Élégie
Encyclopedia
Élégie is a ballet made by New York City Ballet
's founding balletmaster (and co-founder) George Balanchine
to Igor Stravinsky
's Élégie for solo viola (1944). The first of three ballets made with this title was a pas de deux which had its première Monday, November 5, 1945, on a program of the National Orchestral Society entitled Adventure in Ballet, together with Circus Polka
, danced by School of American Ballet
students with Todd Bolender
as guest artist, and Symphonie Concertante.
The Ballet Society première was Wednesday, April 28, 1948, at City Center of Music and Drama
; the violist was Emanuel Vardi. The evening included the première of Orpheus
, which lead directly to the founding of New York City Ballet as a resident company at City Center. Stravinsky referred to Élégie as a kind of preview for the Orpheus pas de deux, the music reflecting through the interlaced bodies of the dancers fixed in a central spot on stage.
The second version was a solo created for Lukas Foss
' A Festival of Stravinsky: His Heritage and His Legacy, which also included the première of Balanchine's Ragtime (II)
. Its première took place on Friday, July 15, 1966, in Philharmonic Hall
, New York; the violist was Jesse Levine; the first City Ballet performance was Thursday, July 28 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
, again with Jesse Levine.
Balanchine created the third version for City Ballets's Stravinsky Centennial Celebration; its première was Sunday, June 13, 1982, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center
; the on-stage violist was Warren Laffredo; at the opening and closing of the work the dancer kneels in a pool of light on an otherwise dark stage.
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 founding balletmaster (and co-founder) 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...
to Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Élégie for solo viola (1944). The first of three ballets made with this title was a pas de deux which had its première Monday, November 5, 1945, on a program of the National Orchestral Society entitled Adventure in Ballet, together with Circus Polka
Circus Polka
Circus Polka: For a Young Elephant was written by Igor Stravinsky in 1942. He composed it for a ballet production the choreographer George Balanchine did for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The ballet was performed by fifty elephants and fifty ballerinas...
, danced by School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
students with 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...
as guest artist, and Symphonie Concertante.
The Ballet Society première was Wednesday, April 28, 1948, 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...
; the violist was Emanuel Vardi. The evening included the première of Orpheus
Orpheus (ballet)
Orpheus is a ballet made by George Balanchine on Ballet Society, which he founded together with Lincoln Kirstein and of which he was ballet master, to eponymous music from 1947 by Igor Stravinsky, his frequent collaborator, with sets and costumes by Isamu Noguchi.The premiere took place on April...
, which lead directly to the founding of New York City Ballet as a resident company at City Center. Stravinsky referred to Élégie as a kind of preview for the Orpheus pas de deux, the music reflecting through the interlaced bodies of the dancers fixed in a central spot on stage.
The second version was a solo created for Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
' A Festival of Stravinsky: His Heritage and His Legacy, which also included the première of Balanchine's Ragtime (II)
Ragtime (II)
Ragtime is the third ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Igor Stravinsky's Ragtime for Eleven Instruments . The premiere took place on July 15, 1966, at Philharmonic Hall, New York. The first City Ballet performance was on January 17, 1967, at New...
. Its première took place on Friday, July 15, 1966, in Philharmonic Hall
Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall in Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building...
, New York; the violist was Jesse Levine; the first City Ballet performance was Thursday, July 28 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is an amphitheater in Saratoga Springs, New York, which presents summer festivals of all kinds of music , dance, and opera, as well as a Wine & Food Festival...
, again with Jesse Levine.
Balanchine created the third version for City Ballets's Stravinsky Centennial Celebration; its première was Sunday, June 13, 1982, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
; the on-stage violist was Warren Laffredo; at the opening and closing of the work the dancer kneels in a pool of light on an otherwise dark stage.
original
- Tanaquil LeClerqTanaquil LeClerqTanaquil Le Clercq was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, but her dancing career was ended when she was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the waist down....
- Pat McBride