La Sonnambula (ballet)
Encyclopedia
La Sonnambula is a ballet by New York City Ballet
co-founder and balletmaster, George Balanchine
, made to Vittorio Rieti
's music using themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini
including La Sonnambula
, Norma
, I Puritani
, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi
(1830-35) and costumes by Karinska
. The premiere took place with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
on February 27, 1946, at City Center of Music and Drama
, New York; the City Ballet premiere was January 6, 1965.
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
co-founder and balletmaster, George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
, made to Vittorio Rieti
Vittorio Rieti
Vittorio Rieti was an Jewish-Italian composer. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Rieti moved to Milan to study economics. He subsequently studied in Rome under Respighi and Casella, and lived there until 1940....
's music using themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
including La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
, Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
, I Puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
(1830-35) and costumes by Karinska
Barbara Karinska
Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska , was costumer of the New York City Ballet, and the first costume designer ever to win the Capezio Dance Award, for costumes "of visual beauty for the spectator and complete delight for the dancer".However, she designed the...
. The premiere took place with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...
on February 27, 1946, at City Center of Music and Drama
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, New York; the City Ballet premiere was January 6, 1965.
original
- Alexandra DanilovaAlexandra DanilovaAleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
- Maria TallchiefMaria TallchiefMaria Tallchief was the first native-American prima ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965.-Early life:...
- Nicholas MagallanesNicholas MagallanesNicholas Magallanes was a first-generation principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Along with Jerome Robbins, Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed the New York City Ballet in 1948...
- Michel Katcharoff
Winter 2008 NYCB
- Wendy WhelanWendy WhelanWendy Whelan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.-Early life:A native of Louisville, Kentucky , she began her dance training with local teacher Virginia Wooton at the age of three...
- Sara Mearns
- Likolani Brown
- Rachel Piskin
- Ana Sophia Scheller
- Nikolaj HübbeNikolaj HübbeNikolaj Hübbe is artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. He was born on 30 October th, 1967, and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began his dance training at age 10 at the Royal Danish Ballet School and became an apprentice to the Royal Danish Ballet in 1984. He was promoted soloist in 1988....
- Amar RamasarAmar RamasarAmar Ramasar is a principal dancer of the New York City Ballet. In 2010, Dance Magazine reported that Ramasar was one of the few Asian American professional ballet dancers...
- Devin Alberda
- Troy Schumacher
- Vincent Paradiso
- Adam Hendrickson
Spring 2008 NYCB
- Yvonne BorreeYvonne BorreeYvonne Borree is a former principal dancer at New York City Ballet and was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, where she began her dance studies with the Tidewater Ballet Association at four years of age....
- Sara Mearns
- Rachel Piskin
- Lauren King
- Ana Sophia Scheller
- Sébastien Marcovici
- Amar RamasarAmar RamasarAmar Ramasar is a principal dancer of the New York City Ballet. In 2010, Dance Magazine reported that Ramasar was one of the few Asian American professional ballet dancers...
- Austin Laurent
- Troy Schumacher
- Vincent Paradiso
- Daniel Ulbricht
Reviews
- http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0811FF395D177A93CAAB1789D85F428485F9NY Times review by John MartinJohn Martin (dance critic)John Martin became America’s first major dance critic in 1927. Focusing his efforts on propelling the modern dance movement, he greatly influenced the careers of dancers such as Martha Graham...
, February 28, 1946]
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/arts/dance/19bala.htmlNY Times review by Alastair MacaulayAlastair MacaulayAlastair Macaulay is a dance critic for the New York Times. He was previously chief dance critic at The Times Literary Supplement and chief theater critic of the Financial Times, both of London...
, January 19, 2008]
- http://www.villagevoice.com/dance/0807,jowitt,79079,14.htmlreview by Deborah JowittDeborah JowittDeborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a Bessie for her work in dance criticism.Beginning in 1967, she wrote a weekly dance column for the Village...
in the Village Voice, February 5th, 2008]