Apollo (ballet)
Encyclopedia
Apollo is a ballet in two tableaux
composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky
. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine
in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto. The scenery and costumes were designed by André Bauchant
with new costumes by Coco Chanel
in 1929. The scenery was executed by Prince A. Schervashidze, the costumes under the direction of Mme. A. Youkine. The American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
commissioned the ballet in 1927 for a festival of contemporary music to be held the following year at the Library of Congress
, Washington.
Apollo is Balanchine's oldest surviving ballet and his first great public success. It marked the beginning of his significant and enduring collaboration with Stravinsky and featured the neoclassical style for which Balanchine was to become renowned. It was presented for the first time on 12 June 1928 by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris. Balanchine looked upon Apollo as the turning point of his life, "in its sustained oneness of tone and feeling". The story centres around Apollo
, the god of music, who is visited by three muses; Terpsichore
, muse of dance and song; Polyhymnia
, muse of mime; and Calliope
, muse of poetry. This ballet plainly takes Classical antiquity
as its subject, but the plot suggests a contemporary situation. The ballet is concerned with the reinvention of tradition, since its inspiration is "classique
", or even post-baroque
, but nevertheless the orchestra is simplified (it has only 34 string instruments: 8.8.6.8.4).
, which he composed for a refined instrumental force, manifested as a string orchestra of 34 instrumentalists: 8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 viola
s, 4 first violoncellos, 4 second violoncellos and 4 double bass
es. The commission from the Library of Congress and underwritten by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge paid $1,000 for the piece, which was required to use only six dancers, a small orchestra and last not more than half an hour, but he was given a free choice of subject. Stravinsky had for some while been thinking of writing a ballet on an episode in Greek mythology
and decided to centre it on Apollo, leader of the muses, reducing their number from nine to three. Stravinsky explained the originally titled Apollon Musagète as meaning “Apollo, conducteur of the Muses”. These three were Terpsichore, personifying the rhythm of poetry and the eloquence of gesture as embodied in the dance, Calliope, combining poetry and rhythm, Polyhymnia, representing mime.
Stravinsky wrote for a homogeneous ensemble of bowed string instruments, choosing to replace the contrasts in timbre
that one hears in Pulcinella with contrasts in dynamics. As much later in Agon, this ballet takes its inspiration from the grand tradition of French XVII-and XVIII-century music, in particular that of Lully
. The prologue
begins with dotted rhythms in the style of a French overture
. The composer depends on a basic rhythmic cell, presented at the beginning of the work, which he transforms by subdivisions of successive values which are made increasingly complex. Stravinsky slightly revised the score in 1947. His 1963 book of conversations with Robert Craft
, Dialogues and a Diary, indicates still more desired changes, particularly with respect to double-dotting many of the dotted-rhythm passages in Baroque style. Stravinsky himself conducted the first San Francisco Symphony
performances of this music, in April 1958.
who also danced the role of Apollo. It was Adolph Bolm who put together a company of dancers, in dance-impoverished US for the premiere. Ruth Page, Berenice Holmes (Gene Kelly
's ballet teacher), and Elise Reiman were the three Muses, while Hans Kindler conducted.
Unfortunately for Bolm, Stravinsky himself had no interest in the US project. He had reserved the European rights to the score for Serge Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes production, choreographed by the 24-year-old Balanchine, opened at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, on Tuesday, June 12, of that same year. This performance was conducted by the composer himself; the violinist was Marcel Darrieux. Balanchine's version for Diaghelev, which is now hailed as a landmark work, quickly superseded Bolm's effort, now practically forgotten.
As the composer had wished, the style of dancing was essentially classical, and Stravinsky thought of "Apollon Musagete" as a ballet blanc. Balanchine, too, later said that when he heard Stravinsky's music, all he could see was this pristine white. Certainly it is the clarity, calm, even serenity of the music which makes it seem almost infinitely remote from the excitements of the earlier ballets. The avoidance of any conflict in the scenario, indeed of any narrative, psychological or expressive intent, was further matched by monochrome costumes for the dancers and the absence of elaborate scenery on stage. In Apollo, Balanchine found the way to unite the traditions of classical Russian ballet and the spare austerity of modernism, which led to the evolution of the new classicism that is the hallmark of New York City Ballet
.
Scenery and costumes for Balanchine's production were by French artist Andre Bauchant
, with new costumes designed by Coco Chanel in 1929. Apollo wore a reworked toga
with a diagonal cut, a belt, and laced up. The Muses wore a traditional tutu
. The decoration was baroque: two large sets (some rocks, and Apollo's chariot). One senses in the dance a reappearance of academicism
(in the stretching out and upward leaping of the body). But the choreographer George Balanchine bent the angles of the arms and hands. It is therefore a neoclassical ballet
.
The scenario involved the birth of Apollo, his interactions with the three muses, Terpsichore (dance), Polyhymnia (mime) and Calliope (poetry), and his ascent as a god to Mount Parnassus
. The original cast included Serge Lifar
as Apollo, Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore (alternating with Alexandra Danilova
), Lubov Tchernicheva as Calliope, Felia Doubrovska as Polyhymnia and Sophie Orlova as Leto
, mother of Apollo.
Balanchine staged Apollon Musagete for the Royal Danish Ballet
in 1931. Following his move to the United States two years later, the work was performed by his American Ballet in 1937 with Lew Christensen
in the title rôle and subsequently becoming a feature of Balanchine's New York company and of many other companies the world over. In 1978 Balanchine made major changes to the piece, discarding the ballet's prologue which depicts Apollo's birth.
For a revival with Mikhail Baryshnikov
as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and rechoreographed the ending of the ballet. This revision saw the piece concluding not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with the earlier memorable tableau of the muses posing in ascending arabesques beside Apollo. In the 1980 staging for the New York City Ballet
, Apollo's first variation was restored. Suzanne Farrell
restored the birth scene for her company in 2001, as did Arthur Mitchell
for his Dance Theatre of Harlem
performance at Symphony Space
's Wall to Wall Balanchine in conjunction with City Ballet's Balanchine centennial.
and three Muses: Calliope
, the muse of poetry; Polyhymnia
, the muse of rhetoric
; and Terpsichore
, the muse of dance. The theme is: Apollon musagetes ("director of the Muses") instructs the muses in their arts and leads them to Parnassus. The ballet is divided into two tableaux:
and Agon
, the music for Apollo was commissioned by the Library of Congress. Orpheus may be considered a sequel to Apollo but Agon is a formal plotless ballet whose title in Greek evokes a contest.
Tableau vivant
Tableau vivant is French for "living picture." The term describes a striking group of suitably costumed actors or artist's models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit. Throughout the duration of the display, the people shown do not speak or move...
composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto. The scenery and costumes were designed by André Bauchant
André Bauchant
André Bauchant was a French 'naïve' painter whose compositions were often informed by mythology and Classical History. He originally worked as a market gardener, after his father, before serving in World War I. He later trained as a mapmaker before deciding on a career as an artist.Bauchant was...
with new costumes by Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
in 1929. The scenery was executed by Prince A. Schervashidze, the costumes under the direction of Mme. A. Youkine. The American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge aka Liz Coolidge , born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music....
commissioned the ballet in 1927 for a festival of contemporary music to be held the following year at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Washington.
Apollo is Balanchine's oldest surviving ballet and his first great public success. It marked the beginning of his significant and enduring collaboration with Stravinsky and featured the neoclassical style for which Balanchine was to become renowned. It was presented for the first time on 12 June 1928 by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris. Balanchine looked upon Apollo as the turning point of his life, "in its sustained oneness of tone and feeling". The story centres around Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, the god of music, who is visited by three muses; Terpsichore
Terpsichore
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
, muse of dance and song; Polyhymnia
Polyhymnia
Polyhymnia , was in Greek mythology the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn and eloquence as well as agriculture and pantomime. She is depicted as very serious, pensive and meditative, and often holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar...
, muse of mime; and Calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
, muse of poetry. This ballet plainly takes Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
as its subject, but the plot suggests a contemporary situation. The ballet is concerned with the reinvention of tradition, since its inspiration is "classique
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
", or even post-baroque
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
, but nevertheless the orchestra is simplified (it has only 34 string instruments: 8.8.6.8.4).
The music
Stravinsky began Apollo on July 16, 1927, and completed the score on January 9 , 1928. He chose to make a ballet blancBallet Blanc
A Ballet Blanc is a ballet in the romantic style deriving from the nineteenth century and often considered the pure classical form of ballet. The term refers to scenes in which the ballerina and the female corps de ballet all wear white. The costume is the traditional mid-calf length white ballet...
, which he composed for a refined instrumental force, manifested as a string orchestra of 34 instrumentalists: 8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, 4 first violoncellos, 4 second violoncellos and 4 double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es. The commission from the Library of Congress and underwritten by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge paid $1,000 for the piece, which was required to use only six dancers, a small orchestra and last not more than half an hour, but he was given a free choice of subject. Stravinsky had for some while been thinking of writing a ballet on an episode in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
and decided to centre it on Apollo, leader of the muses, reducing their number from nine to three. Stravinsky explained the originally titled Apollon Musagète as meaning “Apollo, conducteur of the Muses”. These three were Terpsichore, personifying the rhythm of poetry and the eloquence of gesture as embodied in the dance, Calliope, combining poetry and rhythm, Polyhymnia, representing mime.
Stravinsky wrote for a homogeneous ensemble of bowed string instruments, choosing to replace the contrasts in timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
that one hears in Pulcinella with contrasts in dynamics. As much later in Agon, this ballet takes its inspiration from the grand tradition of French XVII-and XVIII-century music, in particular that of Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
. The prologue
Prologue
A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...
begins with dotted rhythms in the style of a French overture
French overture
The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in styles , and the first ends with a half-cadence that requires an answering structure with a...
. The composer depends on a basic rhythmic cell, presented at the beginning of the work, which he transforms by subdivisions of successive values which are made increasingly complex. Stravinsky slightly revised the score in 1947. His 1963 book of conversations with Robert Craft
Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft is an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate working friendship with Igor Stravinsky, a relationship which resulted in a number of recordings and books.-Life:...
, Dialogues and a Diary, indicates still more desired changes, particularly with respect to double-dotting many of the dotted-rhythm passages in Baroque style. Stravinsky himself conducted the first San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
performances of this music, in April 1958.
The ballet
The first ballet version of Stravinsky's Apollon musagète, commissioned especially for the Washington festival, premiered on Friday, April 27, 1928, with choreography by Adolph BolmAdolph Bolm
Adolph Rudolphovitch Bolm was a Russian born American ballet dancer and choreographer....
who also danced the role of Apollo. It was Adolph Bolm who put together a company of dancers, in dance-impoverished US for the premiere. Ruth Page, Berenice Holmes (Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
's ballet teacher), and Elise Reiman were the three Muses, while Hans Kindler conducted.
Unfortunately for Bolm, Stravinsky himself had no interest in the US project. He had reserved the European rights to the score for Serge Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes production, choreographed by the 24-year-old Balanchine, opened at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, on Tuesday, June 12, of that same year. This performance was conducted by the composer himself; the violinist was Marcel Darrieux. Balanchine's version for Diaghelev, which is now hailed as a landmark work, quickly superseded Bolm's effort, now practically forgotten.
As the composer had wished, the style of dancing was essentially classical, and Stravinsky thought of "Apollon Musagete" as a ballet blanc. Balanchine, too, later said that when he heard Stravinsky's music, all he could see was this pristine white. Certainly it is the clarity, calm, even serenity of the music which makes it seem almost infinitely remote from the excitements of the earlier ballets. The avoidance of any conflict in the scenario, indeed of any narrative, psychological or expressive intent, was further matched by monochrome costumes for the dancers and the absence of elaborate scenery on stage. In Apollo, Balanchine found the way to unite the traditions of classical Russian ballet and the spare austerity of modernism, which led to the evolution of the new classicism that is the hallmark of New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
.
Scenery and costumes for Balanchine's production were by French artist Andre Bauchant
André Bauchant
André Bauchant was a French 'naïve' painter whose compositions were often informed by mythology and Classical History. He originally worked as a market gardener, after his father, before serving in World War I. He later trained as a mapmaker before deciding on a career as an artist.Bauchant was...
, with new costumes designed by Coco Chanel in 1929. Apollo wore a reworked toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...
with a diagonal cut, a belt, and laced up. The Muses wore a traditional tutu
Ballet tutu
A tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and jutting out.There are several types of ballet tutu:...
. The decoration was baroque: two large sets (some rocks, and Apollo's chariot). One senses in the dance a reappearance of academicism
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
(in the stretching out and upward leaping of the body). But the choreographer George Balanchine bent the angles of the arms and hands. It is therefore a neoclassical ballet
Neoclassical ballet
Neoclassical balletis the style of 20th century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. It draws on the advanced technique of 19th century Russian Imperial dance, but strips it of its detailed narrative and heavy theatrical setting...
.
The scenario involved the birth of Apollo, his interactions with the three muses, Terpsichore (dance), Polyhymnia (mime) and Calliope (poetry), and his ascent as a god to Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
. The original cast included Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar ; 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.-Biography:Lifar was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...
as Apollo, Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore (alternating with Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
), Lubov Tchernicheva as Calliope, Felia Doubrovska as Polyhymnia and Sophie Orlova as Leto
Leto
In Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus...
, mother of Apollo.
Balanchine staged Apollon Musagete for the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
in 1931. Following his move to the United States two years later, the work was performed by his American Ballet in 1937 with Lew Christensen
Lew Christensen
Lewellyn Farr "Lew" Christensen was a ballet dancer, choreographer and director for many companies. He was largely associated with George Balanchine and the San Francisco Ballet, which he directed from 1952–1984...
in the title rôle and subsequently becoming a feature of Balanchine's New York company and of many other companies the world over. In 1978 Balanchine made major changes to the piece, discarding the ballet's prologue which depicts Apollo's birth.
For a revival with Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and rechoreographed the ending of the ballet. This revision saw the piece concluding not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with the earlier memorable tableau of the muses posing in ascending arabesques beside Apollo. In the 1980 staging for the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
, Apollo's first variation was restored. Suzanne Farrell
Suzanne Farrell
Suzanne Farrell is an eminent 20th century ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C....
restored the birth scene for her company in 2001, as did Arthur Mitchell
Arthur Mitchell (dancer)
Arthur Mitchell is an African-American dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem...
for his Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
performance at Symphony Space
Symphony Space
Symphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
's Wall to Wall Balanchine in conjunction with City Ballet's Balanchine centennial.
Form
The characters are ApolloApollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
and three Muses: Calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
, the muse of poetry; Polyhymnia
Polyhymnia
Polyhymnia , was in Greek mythology the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn and eloquence as well as agriculture and pantomime. She is depicted as very serious, pensive and meditative, and often holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar...
, the muse of rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
; and Terpsichore
Terpsichore
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
, the muse of dance. The theme is: Apollon musagetes ("director of the Muses") instructs the muses in their arts and leads them to Parnassus. The ballet is divided into two tableaux:
- First tableau
-
- Prologue: The birth of Apollo
- Second tableau
-
- VariationVariation (ballet)Variation or Classical Variation in ballet is a solo dance. As with an Aria in opera, which allows the singer to demonstrate his or her interpretive skills, the variation in ballet has the same function...
of Apollo - Pas d'action (Apollo and the three Muses)
- Variation of Calliope (the Alexandrine)
- Variation of Polyhymnia
- Variation of Terpsichore
- Second variation of Apollo
- Pas de deux
- Coda
- Apotheosis
- Variation
Other premieres
- ABTAmerican Ballet TheatreAmerican Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
first premiered the ballet in 1943 in New York City at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
House.
- The Stravinsky score was used by Margaret Scott in creating her version of Apollon Musagete for the Ballet Guild in 1951, by Charles Lisner in his 1962 version for the Queensland BalletQueensland BalletThe Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia, and is based in Brisbane.- About Queensland Ballet :...
, and by Robin Grove in his 1967 production for the Victorian Ballet Company.
- The Royal English Ballet premiere was on 15 November 1966, with Robert Mead as Apollo, Georgina Parkinson Daily Telegraph, Georgina Parkinson, 20 December 2009 NY Times, Georgina Parkinson, 18 December 2009 as Terpsichore, Monica Mason as Polyhymnia and Vyvyan Lorrayne as Calliope.
- The first performance of the Balanchine work in Australia was by the Australian Ballet on 3 May 1991, when it was staged for the company by Karin von Aroldingen, former leading artist of New York City Ballet. On opening night, Steven Heathcote danced the role of Apollo with Justine Miles as Calliope, Miranda Coney as Polyhymnia and Lisa Pavane as Terpsichore. Lighting was by William Akers. A 1997 Australian Ballet staging again saw Heathcote in the title role, with Justine Summers dancing as Terpsichore, Lucinda Dunn as Polyhymnia and Simone Goldsmith as Calliope.
- First performance by Birmingham Royal BalletBirmingham Royal BalletBirmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....
was on 24 September 2003 at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
- The New York City Ballet premiere was 15 November 1951, at City Center of Music and DramaNew York City CenterNew York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, New York.
Original
- Alice Nikitina
- Lubov Tchernicheva
- Felia Doubrovska http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70614FF3F5D0C728EDDA00894D9484D81NY Times, Felia Doubrovska by Jack AndersonJack Anderson (dance critic)Jack Anderson is an American dance critic and author. Since 1978, he has been a contributor of dance reviews and other articles in The New York Times...
, 21 September 1981]
- Serge LifarSerge LifarSerge Lifar ; 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.-Biography:Lifar was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...
NYCB premiere
- Maria TallchiefMaria TallchiefMaria Tallchief was the first native-American prima ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965.-Early life:...
- Diana AdamsDiana AdamsDiana Adams was an American dancer, leading dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1963 and a favorite of George Balanchine, later became a teacher and a dean at the School of American Ballet. Adams was born in Staunton, Virginia and died in San Andreas, California....
- Tanaquil LeClercq
- André EglevskyAndré EglevskyAndré Eglevsky was a Russian-born American ballet dancer and teacher.Eglevsky was born in Moscow, but was taken to live in France when he was eight, his mother having decided that his talent as a dancer demanded that he be properly trained...
February 2008, Nikolaj Hübbe farewell
- Wendy WhelanWendy WhelanWendy Whelan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.-Early life:A native of Louisville, Kentucky , she began her dance training with local teacher Virginia Wooton at the age of three...
- Ashley Bouder
- Rachel RutherfordRachel RutherfordRachel Rutherford is a soloist with New York City Ballet. She began her training at age eight at the Joffrey Ballet School, entered the School of American Ballet in 1987, where she received the D.A.N.C.E. scholarship allowing her to study in Spring 1992 at the Royal Danish Ballet...
- Nikolaj HübbeNikolaj HübbeNikolaj Hübbe is artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. He was born on 30 October th, 1967, and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began his dance training at age 10 at the Royal Danish Ballet School and became an apprentice to the Royal Danish Ballet in 1984. He was promoted soloist in 1988....
Further information
Balanchine shortened the title to Apollo in the 1950s, which Stravinsky himself came to prefer. Despite the popularly considered Balanchine-Stravinsky Greek link due to Balanchine's later work with Stravinsky scores in OrpheusOrpheus (ballet)
Orpheus is a ballet made by George Balanchine on Ballet Society, which he founded together with Lincoln Kirstein and of which he was ballet master, to eponymous music from 1947 by Igor Stravinsky, his frequent collaborator, with sets and costumes by Isamu Noguchi.The premiere took place on April...
and Agon
Agon (ballet)
Agon is a ballet for twelve dancers, with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by George Balanchine. Composition began in December 1953 and concluded in April 1957; the music was first performed on June 17, 1957 in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft, while the first stage performance was...
, the music for Apollo was commissioned by the Library of Congress. Orpheus may be considered a sequel to Apollo but Agon is a formal plotless ballet whose title in Greek evokes a contest.
See also
Reviews
- http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D12F63A58177A93C6A9178AD95F408385F9Sunday NY Times by John MartinJohn Martin (dance critic)John Martin became America’s first major dance critic in 1927. Focusing his efforts on propelling the modern dance movement, he greatly influenced the careers of dancers such as Martha Graham...
, 4 November 1934] - Ballet Magazine, by Eric Taub, February–March 2004
- http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D15FD3E5C12728DDDAC0894D9405B8084F1D3NY Times by Jack AndersonJack Anderson (dance critic)Jack Anderson is an American dance critic and author. Since 1978, he has been a contributor of dance reviews and other articles in The New York Times...
, 5 January 1980] - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/arts/dance/12hubb.htmlNY Times by Alastair MacaulayAlastair MacaulayAlastair Macaulay is a dance critic for the New York Times. He was previously chief dance critic at The Times Literary Supplement and chief theater critic of the Financial Times, both of London...
, 12 February 2008]