Ballets by George Balanchine | Perm Opera and Ballet Theater

Ballet

12 October / Wed 19:00–22:00

Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre

Ballets by George Balanchine

I. Stravinsky, I. Stravinsky, P. I. Tchaikovsky

Age category: 12+

Duration: 3 hours 0 minutes

Ballet in two tableaux. Libretto by Igor Stravinsky

Choreography by George Balanchine

First staged in 1928. This version was first performed in Perm in 2014. Running time: 33 minutes

The idea of creating an allegorical ballet based on Greek mythology belongs to Igor Stravinsky who wrote both the music and the libretto. The story involves the birth of Apollon Musagète, his consecration of Polyhymnia, Calliope and Terpsichore, the muses of mimicry, poetry and dance, and his ascent together with the muses to Mount Parnassus. Whilst still working on the score, Stravinsky had already planned on handing the visualization of his dream over to Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. His attention was then caught by 23-year-old choreographer George Balanchine who impressed the maestro with his inventiveness and musicality. Later, George Balanchine himself acknowledged that Apollo was his favourite and most successful work. This production marked the moment that his life as the greatest choreographer of the 20^th century began, and also the beginning of his long creative partnership with Igor Stravinsky.

The ballet is staged in collaboration with the George Balanchine Foundation in accordance with Balanchine’s style and technique

directors

Artistic Director: Alexey Miroshnichenko

Musical Director and Conductor: Valery Platonov

Ballet Master-Producer: Ben Huys
Lighting Designer: Igor Zinn

Age category: 12+

Duration: 3 hours 0 minutes

(Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra)

One-act ballet

Choreography by George Balanchine

First staged in 1967. This version was first performed in Perm in 2014. Running time: 19 minutes

Rubies, a well-known movement of the three-act ballet Jewels, today adorns the repertoires of leading theatres across the world. George Balanchine came up with the idea of creating a triple-bill evening, in which dancers represent jewels when he visited Claude Arpels' jewellery boutique in New York. He was captivated by the idea of putting the feelings and emotions, which people experience at the sight of emeralds, rubies and diamonds, in choreography. For rubies, which, according to legends, contain an incredible power of attraction and fascination, Balanchine chose Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (1929). The piano concert, written as a fantasy in which alternating and varying musical movements create a feeling of capriciousness, is well-suited for a dance about a precious symbol of passion — a passion for life, power and love.

The ballet is staged in collaboration with the George Balanchine Foundation in accordance with Balanchine’s style and technique

directors

Artistic Director: Alexey Miroshnichenko

Musical Director and Conductor: Valery Platonov

Costume Designer: Barbara Karinska
Ballet Master-Producer: Paul Boos
Set Designer: Andrey Voitenko
Lighting Designer: Igor Zinn

Age category: 12+

Duration: 3 hours 0 minutes

One-act ballet to the music of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2

The ballet was first staged in 1941. This version was first performed in Perm in 2002. Running time: 40 minutes

George Balanchine planned Ballet Imperial as a model of Russian ballet in the best traditions of Marius Petipa. He wanted to express in it his memories of Russia, which he had left in 1924, and of the theatres in St. Petersburg in particular. It was natural that the French title made reference to the ballets staged at the Imperial theatres, to society traditions of the nineteenth century, and to the international ballet lexicon.

Ballet Imperial was first performed at an open rehearsal of students at the School of American Ballet on 29 May1941. A month later, it had already become part of the programme for a tour of Latin America by the American Ballet Caravan, along with other Balanchine ballets. The Perm Theatre was the first to stage the ballet in Russia and was awarded a Golden Mask for its production (2003).

The ballet is staged in collaboration with the George Balanchine Foundation in accordance with Balanchine’s style and technique.