Program
All Stravinsky
JAN 22, 24, 26, 28, FEB 1 eve, 4
Performance Dates
MERCURIAL MOVEMENT, A DARING PLOT LINE, & STREAMLINED SOPHISTICATION
A program devoted to works set to music by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is highlighted by the return to the repertory of Variations for Orchestra, a rare Balanchine solo ballet, which was created on Suzanne Farrell in 1982 and marked the last dance he choreographed for the Company. Also on the bill are Balanchine’s Danses Concertantes, a spirited ballet with richly detailed costumes and hints of commedia dell’arte-inspired humor, and the enduring classic leotard ballet Stravinsky Violin Concerto, one of Balanchine’s greatest achievements. Adding a taste of the uncanny to the program is Jerome Robbins’ The Cage, which depicts a swarm of insect-like female creatures descending upon their unwitting male prey.
Ballets on this Program
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Danses Concertantes
The mercurial movements of this intoxicating ballet feature a series of witty pas de trois that are simultaneously fanciful and invigorating.
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The Cage
The Cage plunges into the world of natural selection, using Stravinsky’s daring score to depict the feral instinct compelling the female of an insect species to consider its male counterpart as prey.
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Variations for Orchestra
Balanchine’s final ballet, Variations for Orchestra, is a playfully unpredictable solo created on former Principal Dancer and ballet legend Suzanne Farrell that alternates between gracefully smooth and rigidly sharp choreography, echoing the conversation between the instruments featured in its Stravinsky score.
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Stravinsky Violin Concerto
The outer sections of Stravinsky Violin Concerto are carefully-woven masterpieces of symmetry that peel away to reveal two of Balanchine’s most ingenious and unique pas de deux.
