Duo Concertant
Music
Igor Stravinsky
Choreography
George Balanchine
An animated dance for a neoclassical couple, the dancers periodically stop and listen to the onstage musicians before ending with a poignant scene in a pool of light on a dark stage.
Stravinsky dedicated Duo Concertant to Samuel Dushkin, a well-known violinist he met in 1931. The composer premiered the work with Dushkin in Berlin in 1932, and the pair gave recitals together across Europe for the next several years. Balanchine first heard the piece performed by Stravinsky and Dushkin soon after it was composed, but not until years later, when he was planning the 1972 Stravinsky Festival, did he decide to choreograph it.
17 minutes
