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Barber's Adagio/Kirov


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Last night I watched a Kirov compilation which included a ballet choreographed to Barber's Adagio for Strings. I love the music and hadn't known of any ballet set to it (probably my ignorance more than anything else!).. Are there others or is the Kirov the only one?

Is the Kirov version performed anymore? (I have to confess I didn't love the choreography which to my feeble mind seemed too stilted for the music)

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I don't know whether there are any other productions that have been viewed as widely as that Kirov video, but in the early '60s, a member of the San Francisco Ballet choreographed it for a summer choreographer's workshop, on the San Francisco Ballet. I don't know whether he ever set it on any other professional company's, but he has used it for whatever regional company he's been associated with over the years. The name of the ballet is Adagio for Ten and Two and the choreographer is Richard Gibson.

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It is indeed glorious music -- and it's been choreographed to a LOT.

Seems like about ten years ago I saw dances staged to it over and over -- almost never did they measure up to the music, but it's one of those curious things, this music is not jealous and is willing to share the stage very graciously with choreography that can't hold a candle to it....

The adagietto from Mahler's 5th Symphony gets used in a similar way, even more often....

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By the way, pleiades, I agree with you about the stilted quality of Vinogradov's choreography. I attribute it to awkward transitions between poses. It looked as if the choreographer had a lot of poses in mind, and broke the feeling of a pose just to get to another pose.

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Sorry, to jump in late.

Vinogradov's original choreography of this number was made for the ballet of Georgian composer Machavariani "Fighter in the tiger skin" (or something, I'm not sure about translation). When Moris Bejar saw this number, he said to Vinogradov, that the choreography is good, but the music is not, so, Vinogradov picked up Barber's adagio, changed nothing and voila! :blink:

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