Performance Dates
Essential Works from the Visionary Mind of NYCB’s Founding Choreographer
Three celebrated works from Balanchine evoke intriguingly contrasting atmospheres. In Rubies, from the full-length ballet Jewels, the jazz-inflected score sets the stage for a romp glinting with wit, surprise, and thrilling choreography. The Four Temperaments, a repertory favorite throughout the Company’s history, is a plotless neoclassical work loosely inspired by the ancient belief that human behavior is defined by four elements, or “humors”: the melancholic, the sanguinic, the phlegmatic, and the choleric. The mysterious La Valse depicts a young woman dancing with increasing abandon under the influence of an enigmatic figure enticing her to the edge of darkness.
Ballets on this Program
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Rubies
Rubies sends its dancers racing across the stage like lightning to Stravinsky’s jazz-inflected piano capriccio, emphasized by a sharp attack and sassy style.
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The Four Temperaments
A ballet with unceasing appeal, The Four Temperaments references the medieval concept of psychological humors through its classically grounded but definitively modern movement.
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La Valse
Captivated by the moody and mysterious world of Ravel’s La Valse, a young woman waltzes through Balanchine’s surging choreography with tragic results.
