Theme with Variations (Ballet)

George Balanchine began working on Theme with Variations shortly after returning from France, where he had been actively working at the Paris Opera for several months, having prepared four of his ballets with the artists of her - including the premiere of The Crystal Palace .

The ballet was staged for Alicia Alonso and Igor Yushkevich , who also performed the main parts. Other performers included , and . The premiere was conducted by Benjamin Steinberg ( Benjamin Steinberg ), W. Thompson set design.

In this small piece, Balanchine wanted to “awaken that wonderful time in classical dance , when Russian ballet flourished thanks to Tchaikovsky’s music”. The choreography exactly follows the composer's music, it is rich and requires great virtuosity from the performers. The finale of consists of 12 musical variations , and 12 actresses begin the ballet with a pair of soloists at the head; the ballet variations of the ballerina and the premiere alternate with the dances of the female corps de ballet and are framed by them. The center of the whole composition is the lyric adagio of the soloists, which follows the second solo of the ballerina. The culmination is the final polonaise , in which all 13 pairs of artists participate - 26 people.

Renewals

In 1958, the American Ballet Theater resumed its production in the design of A. Levassore, the main parts performed Loop Serrano and Royce Fernandez .

In 1960 , Balanchine moved the ballet to his own troupe . The premiere took place on February 5, the main parts performed by Violet Verdi and Edward Viella . Barbara Karinska 's tutus from the ballet “ Symphony in C Major, ” light designer David Hayes, were taken as costumes.

In 1970 , Balanchine made the Theme with Variations to complete his new ballet Suite Tchaikovsky Suite 3, where he used all four parts of (the premiere took place on December 3 at the Lincoln Center, Nicholas Benoit , several minor changes were made to the choreography) - nevertheless, “Theme with Variations” is universally performed as an independent work, only occasionally being included in the later “full version” of Balanchine in his own troupe.

In 1970 , Alicia Alonso staged “Theme with Variations” in Havana, in the . On June 24, 1993 , the ballet was first staged at the Paris Opera ^{[* 1]} . In 1998 he was staged in the Vienna Opera with costumes of Christian Lacroix .

In the USSR

The Theme with Variations was first performed in the USSR in 1960 , during a tour of the American Ballet Theater . In 1972 , as the final part of Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3, it was performed during the New York City ballet tour.

In 1986 , the ballet was first staged in St. Petersburg - Alexander Prokofiev performed the stage production of the Maly Theater of Opera and Ballet ^{[* 2]} .

The Theme with Variations, along with the Scottish Symphony , are the first ballets of Balanchine included in the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theater . The premiere took place on April 16, 1989 on the initiative of Oleg Vinogradov . Staging of France Russell, costumes of Galina Solovieva, soloists - Olga Chenchikova and Makhar Vaziev , Larisa Lezhnin and Farukh Ruzimatov (then Yulia Makhalina , Altynay Asylmuratova and others) ^{[ clarify ]} . In the summer of the same year, this program was presented during the troupe's tour in New York.

Sources

Comments

• Information about the ballet "Theme with Variations" , Balanchine Foundation website (English)
• Information about the ballet "Theme with Variations" , the site of the troupe of New York City score (English)
• Inna Sklyarevskaya. Balanchine in the Soviet Union. // " Petersburg Theater Journal " No. 6, 1994.