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Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (ballet)
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, also titled Ballet Imperial, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2. Ballet Imperial was choreographed for American Ballet Caravan's 1941 South American tour, and was aimed at showing that the Americans were capable of the classical ballet traditions. The ballet pays tribute to Tchaikovsky, the classical ballet choreographer Marius Petipa, and Imperial Saint Petersburg, where Balanchine received his ballet training. The ballet featured academic steps and alludes to Imperial Russia through the costumes and scenery. Ballet Imperial premiered on June 25, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
In 1973, Balanchine, believing the audience no longer needed elaborate costumes and scenery to understand a ballet, removed all allusions to Imperial Russia and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, with the ballet now standing in relation to the music alone. The ballet has been performed by several ballet companies, including Balanchine's New York City Ballet, though some troupes still perform the ballet as Ballet Imperial, including American Ballet Theatre.
In 1941, impresario Lincoln Kirstein was invited by his friend Nelson Rockefeller to organize a dance tour across South America subsidized by the US government. Rockefeller, who had been appointed Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was given a budget to build cultural and financial relations in South America amid World War II. Kirstein said he "was given a check which seemed so large that I was as scared as if I had stolen it." Kirstein brought in choreographer George Balanchine, and the two hurriedly formed the American Ballet Caravan, with dancers from their two previous troupes, American Ballet and Ballet Caravan. Most of the dancers had trained at the School of American Ballet under Balanchine.
Balanchine and Kirstein decided to present a work to show that Americans are capable of the classical ballet traditions. However, instead of reviving a classic such as Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine decided to choreograph a new work that would revitalize the classical tradition, using the vocabulary of Marius Petipa, "the father of the classic ballet." He also decided to make the ballet plotless to allow more time for dancing. Balanchine decided to use Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, the version abridged by Alexander Siloti. Though Petipa and Tchaikovsky had worked together, Petipa would not have used this type of music for dance as it was symphonic, not divided by numbers.
The original set and costumes were designed by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. The backdrop showed a view of Neva river from the Winter Palace. The women are dressed in tutus, with the lead ballerina wearing a crown. Balanchine donated the Dobuzhinsky designs to the Museum of Modern Art, to help wartime arts programs in army camps. Ballet Imperial had subsequently been redesigned many times, by designers such as Eugene Berman, Carl Toms, Rouben Ter-Arutunian and Karinska, all inspired by Imperial Russia.
In 1973, Balanchine stripped all allusions to Imperial Russia in the ballet and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, with the ballet standing only in relation to the music. Balanchine also removed the mime passage in the ballet. In his 1977 book Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, he explained the changes,
I made these changes because the times have changed since the ballet was first done. Our audiences these days don't require elaborate costumes and decoration [sic] in a ballet, and rightly so. We see dancing better than we used to and prefer to see it directly, unencumbered. The music and the dancing themselves are enough here, I hope, to form illusions that scenery and costumes only made specific.
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 was first staged at the New York City Ballet, and was danced before a plain cyclorama. Karinska redesigned the costumes, with the women in mid-calf chiffon dresses rather than tutus. The costumes were redesigned several times throughout the years.
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Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (ballet)
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, also titled Ballet Imperial, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2. Ballet Imperial was choreographed for American Ballet Caravan's 1941 South American tour, and was aimed at showing that the Americans were capable of the classical ballet traditions. The ballet pays tribute to Tchaikovsky, the classical ballet choreographer Marius Petipa, and Imperial Saint Petersburg, where Balanchine received his ballet training. The ballet featured academic steps and alludes to Imperial Russia through the costumes and scenery. Ballet Imperial premiered on June 25, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
In 1973, Balanchine, believing the audience no longer needed elaborate costumes and scenery to understand a ballet, removed all allusions to Imperial Russia and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, with the ballet now standing in relation to the music alone. The ballet has been performed by several ballet companies, including Balanchine's New York City Ballet, though some troupes still perform the ballet as Ballet Imperial, including American Ballet Theatre.
In 1941, impresario Lincoln Kirstein was invited by his friend Nelson Rockefeller to organize a dance tour across South America subsidized by the US government. Rockefeller, who had been appointed Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was given a budget to build cultural and financial relations in South America amid World War II. Kirstein said he "was given a check which seemed so large that I was as scared as if I had stolen it." Kirstein brought in choreographer George Balanchine, and the two hurriedly formed the American Ballet Caravan, with dancers from their two previous troupes, American Ballet and Ballet Caravan. Most of the dancers had trained at the School of American Ballet under Balanchine.
Balanchine and Kirstein decided to present a work to show that Americans are capable of the classical ballet traditions. However, instead of reviving a classic such as Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine decided to choreograph a new work that would revitalize the classical tradition, using the vocabulary of Marius Petipa, "the father of the classic ballet." He also decided to make the ballet plotless to allow more time for dancing. Balanchine decided to use Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2, the version abridged by Alexander Siloti. Though Petipa and Tchaikovsky had worked together, Petipa would not have used this type of music for dance as it was symphonic, not divided by numbers.
The original set and costumes were designed by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. The backdrop showed a view of Neva river from the Winter Palace. The women are dressed in tutus, with the lead ballerina wearing a crown. Balanchine donated the Dobuzhinsky designs to the Museum of Modern Art, to help wartime arts programs in army camps. Ballet Imperial had subsequently been redesigned many times, by designers such as Eugene Berman, Carl Toms, Rouben Ter-Arutunian and Karinska, all inspired by Imperial Russia.
In 1973, Balanchine stripped all allusions to Imperial Russia in the ballet and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, with the ballet standing only in relation to the music. Balanchine also removed the mime passage in the ballet. In his 1977 book Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, he explained the changes,
I made these changes because the times have changed since the ballet was first done. Our audiences these days don't require elaborate costumes and decoration [sic] in a ballet, and rightly so. We see dancing better than we used to and prefer to see it directly, unencumbered. The music and the dancing themselves are enough here, I hope, to form illusions that scenery and costumes only made specific.
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 was first staged at the New York City Ballet, and was danced before a plain cyclorama. Karinska redesigned the costumes, with the women in mid-calf chiffon dresses rather than tutus. The costumes were redesigned several times throughout the years.