of promise and potential on many different levels. While I unfortunately never got the opportunity to meet our 35th President or Jacqueline Kennedy, I did get the chance to perform for them a year later.

At the beginning of 1962, Balanchine's company was invited to perform at the Armory in Washington, D.C., as part of a gala event marking Kennedy's first full year in the White House. By that point, I had become a member of the corps and so we all flew down from New York to dance a patriotic spectacle: the pas de deux and finale from Balanchine's Stars and Stripes. It was such an exciting opportunity for us - I remember the enormous hall was filled with a palpable energy, plenty of dignitaries, and lots of balloons, and neither the freezing weather nor our incredibly small dressing room could dampen anyone's spirits. Click on the image here for a close-up view of the program I saved from the event. (Also part of that evening's festivities: Dame Shirley Bassey, Carol Burnett, and Gene Kelly!)

A couple of years later, a very young Caroline Kennedy visited Balanchine's company to take part in a special ballet class. Maria Tallchief was offering instruction to her daughter, Elise Paschen, in a small studio at the State Theater in Lincoln Center, and Caroline Kennedy was invited to participate. The whole company was abuzz at this development, and one of my older sisters, Beverly, a child prodigy pianist and Manhattan School of Music graduate, was even asked to play piano for the class. It's still lovely to think of the Kennedys instilling a love of the arts in their daughter at such a young age.

On Duo Concertant Duo Concertant originally premiered as part of Balanchine's 1972 Stravinsky Festival, staged the year following the composer's passing and two years before I returned to Balanchine's company. I didn't begin performing the ballet until a decade after its premiere, first with Peter Martins (who originated the male role) and later, briefly, with Sean Lavery. I've since added it to my own company's repertoire.

The ballet is comprised of five movements. When the curtain rises, a male and female dancer share the stage with two musicians and their instruments, a piano and violin. In simple practice clothes, they listen to the music from behind the piano. They're soon inspired to dance together - first fast, often mirroring each other, and then slow, before they break into individual variations. For the final movement, the stage is darkened except for a pool of light, in which hands and faces are momentarily united before they separate again. Through this interplay of illumination and shadow, piano and violin, a hint of a love story unfolds.

I enjoy Duo Concertant for its simple twists on the ballet format - not the least, of course, being the opening scene where there's no dancing, only music. The focus is on Stravinsky's provocative score, and the anticipation of what will happen next. When I teach the ballet, I stress to dancers they must react as if they're hearing the music for the first time, so their responses must look spontaneous. This can be a tricky balance - you don't want to intrude upon the music and make the experience seem contrived, yet you don't want to appear "faceless" either. You also don't want your expressions to dictate how the audience should respond. It's a fine line, albeit an important one.

I think this challenge extends to any ballet, because you can only have one true "first." One never knows how an audience is going to receive a new ballet, since there is no history for it. This is both daunting and freeing. For every performance thereafter, you must allow yourself to be as vulnerable as that first time. Otherwise, you risk becoming irrelevant and voiding all the drama in a ballet, whether there's a clear story or not. That's something one has to remember as a dancer. You enter the studio and rehearse to advance your art, but you never want it to become so studied or opinionated that you cease to be current.

With its spotlight sequence, the final movement of Duo Concertant offers another lovely twist. Stravinsky's music becomes more dramatic, so Balanchine in turn heightens the visual concept. Starting with the woman's hand, a single light moves to her face, followed by a series of lights that toggle back and forth between the dancers, isolating them further from each other. Until this moment, there's been no suggestion of a "relationship" between them - but this honing in on their respective movements and features reveals an elusive connection between the two, taking on a more overt emotional tone not always found in Stravinsky ballets. It's yet another beautiful example of how Balanchine was fascinated by a man and woman dancing on a stage.

On Fancy Free In 1944, while the world was still at war, Jerome Robbins premiered his very first ballet Fancy Free at American Ballet Theatre as a whimsical, escapist depiction of three sailors on leave in the Big Apple. A hit from the beginning, the ballet inspired the Broadway musical On The Town, which in turn was adapted for the cinema featuring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Robbins's music partner for Fancy Free was Leonard Bernstein, who had just recently come into the spotlight by conducting the New York Philharmonic. This would be the first of their many collaborations together, including West Side Story.

I remember hearing the music from Fancy Free and seeing On The Town in Cincinnati before my family moved to New York, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The choreography is very jazzy and lighthearted, and a guy in uniform is always a fetching image to audiences. The scene of three sailors in a bar, vying for the affection of two girls by trying to one-up and out-dance the others, continues to be a sheer delight.

For the premiere of Fancy Free, Robbins performed his own choreography as the third sailor. That role dances to buoyant and upbeat Latin rhythms, while the first sailor is more of a physical extrovert, jumping on the bar and doing flashy somersaults. The second sailor's variation is more lyrical, bluesy, and romantic. Which sailors do the girls choose? You'll just have to come see for yourself.

On Theme and Variations Balanchine was commissioned by American Ballet Theatre to create Theme and Variations in 1947, a year before he formed his own company. The music is "Tema con Variazioni" - the fourth and final movement from Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G major - and brings together a ballerina, her cavalier, and 12 corps couples adorned in glittering costumes, tutus and tiara included.

Theme and Variations opens amidst the sumptuous ambiance of a formal ballroom. The music and choreography both start out relatively slow and simple, with the ballerina executing a series of basic battement tendu. (I've taught this opening combination to my summer youth program "Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell," where it becomes clear that even the easiest-looking steps take plenty of practice. But by lesson's end, I can say to them all, "See, now you've danced part of a Balanchine ballet!") After the main theme's introduction, the music and dancing progress into 12 variations on the theme, each more technically complex and demanding than the last. It all culminates into a majestic polonaise processional by ballet's end.

As if nurturing a flower from seed to seedling to bud to blossom, Balanchine develops the choreography in a way that allows audiences to assimilate all its increasingly theatrical wonder. I tell my dancers to keep this in mind when learning Theme and Variations - you can't hit the stage with everything you've got right off the bat, because it wouldn't be as effective that way. This also demonstrates Balanchine's understanding of his audience in those days. Don't forget, ballet in America was still a young art form and audiences needed time to take it all in.

Balanchine eventually brought Theme and Variations to New York City Ballet in 1960, thirteen years after its ABT premiere. I never performed it, though in 1970, Balanchine integrated it into his Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3, choreographed to the composer's entire score. I eventually danced the first movement - the Elegy - of that epic work. At one point, Balanchine thought it would be novel if I were to perform the Elegy and then return at the end for the Theme and Variations, but scheduling prevented this from happening. As a Balanchine repetiteur, however, I've rehearsed the ballet for several companies.

In 1989, Theme and Variations had the distinction of being one of the first two Balanchine works mounted in St. Petersburg for the Mariinsky Ballet, his alma mater. (The other was Scotch Symphony, which opened this historic program and was my first time staging a Balanchine ballet.) With its celebration of Tchaikovsky's music and the opulent era of Russian classicism, Theme and Variations was an obvious choice for the Mariinsky's "An Evening of Balanchine." Being a part of that process was a transcendent, full-circle experience, as I witnessed his legacy finally embraced with open arms by his early training ground and land of his birth.

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet: "Program B" Nov. 19 & 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

On La Sonnambula:

La Sonnambula is one of Balanchine's rare story ballets. The work features a score by Vittorio Rieti after Vincenzo Bellini, including themes from Bellini's operas La Sonnambula, I Puritani, Norma, and I Capuletti ed i Montecchi.

Balanchine premiered the ballet in 1946 with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. At the time he called it Night Shadow - a valid description, yet when he revived it in 1960, he retained the title of Bellini's opera. Their respective plots, however, have many differences. The ballet takes place long ago, in the garden of a grand home during a masked ball. At this party, the main players are a Baron and a Coquette, who know each other well, and a Poet who wanders accidentally into their midst.

Though festive on the surface, Balanchine cunningly shows us through choreography that all is not as it appears to be. Following a series of divertissements, everyone goes inside, leaving the Poet and Coquette to themselves. He begs her to take off her mask, but with her elaborate and encircling movements, she deceives and discards him.

The ballet could end here, but our tragic Poet suddenly sees a strange light along the balcony. Enter a beautiful Sleepwalker - an apparition in white, seemingly entranced - who immediately captivates him.

Without revealing all that happens next, the Poet and Sleepwalker soon engage in a genius of a pas de deux. The duet centers primarily around a sequence of bourrées, during which the Sleepwalker glides across the stage in tiny steps on pointe. The steps may be small, but they're very difficult to master, and it is through this purest simplicity that Balanchine moves us. The pas de deux is totally mesmerizing and so poignant.

I began portraying the Sleepwalker in 1965 when I was still a solo dancer, not yet a principal. (Alexandra Danilova was the ballet's original Sleepwalker, while Maria Tallchief was its first Coquette.) I loved the role's unique challenges, as it requires you to be of another world. The Sleepwalker must remain unaware of the Poet's presence throughout the pas de deux, so there's very little eye contact between you and your partner. Instead, you must fix your gaze upon the candle in your hand.

My company hasn't performed the full La Sonnambula in almost 10 years - we added it to our repertoire in 2001 - but the pas de deux has since been excerpted for my program "The Balanchine Couple." Unlike many others by Balanchine, this ballet features costumes and scenery; the costumes for our performances will be based on the 1960 revival, because I always thought they were so lovely. With 14 men and 13 women, the cast is quite large, so I've augmented the ensemble by inviting a couple of young interns from Kennedy Center master classes. It's a great opportunity for a new generation to experience the haunting allure of La Sonnambula alongside the professional company members.

On Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra: Read my notes on last season's Ballet Across America II for my thoughts on Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, and how these two works came to be performed together.

On Eight by Adler: Richard Adler is perhaps best known for his music for the Broadway musicals Damn Yankees and The Pajama Game. His oeuvre ranges from "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Hey There" to "You Gotta Have Heart" and "Rags to Riches." I grew up with many of these wonderful songs, so I was thrilled in 1984 when Paul Mejia decided to create a new ballet for me set to eight of Adler's most memorable tunes.

The musical sequence and orchestrations were compiled with me in mind, and I used my personal interpretations of the lyrics to determine how to portray my character for each song. I even had the opportunity to integrate some of my childhood tap routines throughout the piece.

I premiered Eight by Adler as a guest performer with Chicago City Ballet, when Paul was the company's co-artistic director alongside Maria Tallchief. Joining nine men in various combinations, I danced to all of Adler's jazzy rhythms - first in a couple of solos, followed by three pas de deux. In fact, I was onstage for nearly the entire time, darting off only once for a costume change, while all the men came together to perform "Hernando's Hideaway." Upon return, I strutted through more Broadway savvy in my former black costume and high heels from Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.

Early the following year, in 1985, Eight by Adler was filmed for television. To our pleasure, I wound up winning an Emmy Award for the performance - an honor rarely, if ever, bestowed upon a ballet dancer. Twenty-five years later, I'm having a grand time restaging this work for my own company.

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet: "Program A" Nov. 17, 18, & 20 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

On La Source:

Léo Delibes’s ballet score for Coppélia was one of my first recordings as a young girl, and I enjoyed listening to it immensely. That Balanchine also frequently loved visiting Delibes’s music is no surprise. In 1950, he initially choreographed a pas de deux to the French composer’s ballet score for Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane. Balanchine created an extended pas de deux and divertissement in 1965 to other Delibes music, including the famous “Pizzicato Polka,” in which the ballerina performed many consecutive hops on pointe.

La Source was born three years later, in 1968, performed to excerpts from Delibes’s 1866 ballet score of the same name (also called Naila) but devoid of any specific narrative or setting. The ballet also retains some of the same music and choreography from Balanchine’s previous Delibes incarnations, though the polka was removed. La Source was originally made on Violette Verdy; I first performed it in 1975 and was fortunate enough to dance the earlier two versions also. My company added this version to our repertoire in 2005.

With ballets like La Source, I believe, Balanchine sought to honor his Russian heritage and the influence of Marius Petipa – he worked to forge a bridge from the past to the present and give Petipa’s legacy a presence in America on a new set of dancers. The music of La Source is lively, joyful, and instantly recognizable, much like The Nutcracker. Most everyone has heard it, but they may not know where it came from. It seems to connect with nearly everyone in the audience, leaving many humming blissfully at intermission.

Filled with shimmering pink tutus, La Source includes several sections. It features a central couple performing two pas de deux and two variations, interspersed with a solo woman who dances with an ensemble of eight young ladies. The choreography ranges from precise, delicate steps to grand leaps and turns and Radio City Rockette kicks, with all 11 dancers returning to the stage for the finale. The entire work is pure dance – beautifully phrased, energetic, and happy.

On Sonate No. 5:

One distinctive aspect to my company’s November 2010 programs is the fact that they feature four ballets originally created on me – more than I’ve ever presented before during the same engagement. They include George Balanchine’s Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Jerome Robbins’s In Memory of…, Paul Mejia’s Eight by Adler, and this one, Sonate No. 5, by Maurice Béjart. I’m proud to be a direct link to all of them, and I enjoy passing their gifts on to new audiences.

In December 1970, I made my debut in Béjart’s company Ballet du XXe Siècle with this lovely work, a pas de deux with fast, darting variations set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata No. 5 for Harpsichord and Violin. Béjart made it on me and his protégée Jorge Donn, therefore it has always held tender memories. Though very classical by Béjart standards – he was well known for his many avant-garde dance/theater pieces – he had choreographed to Bach many times before. In creating Sonate No. 5, Béjart respectfully brought together a new world for us both.

A few years before Béjart passed away in 2007, I approached him with my idea to restage Sonate No. 5. Later, his foundation was able to uncover a video of an archival rehearsal, filmed at a beautiful jewel box of a theater in Monte Carlo, right along the Riviera. On the tape, I remember Jorge and I reaching a certain lift in the pas de deux and in slow motion, he dissolved onto the floor with me on top of him. The music didn’t stop, and we kept going as dancers must do, but afterward Jorge and I laughed about the incident, amused that when someone uses the video to revive the ballet years later, they’ll wonder what that step was. How did we tumble so awkwardly but recover so gracefully?

Of course, for my company’s premiere of Sonate No. 5, I’ve recreated it with the full lift that Béjart intended. I don’t believe the work has been performed in its original form by any other company since. For our performances, the music will be set on violin and piano instead of harpsichord, with the musicians on stage. Forty years after Sonate’s world premiere, I’m excited to give Béjart’s solemn ballet a new life.

On In Memory of:

In my autobiography Holding On to the Air, I wrote: "One day in early 1985, I was standing near the water fountain outside the main hall after class when Jerry [Robbins] came up to me and said, 'I have an idea for a new ballet, and I'd like to have you in it. What do you think?' While I had performed many Robbins ballets, this was the first time – except for In G Major ten years earlier – that Jerry had suggested using me in a new ballet."

Of course I accepted Jerry's invitation – he and I always had a friendly working relationship, and in later years we exchanged many warm letters. His idea was to stage a ballet to Alban Berg's Violin Concerto, a 1935 work commemorating the death of a young girl, the daughter to two of Berg's close friends. Though Jerry's creation would not reflect any specific story, it was a couple of years before my retirement from dancing, and two years after Balanchine's passing. So the emotional timing felt right.

In four fluid movements, In Memory of... evokes a young woman's life, cut short by death, and her ensuing resurrection. Requiring a weighty mix of vulnerability, angst, and strength, the role was a challenge for me to portray, both as a dancer and human being, yet it was also an opportunity of welcome substance. The woman is first depicted in love with a young man, but then she's thrust into a highly dramatic pas de deux with death incarnate, only to be supported by both partners by ballet's redemptive end. An ensemble of men and women also weave in and out of Jerry's dual earthly / heavenly vision, but the woman is on stage for nearly the entire length of the ballet.

With the concept of mortality pervasive in rehearsals, it was particularly reassuring to have Adam Lüders cast as the death figure for the premiere. Adam had become one of my most frequent partners, performing alongside me in such Balanchine works as Walpurgisnächt, Chaconne, and Meditation, so I felt secure in his hands. He portrayed the role of Death (though it's not specifically named as such in the program) with great force and eerie tenderness.

In Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins, a biography by Amanda Vaill, Jerry discussed writing about In Memory of... in his diary. He mentioned how he couldn't get a handle on the ballet until, one day in rehearsal, I was dancing and exploring and suddenly he just started shouting, "yes, yes!" – everything had just clicked and become clear in his head. For a choreographer known for being prescriptive in his work, this type of "a-ha" moment was a rare occurrence, at least in front of others.

In Memory of... is not performed often, so I'm thrilled to add it to my company's repertoire starting with this engagement. It's a perfect, uplifting end to our first of two mixed repertory programs.

Generous support for The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is provided by The Shen Family Foundation and Emily Williams Kelly.

Major support is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Monica and Hermen Greenberg Foundation and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Advancement Committee. 


The Kennedy Center Ballet Season is sponsored by Altria Group.

American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center is made possible through generous endowment support of The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund. Additional support is provided by Elizabeth and Michael Kojaian.

The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration is the 2011 Rubenstein Program and is made possible through the generosity of David and Alice Rubenstein.

Additional support is provided by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Altria Group, Constance Milstein de La Haye St. Hilaire and Jehan-Christophe de La Haye St. Hilaire, Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, and David Gregory and Beth Wilkinson. 

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo credits: Bonnie Pickard and Kirk Henning in La Sonnambula, photo by Carol Pratt

Photo credits: Bonnie Pickard and Runqiao Du in La Source, photo by Scott Motta (2006); Suzanne Farrell in Sonate No. 5 (uncredited); Suzanne Farrell and Jorge Donn in Sonate No. 5 (uncredited); Suzanne Farrell and Adam Lüders in In Memory of..., photo by Martha Swope.

Find The Suzanne Farrell Ballet on: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566 Tickets and Information: 800-444-1324 or 202-467-4600

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Suzanne Farrell's Notes from the Ballet (?)

Dear ballet lovers –

Here you will find my ongoing thoughts and observations on ballet performances taking place at the Kennedy Center. I hope you enjoy them!

Suzanne Farrell, Artistic Advisor for Kennedy Center Ballet and Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center's own ballet company, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet

Notes:

Vienna Waltzes Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Symphony in Three Movements

Vienna Waltzes, to be performed by New York City Ballet Wed., March 4, and Sat., March 7, matinee & evening

One thing that always amazes me about Balanchine's Vienna Waltzes is its incredible popularity. In a sense it goes against so many conventional expectations. Audiences frequently like ballets with a story to carry the action along, and many audiences – in 1977 at its premiere, at least – were reluctant to spend an evening in three-four time. But here was a night full of waltzing, without an overriding story, and it was a commercial and critical success.

It's not a complete surprise that the piece remains well-regarded to this day. As with Jewels, there is imagery and romanticism that forms a thread throughout, pulling the audience along its weaving path. Perhaps it was due to the transfixing qualities of the romance, the gentility of the music, or the beauty of the costumes, but that dance woke something up in late-'70s New York, and all of the sudden the city was crazy for waltzing. I happen to love waltzes, so I couldn't have been more pleased when this ballet was an indisputable hit and brought the waltz back to prominence.

My part was in the final movement, Der Rosenkavalier, and it was unlike any other part I ever danced. As I watched Mr. B choreograph the earlier movements, I saw him assign all my usual partners to other ballerinas. One day I finally asked, "Who am I going to dance with?" He replied with a sly, "Oh, you'll see." Eventually it was revealed to me that my partner would be "more-or-less imaginary." That gave me the welcomed challenge of dancing – not always alone – but with a partner that I created through my movements and gestures. I had the freedom to invent my own relationship with this "phantom partner" whom only I knew. Now that is a story—and it's one that allowed the audience to imagine themselves a part.

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, to be performed by New York City Ballet Thu., March 5, and Sun., March 8, matinee

For Balanchine the music always came first, and he believed in being obedient to it. As a choreographer he needed to like the music for it to inspire movement. He was fascinated with Schoenberg from previous pieces, so it was natural for him to create a dance for Schoenberg's melodic reworking of Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 1. But Mr. B also believed one must work within the music one chooses. That presented a unique challenge with Schoenberg's piece, because it is composed of four completely independent movements with no resolving finale.

He went about choreographing a grand piece with many dancers to match the active, individual quality of the Schoenberg music. However, as with the music, each movement remained independent of the others and there was nothing drawing the dancers together at the end. This was a bold move, which gained Mr. B a small amount of criticism at the time.

But, if Brahms didn't have anything more to say to resolve his work, then Mr. B didn't feel it was necessary to add on some other Brahms piece to mollify anyone's opinion. Sometimes in life there is no resolution, and I think we all need some mystery.

Symphony in Three Movements, to be performed by New York City Ballet Fri., March 6, and Sun., March 8 evening

This ballet came into the repertoire in 1972 during New York City Ballet's encompassing Stravinsky Celebration—a project which premiered 21 ballets, including nine by Balanchine himself. This was a challenge Mr. B undertook out of his enduring admiration for Stravinsky's music, and one that reconfirmed his greatness in the eyes of the world.

I was living in Europe at the time of the festival, but when I came back to the States on vacation in 1973, I was able to see Symphony in Three Movements – already considered a masterpiece – performed by NYCB at their summer stage in Saratoga. Watching that dance I was filled with joy and a sense of pride and gratitude for Mr. B. It opens with a breathtaking diagonal for 16 girls, and the way he alters patterns and brings everyone back together is amazing. The dance has great energy set to powerful music by Stravinsky, whom I adore.

Once while visiting with Balanchine in New York, the legendary composer came by the theater. Mr. B had him sit on a stool and said, "Suzanne, dance for him." I happily performed a piece from Variations, and afterword spoke with him and told him how much I appreciated his work. That was a monumental moment for me and one you can read more about in an interview I gave for the Fall 2003 issue of Bomb Magazine. [Link "Fall, 2003 issue of Bomb Magazine" to: http://www.bombsite.com/issues/85/articles/2603.

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Dear ballet lovers –

Here you will find my ongoing thoughts and observations on ballet performances taking place at the Kennedy Center. I hope you enjoy them!

Notes: Vienna Waltzes Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Symphony in Three Movements Archived Notes 08 - 09 Archived Notes 07 - 08 Archived Notes 06 - 07

Vienna Waltzes To be performed by NYCB:

Wed., March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Sat., March 7 at 1:30 p.m. (matinee) & 7:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

One thing that always amazes me about Balanchine's Vienna Waltzes is its incredible popularity. In a sense it goes against so many conventional expectations. Audiences frequently like ballets with a story to carry the action along, and many audiences – in 1977 at its premiere, at least – were reluctant to spend an evening in three-four time. But here was a night full of waltzing, without an overriding story, and it was a commercial and critical success.

It's not a complete surprise that the piece remains well-regarded to this day. As with Jewels, there is imagery and romanticism that forms a thread throughout, pulling the audience along its weaving path. Perhaps it was due to the transfixing qualities of the romance, the gentility of the music, or the beauty of the costumes, but that dance woke something up in late-'70s New York, and all of the sudden the city was crazy for waltzing. I happen to love waltzes, so I couldn't have been more pleased when this ballet was an indisputable hit and brought the waltz back to prominence.

My part was in the final movement, Der Rosenkavalier, and it was unlike any other part I ever danced. As I watched Mr. B choreograph the earlier movements, I saw him assign all my usual partners to other ballerinas. One day I finally asked, "Who am I going to dance with?" He replied with a sly, "Oh, you'll see." Eventually it was revealed to me that my partner would be "more-or-less imaginary." That gave me the welcomed challenge of dancing – not always alone – but with a partner that I created through my movements and gestures. I had the freedom to invent my own relationship with this "phantom partner" whom only I knew. Now that is a story—and it's one that allowed the audience to imagine themselves a part.

Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet To be performed by NYCB:

Thu., March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Sun., March 8 at 1:30 p.m. (matinee) Buy Tickets

For Balanchine the music always came first, and he believed in being obedient to it. As a choreographer he needed to like the music for it to inspire movement. He was fascinated with Schoenberg from previous pieces, so it was natural for him to create a dance for Schoenberg's melodic reworking of Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 1. But Mr. B also believed one must work within the music one chooses. That presented a unique challenge with Schoenberg's piece, because it is composed of four completely independent movements with no resolving finale.

He went about choreographing a grand piece with many dancers to match the active, individual quality of the Schoenberg music. However, as with the music, each movement remained independent of the others and there was nothing drawing the dancers together at the end. This was a bold move, which gained Mr. B a small amount of criticism at the time.

But, if Brahms didn't have anything more to say to resolve his work, then Mr. B didn't feel it was necessary to add on some other Brahms piece to mollify anyone's opinion. Sometimes in life there is no resolution, and I think we all need some mystery.

Symphony in Three Movements To be performed by NYCB:

Fri., March 6 at 7:30 p.m. Sun., March 8 at 7:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

This ballet came into the repertoire in 1972 during NYCB's encompassing Stravinsky Celebration—a project which premiered 21 ballets, including nine by Balanchine himself. This was a challenge Mr. B undertook out of his enduring admiration for Stravinsky's music, and one that reconfirmed his greatness in the eyes of the world.

I was living in Europe at the time of the festival, but when I came back to the States on vacation in 1973, I was able to see Symphony in Three Movements – already considered a masterpiece – performed by NYCB at their summer stage in Saratoga. Watching that dance I was filled with joy and a sense of pride and gratitude for Mr. B. It opens with a breathtaking diagonal for 16 girls, and the way he alters patterns and brings everyone back together is amazing. The dance has great energy set to powerful music by Stravinsky, whom I adore.

Once while visiting with Balanchine in New York, the legendary composer came by the theater. Mr. B had him sit on a stool and said, "Suzanne, dance for him." I happily performed a piece from Variations, and afterword spoke with him and told him how much I appreciated his work. That was a monumental moment for me and one you can read more about in an interview I gave for the Fall 2003 issue of Bomb Magazine.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

edit

Suzanne Farrell | [orig. Roberta Sue Ficker] (born Aug. 16, 1945, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. ballet dancer. She trained at the School of American Ballet and joined the NYCB (NYCB) at age 16, becoming a soloist at age 18. George Balanchine created roles for her in ballets such as Meditation, Don Quixote, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. After several years as principal dancer with Maurice Béjart's Ballet of the 20th Century (1970–75), she returned to the NYCB in 1975 as principal dancer. There she continued to create leading roles until she retired in 1989 and joined the faculty of the School of American Ballet, on which she served until 1993. She later formed her own company, which carried on the Balanchine tradition. /www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-364235.html Copyright 1994-2008 Britannica Concise Encyclopedia | From: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia | Date: 2007

FFD

edit

2004

edit

American Ballet Theatre Diana and Acteon pas de deux (1935)

  • Choreography by Agrippina Vaganova

Ballet Hispanico DejameSoñar (Let Me Dream) (2003)

  • Choreography by Alexandre Magno

BatotoYetu Nzinga (excerpt) (2003) 

Choreography Júlio T. Leitão

Big Dance Theater City of Brides (1995)

  • Choreography by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Continuous Replay (1977)

  • Choreography by Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane

Boston Ballet Plan to B (2004)

  • Choreography by Jorma Elo

Artists from Dance Theater of Harlem Agon (1957)

  • Choreography by George Balanchine

David Neumann Dose (1996)

  • Choreography by David Neumann

Desmond Richardson Solo (1998)

  • Choreography by Dwight Rhoden

Eiko&Koma Snow (1999)

  • Choreography by Eiko and Koma

Garth Fagan Dance DANCECOLLAGEFORROMIE (2003)

  • Choreography by Garth Fagan

LAVA Double Trapeze (1999)

  • Choreography by Sarah East Johnson

Merce Cunningham Dance Company How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run (1965)

  • Choreography by Merce Cunningham

Martha Graham Dance Company Embattled Garden (1958)

  • Choreography by Martha Graham

NocheFlamenca Solea (1999)

  • Choreography by Soledad Barrio

PARADIGM One (2004)

  • Choreography by Johannes Wieland

Parul Shah & Dancers Precious Cracked Earth (world premiere)

  • Choreography by Parul Shah

Paul Taylor Dance Company Promethean Fire (2002)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER Ordinary Festivals (excerpt, 1995)

  • Choreography by Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig

Peter Boal Episodes (1959)

  • Choreography by George Balanchine
(Premiered at City Center)

Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group Big Brick: a man’s piece (2003)

  • Choreography by Reggie Wilson

Rennie Harris Puremovement Students of the Asphalt Jungle (1995)

  • Choreography by Rennie Harris

Ronald K. Brown\EVIDENCE Upside Down (1998)

  • Choreography by Ronald K. Brown

Rubberbandance Group Elastic Perspective (excerpts, 2003)

  • Choreography by Victor Quijada

SidiGoma Kari Damal (Standing Devotional Dance) Choreography by SabbirKamarSidi and IqbalKamarSidi (musical leader)

STREB Wild Blue Yonder (2003) and Ricochet (2004)

  • Choreography by Elizabeth Streb

Susan Marshall & Company Kiss (1987)

  • Choreography by Susan Marshall

Tamango and Roxane Butterfly Two-way improvisation with live music Choreography by Tamango and Roxane Butterfly

Trisha Brown Dance Company Groove and Countermove (2000)

  • Choreography by Trisha Brown

Yin Mei Dance Empty Tradition/City of Peonies (excerpt) (1998)

  • Choreography by Yin Mei



Artistic Advisor 

Elise Bernhardt

Associate Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Scott Lehrer

Generously Supported by 

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Time Warner

Additional Support 

Altria Group, Inc Agvar Chemicals Inc., Booth Ferris Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The Alice Tully Foundation, MOVADO, Perry and Marty Granoff, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, William H. Kearns Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Solomon and Blanche De Jong Foundation, Lane Bryant, Malsin Philanthropic Fund, Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation

2004-2005 Dance Season Sponsor 

Altria Group

Production Stage Manager 

John Finen

Stage Manager 

Michael Blanco



2005

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AditiMangaldas Dance Company Rhythm & Sound (2000)

  • Choreography by AditiMangaldas
  NB NY Premiere

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Cry (1971)

  • Choreography by Alvin Ailey

American Ballet Theatre Le Spectre de la Rose (1941)

  • Choreography by Michel Fokine

Ballet de l’Opéra National de Lyon Duo (1996)

  • Choreography by William Forsythe

Benjamin Millepied & Company Circular Motion (2004)

  • Choreography by Benjamin Millepied

Bill Irwin & Friends Untitled (2005)

  • Choreography by Bill Irwin

Black Grace Minoi (1999)

  • Choreography by Neil Ieremia

Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company Air-Condition (excerpts, 2005)

  • Choreography by Brenda Angiel

Charles Moulton 48 Person Precision Ball Passing (2005)

  • Choreography by Charles Moulton

Doug Varone and Dancers

Compagnie Marie Chouinard 24 Preludes by Chopin (excerpts, 1999) 

Choreograph by Marie Chouinard

Eva Yerbabuena Del Puente (Soleá) (2005)

  • Choreography by Eva Yerbabuena

Houston Ballet Nosotros (2005)

  • Choreography by Stanton Welch
  NB NY Premiere

Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance Water and Fire (excerpts from Dance of the Elements, 2002)

  • Choreography by Jody Sperling

The Joffrey Ballet Suite Saint-Saëns (1978)

  • Choreography by Gerald Arpino

Keigwin + Company Angels of Anxiety (2004)

  • Choreography by Larry Keigwin

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal Minus One (2002)

  • Choreography by OhadNaharin

Limón Dance Company Psalm (1967)

  • Choreography by José Limón

MolissaFenley& Dancers Hemispheres (excerpts, 1983)

  • Choreography by MolissaFenley

Nai-Ni Chen Passage to the Silk River (2000)

  • Choreography by Nai-Ni Chen

New York City Ballet Variations pour une Porte et un Soupir (1974)

  • Choreography by George Balanchine

Pascal Rioult Dance Theater Bolero (2001)

  • Choreography by Pascal Rioult

Paul Taylor Dance Company Esplanade (1975)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

PHILADANCO Gate Keepers (2000)

  • Choreography by Ronald K. Brown
  NB NY Premiere

Tania Isaac Dance letter home/Bam Bam (excerpts from home is where i am, 2004)

  • Choreography by Tania Isaac

Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza Los Horas (The Hours – (2001) excerpts)

  • Choreography by Tania Pérez-Salas

Tapage Morango …almost a tango (2005)

  • Choreography by Mari Fujibayashi and Olivia Rosenkrantz

Urban Bush Women Sacred Vessel (2004)

  • Choreography by Jawole Will Jo Zollar

Vincent Mantsoe NDAA (excerpts, 2003)

  • Choreography by Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe
  NB NY Premiere

Yoshiko Chuma& The School of Hard Knocks 7 x7 x 7 x 7 x 7 (excerpt, 2005)

  • Choreography by Yoshiko Chuma

Zaccho Dance Theater Dance in a Doorway (2005)

  • Choreography by Joanna Haigood
  NB NY Premiere


Artistic Advisor 

Elise Bernhardt

Associate Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Scott Lehrer

Generously Supported by 

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Time Warner
American Express

Additional Support 

Fall for Dance Patrons Committee, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Alice Tully Foundation, William H. Kearns Foundation, The Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, Irene Diamond Fund, Perry and Marty Granoff, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Shubert Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, JCT Foundation, Solomon and Blanche de Jonge Foundation, Lane Bryant Malsin Philanthropic Fund, Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation

2004-2005 Dance Season Sponsor 

Altria Group

Production Stage Manager 

Michael Blanco

Stage Manager 

Rachel S. McCutchen



2006

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Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet The MOROCCAN Project (excerpt, 2005)

  • Choreography by Alonzo King

American Ballet Theatre Swan Lake Pas de Deux (Act II pas de deux, Act III pas de deux, 1895)

  • Choreography by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa

ASzURe& Artists Mais We (excerpt, 2002)

  • Choreography by Aszure Barton

Ballet Boyz/George Piper Dances Torsion (excerpt, 2002)

  • Choreography by Russell Maliphant

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin (excerpt, 1990)

  • Choreography by Bill T. Jones

Bridgman/Packer Dance Under the Skin (excerpt, 2005)

  • Choreography by Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer

Christopher Williams Ginjasemcaroço (excerpt from The Portuguese Suite, 2006)

  • Choreography by Christopher Williams

Coleman Lemieux &Compangie Fifteen Heterosexual Duets (excerpt, 1991)

  • Choreography by James Kudelka

Compagnie Franck II Louise DROP IT! (excerpt, 2000)

  • Choreography by Franck II Louise
 NB US Premiere

Compagnie La BARAKA/Abou LAGRAA OùTranse (excerpt, 2005)

  • Choreography by AbouLagraa
 NB US Premiere

Dutch National Ballet Before After (2002)

  • Choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
 NB US Premiere

FARRUCO FARRUCO (2006)

  • Choreography by Antonio Fernandez Montoya
 NB US Premiere

Honvéd Dance Company Black Pearls (2001)

  • Choreography by FerencNovák

Jason Samuels Smith’s A.C.G.I. Peace of Mind (2006)

  • Choreography by Jason Samuels Smith
 NB World Premiere

The Martha Graham Dance Company Satyric Festival Song (1932)

  • Choreography by Martha Graham

Maureen Fleming Company The Stairs (excerpt from After Eros, 1996)

  • Choreography by Maureen Fleming

nathantrice/RITUALS Prophet & Betrayer (2000)

  • Choreography by Nathan Trice

0 NB NY Premiere

New York City Ballet In the Night (1970)

  • Choreography by Jerome Robbins

Nikolais Dance Theater performed by Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Tensile Involvement (1955)

  • Choreography by AlwinNikolais

OdileDuboc – Contre Jour / CCN de Franche-Comté à Belfort boléro, one (excerpt from trois boleros, 1996)

  • Choreography by OdileDuboc

Pacific Northwest Ballet The Piano Dance (2005)

  • Choreography by Paul Gibson
  NB NY Premiere

The Parsons Dance Company Swing Shift

  • Choreography by David Parsons

Paul Taylor Dance Company Syzygy (1987)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

Pennsylvania Ballet 11:11 (excerpt, 2005)

  • Choreography by Matthew Neenan

Random Dance Polar Sequences (2003)

  • 0Choreography by Wayne McGregor
  NB NY Premiere

Robert Moses’ Kin Cause (excerpt,2004) 

  NB NY Premiere

Stephen Petronio Company Lareigne (1995)

  • Choreography by Stephen Petronio

STREB Extreme Action Streb vs. Gravity (excerpt, 2006)

  • Choreography by Elizabeth Streb

Trisha Brown Dance Company Set and Reset (1983)

  • Choreography by Trisha Brown

Yi-Jo Lim Sun Dance Company Heaven and Earth (2006)

  • Choreography by Yi-Jo Lim
 NB World Premiere


Artistic Advisor 

Elise Bernhardt

Associate Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Scott Lehrer

Generously Supported by 

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Time Warner Inc.
Altria Group, Inc.

Additional Support 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Frederic and Robin Seegal, Fall for Dance Patrons Committee, The Alice Tully Foundation, William H. Kearns Foundation, The Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, Perry and Marty Granoff, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation, Jerome Robins Foundation, Marion And Terry Martin, Jody and John Arnhold, Con Edison Company of New York, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Barbara Charlton, Angela Haines, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, Marshall Watson and Paul Sparks, JCT Foundation, Solomon and Blanche de Jong Foundation, Capezio / Ballet Makers Dance Foundation

Production Stage Manager 

Lori Wekselblatt

Stage Manager 

Michael P. Zeleski



2007

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American Ballet Theatre Le Corsaire Pas de Deux (1899)

  • Choreography after Marius Petipa

Armitage Gone! Dance Ligeti Essays (Excerpt, 2007)

  • Choreography by KaroleArmitage

Ballet Hispanico Club Havana (2000)

  • Choreography by Pedro Ruiz

Boston Ballet Brake the Eyes (excerpt, 2007)

  • Choreography by JormaElo

Camille A. Brown and Dancers The Evolution of a Secured Feminine (2006)

  • Choreography by Camille A. Brown

Carmen deLavallade / Jane Ira Bloom The 5th Wheel (2007)

  • Choreography by Carmen deLavallade
 NB World Premiere

CompagnieKäfig Terrain Vague (excerpt, 2006)

  • Choreography by MouradMerzouki
 NB US Premiere

Doug Varone and Dancers Lux (2006)

  • Choreography by Doug Varone

Elisa Monte Dance Treading (1979)

  • Choreography by Elisa Monte

Johan Kobborg Afternoon of a Faun (2006) 

Tim Rushton

Juilliard Dance Deuce Coupe (1973)

  • Choreography by Twyla Tharp

Keigwin + Company Love Songs (2006)

  • Choreography by Larry Keigwin

Kirov Ballet of the Marinsky Theatre Middle Duet (1998)

  • Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky

Kyle Abraham / Abraham.In.Motion Inventing Pookie Jenkins (2006)

  • Choreography by Kyle Abraham

Lyon Opera Ballet Grosse Fugue (2001)

  • Choreography by Maguy Marin
  NB NY Premiere

Mats Ek Memory (2005)

  • Choreography by Mats Ek
U.S. Premiere

Morphoses / The Wheeldon Company After the Rain (pas de deux, 2005)

  • Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

New York City Ballet A Suite of Dances (1994)

  • Choreography by Jerome Robbins

NocheFlamenca& Soledad Barrio Quebrada (2007)

  • Choreography by Martin Santangelo
  NB NY Premiere

Paul Taylor Dance Company Arden Court (1981)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

Royal Ballet of Flanders Cornered (excerpt, 2007)

  • Choreography by NicoloFonte
 NB US Premiere

ShantalaShivalingappa Varnam (excerpt from GAMAKA, 2007)

  • Choreography by ShantalaShivalingappa
 NB US Premiere

Srishti-Nina Rajarani Dance Creations Quick! (2006)

  • Choreography by Nina Rajarani
 NB US Premiere

Tango Connection Tango del Sur (2007)

  • Choreography by Tango Connection & Dancers
 NB World Premiere

10 Foot 5 Buckets & Tap Shoes (2004)

  • Choreography by Rick Ausland and Andy Ausland
  NB NY Premiere

Trisha Brown Dance Company Spanish Dance (1973)

  • Choreography by Trisha Brown

Urban Bush Women Batty Moves (1995)

  • Choreography by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

Via Katlehong Dance Nkululeko (excerpt, 2001)

  • Choreography by Via Katlehong Dance
 NB US Premiere


Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Artistic Advisor 

Wendy Perron

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Bruce A. Kraemer

Generously Supported by 

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Time Warner Inc.
Time Warner Cable
Altria Group, Inc.

Additional Support 

New York City Center would like to recognize the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in inaugurating an endowment which will ensure the future financial stability of our annual Fall for Dance Festival. We would also like to thank The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation for its extremely generous contribution to this newly created endowment.

Production Stage Manager 

Lori Wekselblatt

Stage Manager 

Michael P. Zaleski



2008

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American Ballet Theatre The Leaves Are Fading (pas de deux, 1975)

  • Choreography by Antony Tudor

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Sweet Fields (1996)

  • Choreography by Twyla Tharp

AyodeleCasel, Sarah Savelli & Dancers Wonderland (excerpts, 2007) 

  NB NY Premiere

BeijingDance/LDTX The Cold Dagger (excerpt, 2006)

  • Choreography by Li Hanzhong& Ma Bo
  NB NY Premiere

[bjm_danse] Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal Les Chambres des Jacques (excerpt, 2006)

  • Choreography by Aszure Barton

CompañiaNacional de Danza CorPerdut (1989)

  • Choreography by Nacho Duato

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company AwassaAstrige/Ostrich (1937)

  • Choreography by AsadataDafora

Fang-Yi Sheu Single Room (excerpt, 2002)

  • Choreography by BulareyaungPagarlava

Garth Fagan Dance From Before (1978)

  • Choreography by Garth Fagan

The Gentlemen of HälauNäKamalei Kahikilani (2005) 

Chroreography by Robert UluwehiCazimero

Houston Ballet Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960)

  • Choreography by George Balanchine

HofeshShechter Company Uprising (2006)

  • Choreography by HofeshShechter
  NB NY Premiere

Kate Weare Company The Light Has Not the Arms To Carry Us (2008)

  • Choreography by Kate Weare
 NB World Premiere

Keigwin + Company Fire (from Elements, 2008)

  • Choreography by Larry Keigwin

The Lombard Twins Lombard Play Piazzolla – The Dance Concert (2008)

  • Choreography by Martin and Facundo Lombard
 NB World Premiere

Louise Lecavalier Lone Epic (excerpt, 2006)

  • Choreography by Crystal Pite
 NB US Premiere

MadhaviMudgal Odissi:PRAVAHA (2008)

  • Choreography by MadhaviMudgal
 NB World Premiere

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Sounddance (1975)

  • Choreography by Merce Cunningham

The National Ballet of Canada Soldiers’ Mass (1980)

  • Choreography by JiříKylián

Oregon Ballet Theatre RUSH (pas de deux, 2003)

  • Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

Paul Taylor Dance Company Esplanade (1975)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

PICHET KLUNCHUN DANCE COMPANY Chui Chai (2008)

  • Choreography by PichetKlunchun
 NB World Premiere

Richard Siegal/The Bakery The New 45 (2006)

  • Choreography by Richard Siegal
 NB US Premiere

San Francisco Ballet In the Night (1970)

  • Choreography by Jerome Robbins

Shen Wei Dance Arts Map (excerpts, 2005)

  • Choreography by Shen Wei

Sheron Wray Harmonica Breakdown (1938)

  • Choreography by Jane Dudley

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Pithoprakta (1968)

  • Choreography by George Balanchine

Talia Paz Love (excerpt, 2004)

  • Choreography by Sharon Eyal



Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Artistic Advisor 

Wendy Perron

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Leon Rothenberg

Leadership Support Time Warner Inc. 

Time Warner Cable, NYC Region

Fall for Dance Endowment Donors 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Anonymous
Ford Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Additional Support 

New York City Center would like to recognize the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in inaugurating an endowment which will ensure the future financial stability of our annual Fall for Dance Festival. We would also like to thank The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation for its extremely generous contribution to this newly created endowment.

Production Stage Manager 

Lori Wekselblatt

Stage Manager 

Michael P. Zaleski



2009

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The Australian Ballet Le Spectre de la Rose (1911)

  • Choreography by Michel Fokine

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Revelations (1960)

  • Choreography by Alvin Ailey

Ballet West Les Biches (1924)

  • Choreography by BronislavaNijinska

Basil Twist Petrushka Suite (2001) 

Created by Basil Twist

Batsheva Dance Company B/olero (from Project 5, 2008)

  • Choreography by OhadNaharin
 NB US Premiere

Boston Ballet Afternoon of a Faun (1912)

  • Choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky

DendyDancetheater Afternoon of the Faunes (from Dream Analysis, 1996) 

Choreographyby Mark Dendy

DanceBrazil Culture in Motion (2009)

  • Choreography by Jelon Vieira

Diana Vishneva The Dying Swan (1905)

  • Choreography by Michel Fokine

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Go for Barocco (1974)

  • Choreography by Peter Anastos

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal Noces (2002)

  • Choreography by StijnCelis
  NB NY Premiere

Mark Morris Dance Group Grand Duo (1993)

  • Choreography by Mark Morris

Martha Graham Dance Company Diversion of Angels (1948)

  • Choreography by Martha Graham

Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company Softly as I Leave You (revised, 2009)

  • Choreography by Lightfoot León
 NB US Premiere

Monica Bill Barnes & Company I feel like (2008)

  • Choreography by Monica Bill Barnes

New York City Ballet Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux (1992)

  • Choreography by William Forsythe

Paul Taylor Dance Company Offenbach Overtures (1995)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

Sang Jijia Snow (2008)

  • Choreography by Sang Jijia
 NB US Premiere

Savion Glover & The OtheRz The STaRz and STRiPes 4 EVeR for NoW (2009)

  • Choreography by Savion Glover

Tangueros del Sur Romper el Piso (Break the Floor) (2008)

  • Choreography by Natalia Hills



Producer 

Ellen Dennis

Artistic Advisor 

Wendy Perron

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Leon Rothenberg

Major Support Provided by 

Time Warner Inc.

Fall for Dance Endowment Donors 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Anonymous
Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
Ford Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Additional Support 

New York City Center would like to recognize the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in inaugurating an endowment which will ensure the future financial stability of our annual Fall for Dance Festival. We would also like to thank The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation for its extremely generous contribution to this newly created endowment.

Production Stage Manager 

Lori Wekselblatt

Stage Manager 

Michael P. Zaleski



2010

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American Ballet Theatre Thaïs Pas de Deux (1971)

  • Choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Duet (1995)

  • Choreography by Bill T. Jones

Companhia Urbana de Dança ID:ENTIDADES (2010)

  • Choreography by Sonia Destri with Companhia Urbana de Dança
 NB US Premiere

Company Rafaela Carrasco Three Movements (2008)

  • Choreography by Rafaela Carrasco
Adapted for Fall for Dance

Corella Ballet Castilla y León Soleá (2010)

  • Choreography by MaríaPagés

Dresden SemperoperBallett The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (1996)

  • Choreography by William Forsythe

Emanuel Gat Dance My Favorite Things (2007)

  • Choreography by Emanuel Gat
 NB US Premiere

Gallim Dance I Can See Myself in Your Pupil (2008)

  • Choreography by Andrea Miller
Adapted for Fall for Dance

Jason Samuels Smith & Friends RHYTHMDOME (2010)

  • Choreography by Jason Samuels Smith with Buddha Stretch
 NB World Premiere

MadhaviMudgal Vistaar (2010)

  • Choreography by MadhaviMudgal
 NB World Premiere

KEIGWIN + COMPANY with Juilliard Dance Megalopolis (2009)

  • Choreography by Larry Keigwin

Merce Cunningham Dance Company XOVER (2007)

  • Choreography by Merce Cunningham
  NB NY Premiere

Miami City Ballet The Golden Section (1983)

  • Choreography by Twyla Tharp

New York City Ballet Red Angels (1994)

  • Choreography by Ulysses Dove

Paul Taylor Dance Company Company B (1991)

  • Choreography by Paul Taylor

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company Grace (1999)

  • Choreography by Ronald K. Brown

Russell Maliphant Company AfterLight Part 1 (2009)

  • Choreography by Russell Maliphant
 NB US Premiere

San Francisco Ballet Diving into the Lilacs (2009) 

Pas de deux excerpt
  • Choreography by Yuri Possokhov

Shu-Yi & (Dancers) Company [1875] Ravel and Bolero (2007)

  • Choreography by Shu-Yi Chou

Tero Saarinen Company Man in a Room (2000)

  • Choreography by Carolyn Carlson
 NB US Premiere


Artistic Advisor Jed Wheeler

Artistic Advisor Wendy Perron

Festival Lighting Director Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor Leon Rothenberg

Leadership Sponsor Bloomberg

Principal Sponsor MetLife Foundation

Presenting Partners Jody and John Arnhold 

Barbara and David Zalaznick
Perry and Martin Granoff
Caroline Howard Hyman

Fall for Dance Endowment Support The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Ford Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.
Anonymous

Additional Support New York City Center would like to recognize the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in inaugurating an endowment which will ensure the future financial stability of our annual Fall for Dance Festival. We would also like to thank The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation for its extremely generous contribution to this endowment.

Production Stage Manager Lori Wekselblatt

Stage Manager Michael P. Zaleski



2011

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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Festa Barocca (2008)

  • Choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti

The Australian Ballet Gemini (1973)

  • Choreography by Glen Tetley

CCN de Créteiletdu Val-de-Marne / CompagnieKäfig Agwa (2008)

  • Choreography by MouradMerzouki

Drew Jacoby Bloom (2011)

  • Choreography by Andrea Miller
 NB World Premiere

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago THREE TO MAX (2011)

  • Choreography by Ohad Naharin
 NB NY Premiere

Jessica Lang Dance Among the Stars (2010)

  • Choreography by Jessica Lang
 NB NY Premiere

The Joffrey Ballet Woven Dreams (2011)

  • Choreography by Edwaard Liang

Lil Buck The Swan (2007)

  • Choreography by Lil Buck

Liz Gerring Dance Company Lichtung/Clearing (2010)

  • Choreography by Liz Gerring

Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba Pa’ Cuba me voy (2001)

  • Choreography by Lizt Alfonso

Mark Morris Dance Group All Fours (2003)

  • Choreography by Mark Morris

Maurice Chestnut Floating (2010)

  • Choreography by Maurice Chestnut

New York City Ballet Polyphonia (2001)

  • Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

Pontus Lidberg Dance Faune (2010)

  • Choreography by Pontus Lidberg
 NB US Premiere

Richard Alston Dance Company Roughcut (1990)

  • Choreography by Richard Alston
 NB US Premiere

Royal Ballet of Flanders The Return of Ulysses (2006)

  • Choreography by Christian Spuck
 NB NY Premiere

Steven McRae, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, London Something Different (2009)

  • Choreography by Steven McRae
 NB US Premiere

TAO Dance Theater Weight x 3 (2009)

  • Choreography by Tao Ye
 NB US Premiere

Trisha Brown Dance Company Rogues (2011)

  • Choreography by Trisha Brown

Vertigo Dance Company Mana (2009)

  • Choreography by Noa Wertheim



Artistic Advisor 

Stanford Makishi

Festival Lighting Director 

Clifton Taylor

Festival Sound Supervisor 

Leon Rothenberg

Leadership Sponsor 

Bloomberg

Principal Sponsor 

MetLife Foundation

Presenting Partners 

Barbara and David Zalaznick
Jody and John Arnhold
Perry and Martin Granoff
Caroline Howard Hyman

Major Supporters 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Ford Foundation
Anonymous

Production Stage Manager 

Lori Wekselblatt

2012

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Pre-Show Schedule

edit

Thu, Sep 26, 6:30-7:30pm

Note Location: The Barbara and David Zalaznick Studio, City Center, 5th Floor New York City Center and the Hunter College Dance Department present:

“Gurus, Mestres, and Bailarines: Understanding Mastery in Cultural Dance”

Panelists: Gabriel Misse, Analia Centurion, Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, Jelon Vieira and Leandro Silva

Moderator: Deborah Jowitt, former Village Voice dance critic, now writing for artsjournal.com

Fri, Sep 27, 6:30-7:30pm

Indian Classical Dance Lesson

Sat, Sep 28, 6:30-7:30

The Renaissance of Dance Theatre of Harlem: A conversation with Virginia Johnson and Robert Garland

Moderator: Marina Harss, dance writer and critic

Mon, Sep 30, 6:30-7:30

Irish Step Dance Lesson

Tue, Oct 1, 6:30-7:30pm

Note Location: The Barbara and David Zalaznick Studio, City Center, 5th Floor New York City Center and the Marymount Manhattan College Department of Dance present:

“Commissioned to Create New Danceworks: Now What?”

Panelists: Liam Scarlett, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Eduardo Villaro, Kevin O’Hare, Sara Mearns and others

Moderator: Wendy Perron, Editor-in-Chief, Dance Magazine

Wed, Oct 2, 6:30-7:30

Tap Lesson

Thu, Oct 3, 6:30-7:30

Dancing the Moor: Doug Elkins Takes on Shakespeare (and José Limón) in Mo (or) town Redux

Moderator: Marina Harss

Fri, Oct 4, 6:30-7:30

Revelations Revealed: The Inner Workings of an Ailey Classic

Marina Harss speaks with Matthew Rushing

Sat, Oct 5, 6:30-7:30

Men on Pointe: The Ballerinos of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

A conversation with Tory Dobrin, Artistic Director

Moderator: Marina Harss


Cite error: There are <ref group=2009 Fall for Dance> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=2009 Fall for Dance}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ premiere March 20, 2010, Grand Vanemuine, Estonia
  2. ^ a b c adapted for Fall for Dance
  3. ^ premiere October 2009, Dortmund
  4. ^ NY Times, June 6th, 2002


Cite error: There are <ref group=2012> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=2012}} template (see the help page).

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