All Balanchine

FRENCH MELODIES HIGHLIGHTED THROUGH AN ARRAY OF BALANCHINE CLASSICS

While known for his loyalty to composers from his native Russia, Balanchine also displayed a deep affection for French music, as the dances in this program illustrate. The rarely seen Bourrée Fantasque, set to the music of Chabrier, includes romping comedy in the first movement and a blazing finale for the corps de ballet. Errante, originally titled Tzigane after the name of Ravel’s rhapsodic score and last revived for the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, returns in a staging by Suzanne Farrell, for whom it was choreographed in 1975. The evening also includes two disparate dances to Bizet scores: the animated pas de deux The Steadfast Tin Soldier, with its fairy-tale characters who spring to life, and Symphony in C, one of Balanchine’s most brilliant and cherished displays of the variety of classical style.