Ivesiana

Choreographed to a series of orchestral pieces by Ives, this intensely theatrical ballet presents three scenes, each contrasting starkly from one another in mood, movement, and lighting.

Balanchine choreographed Ivesiana to a series of unrelated orchestral pieces by Charles Ives shortly after the composer’s death in 1954. The complex music of this American artist, incorporating extensive use of atonality, clashing meters and quarter-tones, had rarely been performed prior to its use in this ballet. The ballet is notable for an intense theatricality created through the juxtaposition of sections that contrast starkly in mood, movement, and lighting, each presenting a dramatic situation in the manner of a tone poem.

22 minutes