HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Episodes'' is a ballet choreographed by
Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She w ...
and
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
, to compositions by
Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...
. The ballet was a co-production between the
Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded in 1926, is known for being the oldest American dance company. Founded by Martha Graham as a contemporary dance company, it continued to perform pieces, revive classics, and train dancers even after Graham's ...
and Balanchine's
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's ...
(NYCB). Though it was conceived to be a collaboration between Graham and Balanchine, leading choreographers in
modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
and
neoclassical ballet Neoclassical ballet is the style of 20th-century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. The term "neoclassical ballet" appears in the 1920s with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, in response to the excesses of romanticis ...
respectively, they ultimately worked separately on the ballet's two halves. The first part was choreographed by Graham, for dancers from her company and four NYCB members, depicts
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sc ...
remembering the events in her life before her execution. The second part, by Balanchine, is completely plotless, and made for members of the NYCB and Graham dancer Paul Taylor, who originated a solo. The ballet uses all seven orchestral compositions by Webern. ''Episodes'' premiered on May 14, 1959, at the City Center of Music and Dance. Starting in 1960, Balanchine's section is presented as a standalone piece, with Taylor's solo removed the following year. Since then, Balanchine's ''Episodes'' had been revived by various other ballet companies. Taylor's solo was only performed in a few rare instances. The Graham section had only been revived once, in 1980, with the choreography significantly revised.


Choreography

The program for the premiere of ''Episodes'' described it as an 'homage by dancers to a great composer." In performances of the complete ballet, a five-minute intermission occurs between ''Episodes I'' and ''Episodes II''. Most performances of ''Episodes'' since 1960 only include Balanchine's ''Episodes II''.


Episodes I

The program described ''Episodes I'' as followed,
Miss Graham's section of ''Episodes'' deals with the last minutes in the life of
Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sc ...
. It takes place at the scaffold and the characters are men and women who might well have been in the Queen's last thoughts.
Bothwell Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, east-south-east of Glasgow city centre. Description and history An anci ...
, the man she most loved, was her third husband; determined to be King, he had used her to serve his ambition and treated her, so the court said, 'like a drab'.
Darnley Darnley is an area in south-west Glasgow, Scotland, on the A727 just west of Arden (the areas are separated by the M77 motorway although a footbridge connects them). Other nearby neighbourhoods are Priesthill to the north, Southpark Village ...
(her second husband), Rizzio and Chastelard, all three had died because of her. The four Marys, her ladies in waiting, had been her constant companions. Elizabeth of England, whom she had never met, was her cousin and enemy, and had signed the warrant for her execution. Miss Graham's choreography is a kind of dramatic fantasia about Mary Stuart's ultimate pride, about the façade of royalty and what must have been behind it.
The two pieces of music Graham used, Passacaglia, op. 1 and Six Pieces, op. 6, are Webern's earlier works. The dancers are dressed in full 16th-century costumes. The set features a black platform at the back of the stage, decorated with heraldic symbols, with a black box at the centre. In 1980, Graham significantly revised the choreography, with more focus on the two queens, and Mary's three lovers removed. The solos were also rechoreographed.


Episodes II

The program only described ''Episodes II'', "George Balanchine's section of the ballet refers to no story." Balanchine later said that in choreographing ''Episodes II'', he "had try to paint or design time with bodies in order to create a resemblance between the dance and what was going on in the sound." He used four of Webern's later works, written after he began exploring
serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...
and inspired by
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
's
twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law ...
. Additionally, Balanchine used Webern's Ricercata, rearrangements of the ricercars in Bach's ''
The Musical Offering ''The Musical Offering'' (German: or ), BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced ...
''. The dancers are dressed in practice clothes, while the minimal set features four poles. ''Episodes II'' begins with Symphony, op. 21. It is danced by two lead dancers and three other couples. Balanchine described. "As the music starts, dryly and carefully. The boys touch the girls on the shoulder; they join hands then, pose briefly, and begin to move together. One couple leads the others but soon, just as the instrumentation shifts and develops, the other pairs react to the music differently. The dance is about the music, it is meant to look that way." The second part, set to Five Pieces, op. 10, is a pas de deux. Author Jennifer Homans described the two dancers "in total darkness, each under a separate spotlight... Their steps were hieratic, angular, with splayed, trapped movements and tangled deadweight arms, and they were engrossed with each other but disconnected, with a musical but no narrative arc. At one point in this section, the man, as Homans described, lifts the woman "upside down on his back with her legs split like antler's horns around his head, which now seemed to emerge from her crotch." The third part, set to Concerto, op. 24, is also a pas de deux, with four women accompanying the two dancers. Balanchine described, "The boy moves the girl as the composer moves his instrument."
Allegra Kent Allegra Kent (born August 11, 1937) is an American ballet dancer, actress, children's book author and columnist. Life and career Iris Margo Cohen was born to Jewish parents, Harry Herschel and Shirley (née Weissman) Cohen, and later changed her n ...
, who originated the female role, called the section "a dance conversation," and the role "a continuation of his interest in the abstract use of the body and the man manipulating the woman." Variations, op. 30 is a solo that was originated by Graham dancer Paul Taylor, and excluded from most stagings of the ballet. The solo is danced barefoot, and has three sections. The first two feature the same choreography, albeit dance to different music and with different intentions. Author
Richard Buckle (Christopher) Richard Sandford Buckle CBE (6 August 1916 – 12 October 2001), was a lifelong English devotee of ballet, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine ''Ballet'' in 1939. Early life Buckle was the only son of Lieute ...
commented, "The white-clad dancer was called upon to clutch himself, wrap himself up and tie himself into such perverse knots that his number seemed almost a defiant demonstration by Balanchine that he could be as crazy as any 'modern' choreographer or dancer in existence. Taylor said he felt his limbs "were being sharply jerked around by a succession of invisible strings. I'm being reined in... pent up. It's disagreeable." Balanchine gave Taylor the imagery of a "fly in glass of milk", and Taylor in turn thought of a fly stuck in a "deadly vortex of its own making... an epigram about self-ordained patterns and death." The ballet ends with the Ricercata, danced by two principals and a corps de ballet of thirteen women. Author Nancy Reynolds commented, "In contrapuntal manner, each dance movement – by a block of the ensemble or the soloists – is an equal component of the whole stage picture at any single moment. Most movements are brief, often using only one part of the body at a time. The groups move fugally, in imitation (more or less freely) of the restatements of the musical object."


Development


Background and conception

Balanchine worked primarily in
neoclassical ballet Neoclassical ballet is the style of 20th-century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. The term "neoclassical ballet" appears in the 1920s with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, in response to the excesses of romanticis ...
, and co-founded the
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's ...
with
Lincoln Kirstein Lincoln Edward Kirstein (May 4, 1907 – January 5, 1996) was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and cultural figure in New York City, noted especially as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. He developed and sus ...
in 1948. Meanwhile, Graham was a
modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
choreographer, and usually worked with her own company, the
Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded in 1926, is known for being the oldest American dance company. Founded by Martha Graham as a contemporary dance company, it continued to perform pieces, revive classics, and train dancers even after Graham's ...
. Kirstein often criticised modern dance, including a 1934 article in ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', in which he attacked Graham. Despite his continued dislike of modern dance, he acknowledge in 1937 that he "was unequipped for her simplicity and self-blinded by her genuinely primitive expression." A collaboration between Balanchine and Graham was first pitched by painter
Pavel Tchelitchew Pavel Fyodorovich Tchelitchew ( ; russian: Па́вел Фёдорович Чели́щев) ( – 31 July 1957) was a Russian-born surrealism, surrealist painter, set designer and costume designer. Early life Tchelitchew was born to an aristo ...
in December 1935. He suggested to the two choreographers and Kirstein that they collaborate on "an evening's spectacle involving three archetypes:
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra' ...
,
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Weste ...
,
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depic ...
," while Graham would be the corresponding "feminine archetype." The idea never came to fruition. In the 1950s, Balanchine began listening to music by
Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...
, after being introduced to his works by
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
. Balanchine spoke about Webern's works,
Webern's orchestral music fills the air like molecules; it is written for atmosphere.wroteThe first time I heard it, I knew it could be danced to. It seemed to me like Mozart and Stravinsky, music that can be danced to because it leaves the mind free to see the dancing. In listening to composers like Beethoven and Brahms, every listener has his own ideas, paints his own picture of what the music represents. How can I, a choreographer, try to squeeze a dancing body into a picture that already exists in someone's mind? It simply won't work. But it will with Webern.
He had two ideas of using Webern's music for a ballet that were abandoned, before deciding to use all seven of Webern's orchestral compositions, which last under an hour together. Kirstein then suggested having Graham contribute on the choreography. Graham was approached about the ballet by Kirstein in January 1959, and he spoke about "key characters of feminine distinction" for her to dance. He thought about an interpretation of ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...
'', which Kirstein believed to carry the "essence of Martha's spirit." Graham, unable to respond to this but still interested in the collaboration, suggested
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sc ...
instead. The title, ''Episodes'', came from Tchelitchew's pitch. The project was officially announced in late March, as part of NYCB's spring season that year.
Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Oscar–winning stage and costume designer for films and the the ...
was first announced to be the designer of Graham's costumes, but NYCB costumer Karinska ultimately "designed and executed" costumes for the entire ballet, as credited in the program. David Hays designed the set and lighting. The legal contract for the co-production stated Ballet Society owned "all rights to the use of the title" and exclusive rights to Graham's choreography for three years. Though the ballet is conceived as a collaboration, the two choreographers mostly worked on their parts separately. Graham said, "Collaboration was really not the term." Graham was set to choreograph the long opening and closing of the ballet, with Balanchine choreographing the rest. However, this plan "did not work out practically of theatrically," according to Graham. The two choreographed the two halves of the ballet instead, ''Episodes I'' by Graham and ''Episodes II'' by Balanchine. Graham dancer Linda Hodes noted that Graham was initially expected to choreograph on her own dancers, then teach the ballet to the NYCB dancers. However, after a meeting between Graham and Balanchine, in which they clashed over what she choreographed for his dancers, they decided to include Graham's dancers in the performances of the ballet, and the ballet became a co-production between the New York City Ballet and Martha Graham Dance Company, and at Kirstein's suggestion, incorporated each other's dancers in their choreography. In the lead-up to the premiere, the ballet drew significant media attention and was described as "historic", due to contributions from leading choreographers of two different genres of dance. Walter Terry wrote in the ''
New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'', "whether it turns out to be a success or only a fascinating experiment is of historical significance." The London-based ''Dance and Dancers'' reported, "news of historical importance to the international dance field has been made."


Graham

Graham was first assigned the score Passacaglia, op. 1. To understand it, she stayed in her studio and "played it and moved to it day after day after day." She studied
Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...
and Raymond Preston's biographies on Mary, and was inspired by two poets,
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biog ...
, whose poem ''
East Coker East Coker is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its nearest town is Yeovil, to the north. The village has a population of 1,667. The parish includes the hamlets and areas of North Coker, Burton, ...
'' referenced Mary, and
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogn ...
, who was Webern's favourite poet. Graham said she "found my articulation" from the two. Later, Graham realised she needed more music, so Balanchine gave her Six Pieces, op. 6, which he had already begun choreographing. Graham also starred as Mary, with a stand-in in rehearsals. Four NYCB dancers appeared alongside the Graham company, including Sallie Wilson, who originated the role of Elizabeth I, as well Kenneth Peterson, Bill Carter and Paul Nickel, who had smaller roles in the ballet. According to Wilson, Graham initially gave her ballet steps, despite knowing little about them. Wilson then asked Graham to give her modern dance steps. Though Graham was glad about this request, she remained unsure whether Wilson could dance it, and other dancers assisted Wilson. Wilson said the result of her dancing in the manner of Graham was "marvelous." She added that the Graham dancers "were thrilled that I could actually move my back – they had expected a
ramrod A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was usually hel ...
." Wilson recalled that in rehearsals, Graham would stop rehearsals and let everyone meditate. Graham also explained the symbols in the choreography, "each thing was weighted carefully." Previously, Graham only worked with her own dancers and followed her own schedule. However, for ''Episodes'', she did not have ultimate control over all elements. Instead, she had to follow Balanchine's concept and the NYCB mode of working, where multiple choreographers share rehearsal schedules. She also clashed with Kirstein numerous times, especially regarding the designs of the ballet. Though NYCB was under union regulations, all designs must be made under legal contracts and at union shops, Graham attempted to circumvent this. Graham was more cordial with Balanchine, and found him "so wonderful to work with, considerate and concerned – a joy to be with."


Balanchine

Only one Graham dancer worked with Balanchine, Paul Taylor. Taylor had some background in ballet, as he took classes taught by Margaret Craske during the 1950s. Kirstein, keen to work with Taylor, had previously invited Taylor to work on two projects, one as a choreographer and one as a dancer, but neither came into fruition. Balanchine was suffering from
arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In some ...
, and had difficulties demonstrating the steps to Taylor. Taylor, who originated a long solo, found Balanchine's process "a complete switch" from Graham, "The speed and craft in which he works are astounding, the rehearsal time being used economically, none if it taken up by explanations of concepts, poetic imagery, or motivation." Taylor was used to dancing Graham's plot-driven choreography, and initially struggled with Balanchine's more abstract concept. He also found the musicality and movement vocabulary to be more challenging than Graham's choreography. Fearing he would forget the complex choreography, Taylor would go home immediately after each rehearsal to draw stick figures and write notes for himself. Prior to giving Six Pieces, op. 6 to Graham, Balanchine had spent four days choreographing to the score as a
pas de deux In ballet, a pas de deux ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well ...
for Diana Adams and Jacques d'Amboise, and nearly completed the pas de deux when Graham asked for more music. According to d'Amboise, Balanchine's vision of the pas de deux was " version of first man and first woman," like
Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
right after they ate the apple. Balanchine then made another pas de deux for Adams and d'Amboise, to Five Pieces, op. 10, and abandoned his original vision.


Original cast

Source:


Performances

''Episodes'' premiered on May 14, 1959, at the City Center of Music and Dance, during NYCB's spring season. By popular demand, the season was extended for more performances of ''Episodes''. The two company performed ''Episodes'' together again during NYCB's 1959 winter season, which was the last time ''Episodes'' was performed in full. Starting in 1960, the Balanchine choreography is presented as a standalone piece, at the time under the title ''Episodes II''. Taylor appeared at the New York City Ballet for two more seasons as a guest artist to dance his solo. In 1961, Taylor's part in the ballet was removed. He was invited to join NYCB, but chose to focus on his choreographic career and his company instead. Henceforth, the Balanchine ballet is presented as simply ''Episodes''. Other ballet companies that had performed Balanchine's ''Episodes'' include
Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet ( Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company ...
,
Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 196 ...
, Berlin Opera Ballet,
National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...
,
Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...
, Miami City Ballet, Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. NYCB had never danced Graham's choreography, though Kirstein did consider it. In 1965, Balanchine suggested Graham to revive both parts of the ballet for NYCB's fall season. She declined due to a scheduling conflict with her company, but she was open to such revival, "I hope your invitation will stand and that it can still take place at a time when we are not burdened as at present." Balanchine wrote in his 1977 book ''Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets'', "Miss Graham's part of ''Episodes'' has unfortunately not been seen for some years. It is our hope that one day it will be danced again." In 1980, the Graham company revived her ''Episodes'' at the Metropolitan Opera House, with the choreography significantly revised. Though the NYCB allowed Graham to use the original costumes by Karinska, her company used new costumes by
Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer who rose to international fame in the 1970s. His minimalist, clean designs, often made of cashmere or ultrasuede, were ...
, while also using the original set by David Hays. This remains the only revival of Graham's ''Episodes''.


Paul Taylor's solo

After Taylor's solo was cut from the ballet in 1961, he offered to teach it to whomever Balanchine chose, though Balanchine never took up this offer. It was not performed until 1986, three years after Balanchine's death, when Taylor reconstructed it for
Peter Frame Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a s ...
, then a soloist at the NYCB. Taylor cast Frame after spotting him at a company cast, which Taylor was invited to observe by co-ballet master in chief
Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as ...
. As Taylor's performance had never been filmed or notated, he relied on his notes and photographs to teach the role to Frame. Taylor removed knee works that would be dangerous to Frame's ballet-trained body. Frame continued to perform the solo until 1989, a year before his retirement. In 2014, when the Miami City Ballet performed ''Episodes'', Taylor's solo was included. Frame taught the solo to the company's dancers, based on an archival video of him dancing the solo in 1989, though he did not let the dancers watch the video, and only showed them photographs of Taylor. Jovani Furlan danced it on opening night. In 2020, NYCB performed the solo again. The role was alternated between Furlan, who had since joined NYCB, and Michael Trusnovec, a former Paul Taylor Dance Company member who performed as a guest artist. As both Taylor and Frame died in 2018, Furlan taught the role to Trusnovec. The two watched videos of Frame dancing the solo in both 1986 and 1989, and found significant differences on the choreography between the two videos. Believing that the 1986 version is closer to the original, they restored some steps back to the solo. The solo was excluded from the ballet again in 2022.


Critical reception

Upon the premiere of ''Episodes'', '' Times'' noted, "Vastly different in their approaches, both Balanchine and Graham were remarkably successful at illuminating Webern's sparse, mostly atonal scores—perhaps the world's unlikeliest music for dancing." ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' dance critic John Martin called the ballet "a truly remarkable creation." He commented on Graham's choreography, "the invention is superb and uncannily revelatory." As for Balanchine, Martin wrote, "The style in which he worked is a miracle of creativeness, far beyond anything he has done previously." In another review published at the end of ''Episodes'' first season, Martin wrote, "What rahamhas done is powerful, brilliant and well within the established conventions of her highly personal medium. Balanchine, on the other hand, has pushed his own equally characteristic approach into uncharted fields." Dance historian Angela Kane, however, found that some of the New York critics expressed their preference for Graham's contribution over Balanchine's.


References


External links


''Episodes''
on the New York City Ballet website
''Episodes''
on the George Balanchine Trust website
Variations On A Solo
article about Taylor's solo on the New York City Ballet website {{Balanchine ballets 1959 ballet premieres Ballets by Martha Graham Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets to the music of Anton von Webern New York City Ballet repertory Ballets based on actual events Cultural depictions of Mary, Queen of Scots Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I