booklover6

I don't believe it would have made much difference at all. The ballets he composed for were the results of many artists collaborating under the direction of Diaghilev. Who knows....another composer may have done as well! I actually believe Tchaikovsky had more impact, in that the ballets he composed for were more effective in promoting popularity of the art form, because of the music.

I think ballet would be exactly where it is now if Stravinsky had never written for it, but not if Tchaikovsky hadn't.

It was not just the ballets Stravinsky composed that is important for Balanchine, but the fact that it led to Balanchine's creative impulse being inspired to use Stravinsky's music in total for some 35 works(including reworkings of earlier works.) This I believe makes Stravinsky historically more significant to Balanchine oeuvre than Tchaikovsky although I am not sure how many works Balanchine choreographed to Tchaikovsky but surely not many more than ten.

The ballet audiences began to move on from Tchaikovsky a hundred years ago with the advent of Diaghilev. Alongside concert hall and opera house performances, Balanchine probably helped hundreds of thousands of people to know Stravinsky’s music opening them towards appreciation of more modern music. Since then all kinds of ballet and dance companies across the world today offer Stravinsky regularly, as well as what one might have once described as less accessible “avant garde” music far removed from Tchaikovsky.

By the time Balanchine created his successful “Mozartiana and “Serenade” ballets to Tchaikovsky’s music, he had already been choreographing for 13 years and possibly already created 50 works including “Ragtime”(There were several later versions) , “Le Chant du Rossignol” and the masterwork “Apollon Musagete” all to Stravinsky’s music.

Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky ballet, are for me sublime and uplifting and yes and they were in the past easier on the ear than Stravinsky for some members of ballet audiences. But I would suggest that Balanchine did not choreograph just for a popular audience, but followed his artistic inspiration and Stravinsky was tied deeply to his conceptual process. The thirty five works to his music confirms this.

You state, "I think ballet would be exactly where it is now if Stravinsky had never written for it, but not if Tchaikovsky hadn't." Possibly that is the case for ballet in general, but I am not sure it would be true for New York City Ballet or for its repertoires great influence around the world.

PS Balanchine had staged revised versions of elements of

Tchaikovsky’s ballets in the 1920’s.

Balanchine was certainly a great choreographer and a charismatic person (by all accounts) and you are right, NYC would not be where it is today without him, but on a global scale there were others who had just as much, if not more, influence on trends in ballet than he. I love his ballets, but I think there is a danger in idolising one person to the exclusion of others. In some ways he was very narrow-minded in his 'vision'. I think Fokine and Ashton had a greater influence overall on 20th century ballet.

....and here is a link to some stuff if you want to see them in action!

Don Q teaser

Last teeny part of the scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfiLdtkZakg...feature=related

Love it!!!!

I am out of my field, but I can't imagine 20th century ballet without Balanchine and I can't imagine Balanchine without Stravinsky. I hope that experts will address leonid's very interesting question. I can only respond with a personal account:

My first Stravinsky ballet was also my first NYCB performance and my first Balanchine ballet: Firebird, back in 1957, with the Chagall decor and Melissa Hayden in the (former) Tallchief role. I actually knew the music fairly well before I saw the ballet, since we had a recording of the "Highlights" at home. I was overwhelmed. It was this that brought me back to City Center within a few weeks, when I saw and heard a new work ....

... Agon, in its first season. A completely different musical and choreographic language. No "decor" as we understood it at the time. No story. But, to a teenage new to ballet, even more thrilling than Firebird.

For me, ballet is completely interwoven with Stravinsky's work. Can you really imagine what it would be like if Stravinsky had not existed or if he had not formed his extraordinary relationship with Balanchine? "Ballet" without Apollo, without Rubies, without Symphony in Three Movements, without Violin Concerto, without the lighter pieces like Pulcinella, or without the Stravinsky ballets by Fokine and Robbin --it's beyond my ability to conceive.

Firebird was a Fokine ballet.

Welcome to Ballet Talk, dancewonder, and please introduce yourself in the Welcome forum! And thanks for the recommendation. Here's what Library School Journey has to say about the book:

Grade 6-9?This well-written biography will appeal to many readers, especially those interested in dance and history. Levine chronicles Pavlova's childhood, training, and artistic achievements, and includes many autobiographical accounts from her diary as well as quotes from her contemporaries. With its snippets of dialogue and interpretations of the subject's thoughts and feelings, the book reads like a novel. It also paints a vivid picture of the life of a dancer in the Soviet Union during the late 1800s and early 1900s. A selection of well-reproduced black-and-white photographs appears in the center of the book, and a helpful glossary of ballet terms is appended.

I haven't heard of this one....must look it out.....although I still think Keith Money's biography of Pavlova is the definitive work.

Today is the anniversary of Igor Feodorovich Stravinsky's birth.

How great do you think his influence was upon ballet and dance?

Where do you think ballet and dance might have been without him?

Given Stravinsky's absence, how different might George Balanchine’s oeuvre have been if working with other composers active during his lifetime?

Link New York Times Obituary http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/on.../bday/0617.html

I don't believe it would have made much difference at all. The ballets he composed for were the results of many artists collaborating under the direction of Diaghilev. Who knows....another composer may have done as well! I actually believe Tchaikovsky had more impact, in that the ballets he composed for were more effective in promoting popularity of the artform, because of the music.

I think ballet would be exactly where it is now if Stravinsky had never written for it, but not if Tchaikovsky hadn't.

Thanks Carbro .....I popped a new topic about the RNZB, with a link to their website, over in Companies, for those of you who want to know more.

Welcome, booklover6. I'm glad your friend sent you here.

It's wonderful that you're actively supporting RNZB. Unfortunately, I haven't seen them. I hope you'll help acquaint us with the company, its rep and some of your favorite dancers.

Meanwhile, please peruse our forum and feel free to ask questions or comment on other people's posts.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet was begun by Poul Gnatt, the Danish dancer, in 1953. It is a top little company of 32 dancers and is currently touring in China. Their Artistic Director, Gary Harris, staged his own version of Don Quixote at the end of last year to celebrate Sir Jon Trimmer's 50 years in NZ ballet. Here is a link to their website..........

www.nzballet.org.nz

I was alerted to this site by a friend on a classical music forum because we have a mutual interest in ballet. I am heavily involved in The Friends of The Royal New Zealand Ballet. We have 8 branches around the country and raise about $80,000 annually towards the cost of dancers shoes. Anyone here ever seen them? They are a great little company....touring in China at the moment!