Samuel Barber 'Excursions'

[brbropus39]

Hi. I am choreographing a ballet to Samuel Barber's piano music, '"Excursions," and I was wondering if anyone knows if it has been used before. If so, who was the choreographer?

I am also wondering if there is a CD that has the music from Balanchine's "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux." Is it featured in recordings of the full -length "Swan Lake," even though it wasn't used in the ballet? Thank you.

[carbro]

(from the fog of memory)

Three of the four sections of T. pas are on the Bonynge full-length Swan. I seem to remember that the male var. is absent. Even if I could dig out the lp, I do not have a turntable at present, so . . .

The parts are scattered along the length of the recording. It would take editing to put what's there together.

[brbropus39]

Thanks, Carbro. I appreciate the input.

[brbropus39]

One more question concerning tchai pas: What recordings of it are on film. I have Baryshnikov and Patty McBride, Peter Martins doing only the variation, Sascha Radetsky doing the variation in Center Stage, and a few broken up clips of the pas de deux with Eddie V. and D'Amboise from the bio of Balanchine on PBS. Any others that come to mind?

[Mel Johnson]

There was at least one complete performance of it done on the "Bell Telephone Hour" but by whom, I cannot tell you, as nearly forty years have dimmed the memory of particulars.

Edited to add: Or perhaps I was misrecalling, as I just searched for it, and found that it was danced on "Firestone Dances" a compilation of ballet performed on the "Voice of Firestone" (1962-63). It was danced by Melissa Hayden and Jacques d'Amboise. But I could still swear it was done by somebody else (Verdy and Villella?) on Bell.

[Dale]

McBride also did the Tschaikovsky on a tape and DVD called Pas de Deux. Her partner (Reid Olson) was not distinguished. Darcey Bussell and Zoltan Solymosi also did the pas de deux on a tape called "Gala Tribute to Tchaikovsky." It can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd

The piece was done several times on Bell Telephone Hour but are not commercially available.

[Jane Simpson]

I was at a screening of the film Violette et Mr B last night, in London, and it was followed by a piece from the BBC's archives showing Verdy and Villella in a studio performance of the Tchaikowsky pas de deux - fabulous!