STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTOr GISELLE BALLET Notes STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO Choreography: George Balanchine Music: Igor Stravinsky, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major (1931) lighting design: christopher dennis Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Corporation LLC, sole Canadian and U.S. agent for Schott Musik International, publisher and copyright owner. Stravinsky Violin Concerto is presented by Walter Carsen, O.C. The performance of Stravinsky Violin Concerto, a Balanchine® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trustsm and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style®‚ and Balanchine Technique®‚ Service standards established and provided by the Trust. GISELLE Choreography and Production: Peter Wright after the choreography of Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa. based on the book by: Vernoy de Saint-Georges, Théophile Gautier and Jean Coralli Music: Adolphe Adam, revised by Joseph Horovitz Set and Costume Design: Desmond Heeley Lighting Design: Gil Wechsler Giselle was produced as a memorial to the late William P. Walker and was made possible through the courtesy of many generous friends of the National Ballet. BALLET Notes COVER: GRETA HODGKINSON WITH ARTISTS OF THE BALLET IN GISELLE. PHOTOGRAPHER: CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN ABOVE: CHAN HON GOH IN GISELLE. PHOTOGRAPHER: ANDREW OXENHAM repository of Balanchine’s works, his ballets are also in the A NOTE ON STRAVINSKY repertoires of more companies than any other choreogra- VIOLIN CONCERTO pher’s. Balanchine’s ballets not only add diversity to a company’s repertoire, but also challenge dancers to a new The longstanding collaboration between choreographer level of technical brilliance. George Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky resulted in many incomparable ballets - among the finest was Balanchine was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. New York City Ballet pre- received his dance training at the Imperial Ballet School. miered this ballet under the title Violin Concerto on June Nurtured in the ballet traditions of the turn of the century, 18, 1972 by as part of the Stravinsky Festival at New York particularly the ballets and pedagogy of the Russian ballet State Theater, starring Karin von Aroldingen, Kay Mazzo, master Marius Petipa, Balanchine received a classic edu- Jean-Pierre Bonnefous and Peter Martins among the cast cation. After leaving Russia in 1924, Balanchine became of twenty. The ballet became known as Stravinsky Violin exposed to the work of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Concerto in 1973. and in turn created works for Diaghilev’s company. The artistic milieu of the Ballets Russes was highly stimulat- With its astringent and witty double pas de deux at the ing, as Diaghilev brought his choreographers into centre, Stravinsky Violin Concerto has a sense of play as collaboration with the composers Igor Stravinsky, Sergei well as an undercurrent of sexiness. In Stravinsky's vibrant Prokofiev, Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel and such visual and emotionally suggestive composition Balanchine had artists as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Marc Chagall. the perfect platform for his stylist experiments. In 1933, with his own company, Les Ballets, Balanchine collaborated with such leading artistic figures as Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Pavel Tchelitchev and composers Darius Milhaud and Henri Sauget. In 1933, at the invitation of Lincoln Kirstein, Balanchine travelled to the United States, where he and Kirstein established the School of American Ballet in 1934 and New York City Ballet in 1948. Through the creation of these two institutions, Balanchine was able to create of very distinct style of American dance. Writes dance critic Marilyn Hunt: “When Balanchine first came to the United States, he devised a way for Americans to appear on stage without feeling weighed down by traditions of court and ballet that they weren’t born to.” Balanchine’s style has been described as neoclassic, a reaction to the Romantic anti-classicism (which had turned into exaggerated theatricality) that was the pre- vailing style in Russian and European ballet when he had begun to dance. The beauty of Balanchine’s dances is to be found in their patterning, structure and in their rela- tionship to the music. Balanchine was the creator of abstract, one-act ballets. But for a handful, most of his works are non-narrative, the music and the dance convey- ing all necessary meaning. Some of Balanchine’s ballets pay homage to his Russian heritage, including Ballet Imperial (1941) and the Diamonds section of the three-act, work Jewels (1967). While others proved provocative (The Four Temperaments in 1946 and Agon in 1957), romantic (Serenade in 1934) and spectacular audience pleasers BALANCHINE’S STYLE (Stars and Stripes in 1958, Union Jack in 1976 and Vienna Waltzes in 1977), all were achieved within his extended To fully appreciate Stravinsky Violin Concerto, it is best to framework of classical ballet. begin with some information about the great choreogra- pher, George Balanchine. Balanchine, co-founder and “Dance can be enjoyed and understood without any verbal director of New York City Ballet until his death in 1983, is introduction or explanation,” Balanchine said. “The impor- one of the most renowned and prolific choreographers of tant thing in ballet is the movement itself, as it is sound the 20th century. Balanchine created a new genre of clas- which is important in a symphony. A ballet may contain a sical ballet that is synonymous today with New York City story, but the visual spectacle, not the story, is the essen- Ballet. Though that company is without doubt the greatest tial element.” GEORGE BALANCHINE WITH IGOR STRAVINSKY IN REHEARSAL, CA. 1957. PHOTO BY MARTHA SWOPE. Balanchine’s use of movement seems organically linked dancing.” Balanchine’s relationship with music with the music and the dancers’ bodies. His work is stemmed from his early childhood, when his musical always inventive and nothing superfluous is ever studies were as important as his dance training. His included. It is as if no other step than the one choreo- understanding of musical theory, composition and play- graphed could possibly work within the structure of the ing enabled him to develop intimate working piece. relationships with his composers. The National Ballet of Canada’s late Artistic Director, Erik Bruhn, once noted: Balanchine created a distinctive vocabulary and style of “He unravelled the intricate structure and emotional movement that closely reflects the structure of the music texture of music. Using the music of Bach, Mozart, he used. Commenting on Balanchine’s use of music, Tchaikovsky, and, of course, his close friend Igor dance critic Kenneth LaFave has noted: “Balanchine has Stravinsky, Balanchine actually made ballet more aware explored the interactions of music and dance with almost of its musical potential.” every ballet, and has approached their combination afresh countless times. Look at his ballets superficially Balanchine’s understanding of music allowed him to and they may seem to be illustrations of the music. Look reach into the inner life of the music. It is not the obvi- at them closely and they appear as they really are: works ous beat but the harmony in the music that motivates that dance in the music, not merely to the beat.” the dance. Said Balanchine of his use of music previ- ously untouched by ballet choreographers: “If the dance Watching a Balanchine ballet is like watching and hear- designer sees in the development of classical dancing a ing a beautifully phrased conversation between dance counterpart in the development of music and has stud- and music. The most exciting moment of a Balanchine ied them both, he will derive continual inspiration from ballet is when you begin to “see the music and hear the great scores.” A NOTE ON GISELLE One of the greatest and most revered choreographic was specially composed for the ballet by Adolphe Adam. accomplishments of the Romantic era of ballet, Giselle has Following its Paris premiere, Giselle was performed enthralled audiences for generations and provided a throughout Europe and the United States and also wealth of dramatic and technical challenges for many of inspired a number of theatrical productions. the world’s greatest ballerinas, for whom the title role is one of the most demanding and fulfilling in the canon. The National Ballet of Canada has had Giselle in its reper- toire since the company was founded in 1951. At the Giselle received its premiere at the Paris Opera on June company’s very first performance on November 12, 1951, 28, 1841. The title role of Giselle was performed by the Lois Smith and David Adams performed the Peasant Pas famous Romantic ballerina Carlotta Grisi, who that De Deux from Act I of Giselle. During the 1969/70 National evening celebrated her 22nd birthday. Lucien Petipa Ballet season, Peter Wright was invited by Celia Franca to (brother of the choreographer Marius) performed the role mount a new version of Giselle for the company. This new of Albrecht. The ballet proved an instant success, and was production premiered on April 16, 1970 at Toronto’s quite spectacular, with the Duke and Albrecht’s fiancée, O’Keefe Centre (now renamed the Hummingbird Centre) Bathilde, arriving at the village stage setting on horse- starring guest artists Lynn Seymour and Egon Madsen. back. This highly praised production, with beautiful costumes The original scenario was conceived by Jules Henri and scenery by famed designer Desmond Heeley, has Vernoy de Saint-Georges, a prolific librettist of the period, remained in the National Ballet’s active repertoire and has and Théophile Gautier, a noted critic and poet. The chore- been performed across Canada and around the world. In ography was attributed to the Paris Opéra’s chief ballet 1975, Giselle was filmed by director Norman Campbell for master, Jean Coralli, though dances for the leading role of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.