Les Biches
Encyclopedia
Les biches is a ballet by Francis Poulenc
, premiered by the Ballets Russes
in 1924. The composer, who was at the time relatively unknown, was asked by Serge Diaghilev to write a piece based on Glazunov
's Les Sylphides
, written seventeen years earlier. Poulenc, however, chose to base his work on the paintings of Watteau that depicted Louis XV and various women in his "Parc aux biches"; the word biche usually translated as hind, or a female deer. Poulenc described his work as a "contemporary drawing room party suffused with an atmosphere of wantonness, which you sense if you are corrupted, but of which an innocent-minded girl would not be conscious." Diaghilev recognized the great potential of the ballet and produced it for the 1924 Ballet Russes season, bringing Poulenc into the forefront of French music. Les biches was well received by critics, with Henri Malherbe of Time calling it "very attaching and original". Poulenc continually revised the music up through the 1940s, eventually reducing it to an orchestral suite in five movements.
The ballet, written in a light and frothy style, is in turns reminiscent of Mozart, Scarlatti
, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky, mirroring the style of Saint-Saëns
's private composition The Carnival of the Animals
. Les biches, alongside the pit orchestra, uses a hidden chorus, found before in French music only in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé
. The work was choreographed by the famous Bronislava Nijinska
and its set and costumes designed by Marie Laurencin
. It was reset for New York City Ballet
's Jazz Concert by Francisco Moncion, the other three dances being Todd Bolender
's Creation of the World, John Taras' Ebony Concerto and George Balanchine
's Ragtime (I)
; the City Ballet premiere took place on December 7, 1960, at City Center of Music and Drama
.
Ballet West
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, premiered by the Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
in 1924. The composer, who was at the time relatively unknown, was asked by Serge Diaghilev to write a piece based on Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
's Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...
, written seventeen years earlier. Poulenc, however, chose to base his work on the paintings of Watteau that depicted Louis XV and various women in his "Parc aux biches"; the word biche usually translated as hind, or a female deer. Poulenc described his work as a "contemporary drawing room party suffused with an atmosphere of wantonness, which you sense if you are corrupted, but of which an innocent-minded girl would not be conscious." Diaghilev recognized the great potential of the ballet and produced it for the 1924 Ballet Russes season, bringing Poulenc into the forefront of French music. Les biches was well received by critics, with Henri Malherbe of Time calling it "very attaching and original". Poulenc continually revised the music up through the 1940s, eventually reducing it to an orchestral suite in five movements.
The ballet, written in a light and frothy style, is in turns reminiscent of Mozart, Scarlatti
Scarlatti
Scarlatti was the name of several Italian composers:*Alessandro Scarlatti , Baroque composer known for operas and chamber cantatas*Francesco Scarlatti , Baroque composer and musician, brother of Alessandro Scarlatti...
, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky, mirroring the style of Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's private composition The Carnival of the Animals
The Carnival of the Animals
Le carnaval des animaux is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The orchestral work has a duration between 22 and 30 minutes.-History:...
. Les biches, alongside the pit orchestra, uses a hidden chorus, found before in French music only in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé
Daphnis et Chloé
Daphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a "symphonie choréographique" . The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD...
. The work was choreographed by the famous Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska - February 22, 1972)) was a Russian dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Polish descent.Nijinska was born in Minsk, the third child of the Polish dancers Tomasz and Eleonora Nijinska . Her brother was Vaslav Nijinsky...
and its set and costumes designed by Marie Laurencin
Marie Laurencin
Marie Laurencin was a French painter and printmaker. -Biography:Laurencin was born in Paris, where she was raised by her mother and lived much of her life. At 18, she studied porcelain painting in Sèvres...
. It was reset for New York City Ballet
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...
's Jazz Concert by Francisco Moncion, the other three dances being Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender was a renowned ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director. He was an instrumental figure in the creation and dissemination of classical dance and ballet as an American art form...
's Creation of the World, John Taras' Ebony Concerto and 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...
's Ragtime (I)
Ragtime (I)
Ragtime is the second of three ballets made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Igor Stravinsky's 1918 Ragtime for Eleven Instruments; with scenery by Robert Drew previously used for Lew Christensen's 1947 work for Ballet Society, Blackface; costumes by...
; the City Ballet premiere took place on December 7, 1960, 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 City Ballet
- Sara Leland
- Anthony Blum
Ballet WestBallet WestBallet West, Salt Lake City, Utah was founded in 1963 by Glenn Walker Wallace, who served as its first president. It was called the Utah Civic Ballet company. Willam F...
, 2009 Fall for Dance Festival
- t.b.a.To be announcedTo be announced, To be confirmed, and To be determined are placeholder terms used very broadly to indicate that although something is scheduled or anticipated to happen, a particular aspect of that thing remains to be arranged...
- t.b.a.