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Nicholas Magallanes
Nicholas Magallanes (November 27, 1922 – May 2, 1977) was a principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet. Along with Francisco Moncion, Maria Tallchief, and Tanaquil Le Clercq, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed Ballet Society, the immediate predecessor of the New York City Ballet. Early life and training Magallanes was born in Santa Rosalia de Camargo, now known as Camargo City, in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. He moved with his parents to the United States when he was five years old, first to New Jersey and then to the Lower East Side of New York City. When he was sixteen years old, he was spotted at the New York Boys' Club on East Tenth Street by Pavel Tchelitchev, who recommended him to Lincoln Kirstein as a scholarship student at the fledgling School of American Ballet. A handsome youth, with dark Latin looks and a strong, muscular physique, he auditione ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Tallchief
Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to hold the rank, and is said to have revolutionized ballet. Almost from birth, Tallchief was involved in dance, starting formal lessons at age three. When she was eight, her family relocated from her birth home of Fairfax, Oklahoma, to Los Angeles, California. The purpose of the move was to advance the careers of Maria and her younger sister, Marjorie. Both sisters became dance professionals and leading figures. At age 17, she moved to New York City in search of a spot with a major ballet company, and, at the urging of others, took the name Maria Tallchief. She spent the next five years with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where she met choreographer George Balanchine. When Balanchine co-founded what would become the New York City Ballet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
School Of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional vocational ballet training for students aged 11–18. Graduates of the school achieve employment with leading ballet companies worldwide, and in the United States with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Houston Ballet. History The school was founded by the renowned Russo-Georgian-born choreographer George Balanchine, and philanthropists Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg in 1934. Balanchine's self- prescribed edict, "But first, a school", is indicative of his adherence to the ideals of the training that was fostered by the Imperial Ballet School where he received h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymonda
''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The ballet was created especially for the benefit performance of the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani, who created the title role. Among the ballet's most celebrated passages is the ''Pas classique hongrois'' (a.k.a. ''Raymonda Pas de dix'') from the third act, which is often performed independently. Today ''Raymonda'' is performed by many ballet companies throughout the world with choreography that is derived primarily from the Kirov Ballet's 1948 revival as staged by Konstantin Sergeyev. Sergeyev greatly altered, and in some cases changed entirely, Marius Petipa's choreography, particularly in the dances for the ''corps de ballet''. The choreography as revised by Sergeyev remains the tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ballet)
''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' refers to two different ballets by George Balanchine set to Richard Strauss's '' Concert Suite'' (1917),Kisselgoff, Anna"Balanchine-Robbins Work for Nureyev From Moliere,"''New York Times'' (Apr. 9, 1979). with a libretto after Molière's 17th-century comédie-ballet of the same name. The first Balanchine ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' ballet was produced in 1932 by the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo. In 1979, Balanchine (with the assistance of Jerome Robbins) created all-new choreography for ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'', which premiered on 8 April 1979, with the New York City Opera at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, in New York City. This production was notable for being the first ballet Balanchine ever choreographed for Rudolf NureyevHodgson, Moira "A Balanchine Ballet for Nureyev,"''New York Times'' (April 9, 1979). (who at the time was 41 years old). Performance history Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo Balanchine's first ''Le Bourg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Sonnambula
''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eugène Scribe and choreographed by Jean-Pierre Aumer called '' La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur''. The ballet had premiered in Paris in September 1827 at the height of a fashion for stage works incorporating somnambulism. The role of Amina was originally written for the soprano sfogato Giuditta Pasta and the tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, but during Bellini's lifetime another soprano sfogato, Maria Malibran, was a notable exponent of the role. The first performance took place at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 6 March 1831. The majority of twentieth-century recordings have been made with a soprano cast as Amina, usually with added top-notes and other changes according to tradition, although it was released in soprano s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo
The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its artistic director was René Blum. They fell out in 1936 and the company split. The part which de Basil retained went through two name changes before becoming the Original Ballet Russe. Blum founded Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, which changed its name to Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo (note the singular) when Léonide Massine became artistic director in 1938. It operated under this name until it disbanded some 20 years later.Koegler, Horst, ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet'' (1st English edition, 1977). The Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo featured such dancers as Ruthanna Boris, Frederic Franklin, Alexandra Danilova, Maria Tallchief, Nicholas Magallanes, Tamara Toumanova, George Zoritch, Alicia Alonso, Yvonne Joyce Craig, Nina Novak, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Vie Parisienne (operetta)
''La vie parisienne'' (, Parisian life) is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas. In 1864 the Théâtre du Palais-Royal presented a comedy by Meilhac and Halévy entitled ''Le Photographe'' (''The Photographer''), which featured a character called Raoul Gardefeu, the lover of Métella, trying to seduce a baroness. Two years earlier, a comedy by the same authors ''La Clé de Métella'' (''The Key of Métella'') was played at the Théâtre du Vaudeville. These two pieces presage the libretto of ''La vie parisienne'' which can be dated from late 1865. Performance history It was first produced in a five-act version at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris, on 31 October 1866. The work was revived in four acts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Page (ballerina)
Ruth Page (March 22, 1899 April 7, 1991) was an American ballerina and choreographer, who created innovative works on American themes. Life Family Page was married to attorney Thomas Hart Fisher from 1925 to 1969, and to artist Andre Delfau from 1983 until her death in 1991. She is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Page's brother, Irvine H. Page, was a noted physician and scientist. Career Born in Indianapolis in 1899, Ruth Page undertook professional studies with Jan Zalewski, Adolph Bolm, Enrico Cecchetti, Harald Kreutzberg and Mary Wigman. She made her professional debut on Broadway in 1917, then with Anna Pavlova’s Company on its tour of South America in 1918, and at Chicago's Auditorium Theater in John Alden Carpenter’s ''The Birthday of the Infanta'' in 1919. She danced ceaselessly for the next forty years, with Adolph Bolm’s Ballet Intime, on Broadway in Irving Berlin’s ''Music Box Revue'', with the Chicago Allied Arts, Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Of Norway
''Song of Norway'' is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran. A very loose film adaptation with major changes to both the book and music was released in 1970. Stage production ''Song of Norway'' was originally developed and presented in Los Angeles by Edwin Lester's Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1944, with essentially the same cast as seen later on Broadway. It was also performed in San Francisco. The show opened at the Imperial Theatre in New York on August 21, 1944, and ran for 860 performances. Charles K. Freeman directed while George Balanchine was responsible for the choreography. The sets, costumes, and lighting design was by Lemuel Ayers. while Lawrence Brooks starred as Edvard Grieg. The original Broadway cast featured Irra Petina as a fictional opera singer Louisa Giovanni and Kent Edwards as Elnar. The show featured dances, both ballet and Norwegi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play, (''The Embassy Attaché'') by Henri Meilhac. The operetta has enjoyed extraordinary international success since its 1905 premiere in Vienna and continues to be frequently revived and recorded. Film and other adaptations have also been made. Well-known music from the score includes the " Vilja Song", "" ("You'll Find Me at Maxim's"), and the "Merry Widow Waltz". Background In 1861, Henri Meilhac premiered a comic play in Paris, (''The Embassy Attaché''), in which the Parisian ambassador of a poor German grand duchy, Baron Scharpf, schemes to arrange a marriage between his country's richest widow (a French woman) and a Count to keep her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catherine Littlefield
Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) was an American ballerina, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director. She founded the Philadelphia Ballet (originally the Littlefield Ballet) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. It was the first American ballet company to tour Europe and the first to present a full-length (or three-act plus prologue) version of '' The Sleeping Beauty'' in the United States. In addition to producing American-themed ballets such as ''Barn Dance'', ''Terminal'', ''Cafe Society'' and ''Ladies' Better Dresses'', Littlefield choreographed Broadway musicals and Sonja Henie's professional ice skating shows. She was among the first class of inductees (1987) into the National Museum of Dance’s Hall of Fame. Childhood Littlefield was born in a Philadelphia rowhouse in 1905 to James H. Littlefield and Caroline Doebele Littlefield (also known as "Mommie"). Her father was a native of Maine who worked for the YMCA and later founded a newsreel business. Her mother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
