Serenade (ballet)

Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Students of the School of American Ballet gave the first performance on Sunday, 10 June 1934 on the Felix M. Warburg estate in White Plains, N.Y., where Mozartiana had been danced the previous day. This was the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed in America.[1] It was then presented by the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet on 6 December at the Avery Memorial Theatre of the Wadsworth Atheneum with sets by the painter William Littlefield. Balanchine presented the ballet as his response to the generous sponsorships he received during his immigration to America.[2] The official premiere took place on 1 March 1935[3] with the American Ballet at the Adelphi Theatre, New York, conducted by Sandor Harmati.

This article is about Balanchine's 1934 ballet. For the musical form, see Serenade. For other uses, see Serenade (disambiguation).

Serenade
ChoreographerGeorge Balanchine
MusicPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
PremiereMarch 1, 1935
Adelphi Theatre
New York City, United States
Original ballet companyAmerican Ballet

NYCB principal dancer Philip Neal chose to include Serenade in his farewell performance on Sunday, 13 June 2010.

The blue tutus used in Serenade inspired the naming of the Balanchine crater on the planet Mercury.[4]

Analysis

The work can be considered a bridge between his two early works for Sergei Diaghilev and his later, less episodic American works.[5] The dance is characterized by two falls, a choreographic allusion to Giselle, but also an element in the Khorumi, a Georgian folk dance which influenced Balanchine.[5]

Casts

Original

NYCB revivals

1984 New York State Theater 20-Year Celebration

2008 Winter

2009 Spring Dancers' Choice benefit

2009 Fall tour to Japan
first cast
second cast

2010 Fall
Saturday, October 2nd

2011 First Tour to Hong Kong (Saturday, March 5)

Notes
  1. first time in rôle
  2. All performers in Dancers' Choice appeared for the first time in the rôles which they danced.

References
  1. Jack Anderson, City Ballet: A 20-Year Celebration, NY Times, April 26, 1984 – accessed May 2, 2009
  2. Balanchine, George (1968). Francis Mason (ed.). Balanchine's New Complete Stories of the Great Ballets. Doubleday. pp. 363–5.
  3. Kourlas, Gia (May 22, 2013). "A Ballet With Russian Roots Captures the American Spirit". New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  4. Ritzel, Rebecca (December 20, 2012). "Ballet isn't rocket science, but the two aren't mutually exclusive, either". Washington Post. Washington DC, United States. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  5. Scholl, Tim (Fall 2012). "Serenade: From Giselle to Georgia". Ballet Review. 40 (3): 26--.

General references

Articles

Obituaries

Reviews
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