29 replies to this topic

[kfw]

bart, on 23 August 2010 - 06:17 PM, said:

Of the individuals, I remember only Villella in a bravura, jumping variation, and Arthur Mitchell (one of my NYCB heroes)  as an African king (I think) dancing with a beautiful black partner.

Thanks for those glimpses, bart, and it's the latter image I wish I could call to mind myself. I can't remember ever seeing, on stage or in reproduction, an African-American NYCB partnership.

DanceActress, do keep working, and keep us up to date! But that's a marvelous list already.

As for me, I've been scanning these lists and pulling out old programs hoping to find ballets I'd missed listing. Success! I'm up to 64.

[Jack Reed]

Thanks, bart, for even that impression of Carpet.  It gives me the idea of a densely-woven stage picture, maybe like we wouldn't get again until Union Jack?

The Joffrey Ballet has offered a version of Cotillon, although some doubt the authenticity of it, but I enjoy the deftness of the action as well as the characteristic depth of response to the musical thought at each moment.  (They've never nearly adequately cast the central Hand of Fate pas de deux that I've seen, making it more conscientiously indicated than actually realized, leaving you to add the missing dimension.  Watching it's a good time, though.)

I question the inclusion of Tricolore here.  The Trust list excludes it, and the NYCB list only says Balanchine "conceived and supervised" it:

http://www.nycballet...ep.html?rep=424

I recall it was reported to be rather a mess.  Anyway, I never saw it.

As to my total number?  Hmm.  I may have to take my shoes off to count that high...

[GeorgeB fan]

Holy CRAP!! I've seen 64 of Balanchine's ballets. Incredible! Unless noted I've seen them all with the New York City Ballet.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Agon
Allegro Brillante
Apollo
Ballet Imperial - American Ballet Theatre
Ballo della Regina
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet
Bugaku - Dance Theater of Harlem
Chaconne
Concerto Barocco
Coppélia
Cortège Hongrois
Divertimento from "Le Baiser De La Fée"
Divertimento No. 15
Donizetti Variations
Duo Concertant
Episodes
Firebird
Garland Dance
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker
Harlequinade
Ivesiana
Jewels
Kammermusik No. 2
La Sonnambula
La Source
La Valse
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Liebeslieder Walzer
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo
Movements for Piano and Orchestra
Mozartiana
Orpheus
Pas de Trois (Glinka) - Miami City Ballet
Pavane
Prodigal Son
Raymonda Variations
Robert Schumann's "Davidsbündlertänze"
Scherzo à la Russe
Scotch Symphony
Serenade
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Sonatine
Square Dance
Stars and Stripes
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Swan Lake (Act II)
Sylvia Pas de Deux - American Ballet Theatre
Symphonie Concertante - American Ballet Theatre
Symphony in C
Symphony in Three Movements
Tarantella
The Four Temperaments
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Theme and Variations
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
Union Jack
Valse-Fantaisie
Vienna Waltzes
Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Western Symphony
Who Cares?

[bart]

This is a great topic!  Would it be possible, later on, to start a new thread on "How Many Times Have You Seen X"?  I know Cristian's mom has more than 50 Giselles.  I'm sure many on this board to equal or even exceed that, whether with classics and -- for BT people --  Balanchine.

kfw, on 23 August 2010 - 06:37 PM, said:

I can't remember ever seeing, on stage or in reproduction, an African-American NYCB partnership.

This itself could be a fascinating thread of its own.  You made me question my memory, so I checked Nancy Reynolds.  I found that this section was called "The Oni of Ife and his Consort."  The lady was Mary Hinkson of the Martha Graham Company.  I'm sure that is why this unprecedent ed pairing stands out in my memory.  One got used to seeing Mitchell as the single black person on stage, in those pre-Civil Rights Movement days, that the appearance of a black partner made a major impression.  

Reynolds quotes Walter Terry (NY Herald Tribune):  "Striking duet, exceptionally lively but very majestic."  Funny how memory works, but I remember the majesty (and dignity) of the dancers, though not the "liveliness."

Quote

As for me, I've been scanning these lists and pulling out old programs hoping to find ballets I'd missed listing. Success! I'm up to 64.

I envy you and all all who have retained their programs.  Alas, my NYC collection did not make the cut when we moved to Florida ("Land of No Basements").

[Kathleen O'Connell]

GeorgeB fan, on 23 August 2010 - 11:01 PM, said:

Holy CRAP!! I've seen 64 of Balanchine's ballets. Incredible!

  That was my response too! I tallied up 71 and just couldn't believe it was that many.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on 24 August 2010 - 11:21 AM, said:

  I know Cristian's mom has more than 50 Giselles.  

...and I surpass her...

[Jack Reed]

Making my list turned out to be easier and more fun than I thought at first!  So, thanks for the idea, kfw.  Here's my list:

Agon
Allegro Brillante
Apollo
Ballade
Ballo della Regina
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Bourrée Fantasque
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet
Bugaku
Chaconne
Clarinade (Contrapuntal Blues)*
Concerto Barocco
Concierto de Mozart (Adagio)**
Coppélia
Cortège Hongrois
Davidsbündlertänze
Divertimento Brillante*
Divertimento from "Le Baiser De La Fée"
Divertimento No. 15
Don Quixote
Donizetti Variations
Duo Concertant
Elégie
Episodes
Firebird
The Four Temperaments
Garland Dance
Glinka Pas de Trois**
Gounod Symphony
Haieff Divertimento*
Harlequinade
Ivesiana
Jewels
Kammermusik No. 2
Liebeslieder Walzer
Meditation
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Monumentum Pro Gesualdo/
    Movements for Piano and Orchestra
Mozartiana
The Nutcracker
Orpheus
PAMTGG
Pas de Dix
Pavane
Persephone
Pithoprakta**
Prodigal Son
Pulcinella
Raymonda Variations
Scherzo à la Russe
Scotch Symphony
Serenade
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Sonatine
La Sonnambula
La Source
Square Dance (1957)*
Square Dance (1976)
Stars and Stripes
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Swan Lake
Symphonie Concertante
Symphony in C
Symphony in Three Movements
Tarantella
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
Tzigane
Union Jack
La Valse
Valse-Fantaisie (1953)*
Valse-Fantaisie (1967)
Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir
Vienna Waltzes
Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Western Symphony
Who Cares?

* means I saw it only in performances without Balanchine's supervision.  If I can count, these are 80** titles.

** added in the light of comments from kfw and bart just below; initially, I had relied entirely on the Balanchine Trust list, rather than go through my programs or something like that.

Edited by Jack Reed, 26 August 2010 - 06:14 PM.

[kfw]

Thanks for posting, everyone. I've enjoyed seeing the lists, so I might as well post my own. Jack, I notice that you, like me, don't list the "Adagio from Concierto de Mozart," which Farrell revived in 2007. (Actually, you forgot "Pithoprakta" too.   ). Likewise, I don't list "The Unanswered Question," because it's all I've seen of "Ivesiana." I do remember now that I've seen "Allegro Brilliante."

Ballo della Regina
Prodigal Son
Symphony in C
Agon
Vienna Waltzes
Mozartiana
Apollo
La Valse
La Somnambula
Tchaikovsky pas de Deux
Pas de Dix
Stars and Stripes
Union Jack
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Serenade
Concerto Barocco
Four Temperaments
Variations
Tzigane
Theme and Variations
Ballet Imperial/Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto # 2
The Nutcracker
Western Symphony
Square Dance
Donizetti Variations
Firebird
Jewels
Valse Fantasie
La Source
Clarinade
Pithoprakta
Symphony in Three Movements
Duo Concertant
Divertimento from “La Baiser de La Fee”
Orpheus
Swan Lake
Who Cares
Don Quixote
Tarentella
Symphonie Concertante
Haieff Divertimento
Monumentum pro Gesualdo
Movements for Piano and Orchestra
Scotch Symphony
Sylvia pas de Deux
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Steadfast Tin Soldier
Ragtime
Raymonda Variations
Liebeslieder Walzer
Episodes
Davidsbundlertanze
Kammermusik # 2
Divertimento # 15
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet
Bugaku
Chaconne
Sonatine
Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Ballade
Meditiation
Divertimento Brilliante
Allegro Brilliante

[bart]

Jack, your list is truly impressive, with several rarities I hadn't even  heard of.  Looking them up has added to my Balanchine education.

Jack Reed, on 23 August 2010 - 07:48 PM, said:

I question the inclusion of Tricolore here.  The Trust list excludes it, and the NYCB list only says Balanchine "conceived and supervised" it:

I agree with your conclusion and have deleted it from my original post.

On the other hand, your list reminded me  about MCB's Glinka Pas de Trois, so I've been able to add that, thus retaining my total.

Any more Balanchine enumerations?   Even if you're a relative Balanchine beginner, it's fascinating to revisit what one has seen.  For me, list-making has always been an essential early step in the process of reviving memory.

[ViolinConcerto]

I can't count well... I keep getting mixed up, but I took out my Balanchine Festival Tee shirt and started counting on that.... but got mixed up.  Someday I'll get out my "Choreography by Balanchine," and start counting, but, as I said, I lose count and get mixed up.  

I'm glad someone mentioned "Noah and the Flood," which I saw on TV, as I did one of Mr. B's versions of "The Spellbound Child,"  Those had to be in the very early 80's.  

So----- Do films versions count as a separate ballet (eg, "Midsummer's)?  Does the Peter Martins revival of "On Your Toes," back in 1983, (I saw it twice!!) with all those wonderful ballet and tap numbers count?  Do the short pieces done for TV (such as the short duets with Maria Tallchief and Jacques d'Amboise) count?  We're on a very slippery slope here!  But it's fun to try and climb up, isn't it?

Regarding "Figure in the Carpet," after the Balanchine bio was produced on PBS which showed that intriguing segment, and in the few years following his death, I went to many seminars/lectures/talks at NYU, the Met Museum, the Museum of TV and Broadcasting, etc.  and the question of who could mount a revival of "Figure in the Carpet" was brought up several times.  Each time the answer was the same:  no one remembers enough about it to put it back together again.  Our very own Humpty Dumpty.

[richard53dog]

ViolinConcerto, on 26 August 2010 - 06:07 PM, said:

I'm glad someone mentioned "Noah and the Flood," which I saw on TV, as I did one of Mr. B's versions of "The Spellbound Child,"  Those had to be in the very early 80's.  

I had completely forgotten about the tv version of Ravel's Spellbound Child. Yes, it was during the early 80s, I can place it because I had a vhs tape of it and bought my first videorecorder in late 1979.

Just as an aside I remember how horribly expensive the vhs blank tapes were. I used to wait until they were on sale , when they sold for about $15 each. Also very few stores carried them. Most of the time I bought them in Manhattan rather than NJ. I remember one time I needed a tape on short notice to tape some treasure or another (which I've completely forgotten about) and was forced to pay $25 dollars for a blank tape.

[California]

bart, on 25 August 2010 - 05:30 AM, said:

Jack Reed, on 23 August 2010 - 07:48 PM, said:

I question the inclusion of Tricolore here.  The Trust list excludes it, and the NYCB list only says Balanchine "conceived and supervised" it:

I agree with your conclusion and have deleted it from my original post.

The status of Tricolore is very puzzling. The last movement (the sailors and the semaphore signals and British flag) were included in the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, broadcast on PBS and sold on VHS for a time. As you note, Martins, Bonnefoux, and Robbins did the actual choreography. With so much to choose from for that Celebration, why pick that?
http://www.nycballet...ep.html?rep=424

I'm just guessing, but perhaps the Trust list only includes works which can be licensed and restaged?

[Helene]

What was performed in the Balanchine Centennial in 1993 was the third movement of "Union Jack", a stand-alone ballet created in 1976 to celebrate the US Bicentennial. "Tricolore" (1978) was meant to be a tribute to France and Part 3 of "Entente Cordiale", ("Stars and Stripes", "Union Jack", and "Tricolore").

The Balanchine Catalog states that "Tricolore" was "conceived and supervised by George Balanchine. Choreography by Peter Martins, Jean-Pierre Bonnefous, and Jerome Robbins."   Balanchine was too ill to choreograph it.

[California]

Helene, on 28 August 2010 - 05:00 PM, said:

What was performed in the Balanchine Centennial in 1993 was the third movement of "Union Jack", a stand-alone ballet created in 1976 to celebrate the US Bicentennial. "Tricolore" (1978) was meant to be a tribute to France and Part 3 of "Entente Cordiale", ("Stars and Stripes", "Union Jack", and "Tricolore").

Of course -- that makes sense. Thank you for the correction!

I see that "Entente Cordiale" is not included in the NYCB repertory list. Does anyone know if all three were ever performed on the same program?

[carbro]

No, California, as I recall the single performance of an Entente Cordiale program never came to be, the reason being the decision to let Tricolore (which I never saw) die quietly.  I don't think you should think of Entente Cordiale along similar lines as Jewels, because each ballet was conceptualized as a free-standing work.  It's more along the lines of the "Greek program" (Apollo, Agon, Orpheus) or the "Bird program" (Swan Lake, Afternoon of a Faun, Firebird, Western Symphony) -- early forerunners of today's unfortunate and ubiquitous trend of themed programs.

Anyway, I thought it easier to list the ballets I have not seen from the Balanchine Trust's list.  That list is far from exhaustive, because there are some Balanchine  ballets I have seen that are not on it  -- Mozart Violin Concerto and  Cotillon, to name two off the top of my head.  I just don't have the  ambition at this point to dig out my Repertory in Review.

Concertino
Divertimento Brillante
Elegie (1948 and 1966)
Le Bal
Metamorphoses
Pas de Dix
Pulcinella

Oh, my goodness!