''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 Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

's 17th-century

comédie-ballet ''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance. History The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Loui ...

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 Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

) created all-new choreography for ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'', which premiered on 8 April 1979, with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

at the

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. This production was notable for being the first ballet Balanchine ever choreographed for

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

Hodgson, 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 Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' ballet was performed in 1932 by

Wassily de Basil Vassily Grigorievich Voskresensky (16 September 1888 – 27 July 1951), usually referred to as Colonel Wassily de Basil, was a Russian ballet impresario. De Basil was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1888 (his year of birth is given alternately as ...

& René Blum's Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, featuring

David Lichine David Lichine (russian: Дэвид (Давид) Лишин; 25 October 1910 – 26 June 1972) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer. He had an international career as a performer, ballet master, and choreographer, staging works fo ...

and

Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the ag ...

, with sets by

Alexandre Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...

. In 1944, the ballet was performed by the second iteration of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, with

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 dan ...

(taking over for an injured

Frederic Franklin Frederic Franklin (13 June 1914 – 4 May 2013), sometimes also called "Freddie", was a British-American ballet dancer, choreographer and director. Dancer Born in Liverpool, England, Frederic Franklin claimed that on seeing the 1924 film ...

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 ...

, and

Nathalie Krassovska Nathalie "Natasha" Krassovska (1918–2005) was a Russian born prima ballerina and teacher of classical ballet most noted for her work with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Following her decades-long career, she moved to the U.S., where she found ...

New York City Opera

The 1979 version of ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' included choreographic input from

, who stepped in during a period of Balanchine's illness, as well as from

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 ...

, who choreographed one scene near the end of the ballet. By staging the ballet with the

instead of Balanchine's customary

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' ...

, the production was able to use Nureyev, who was not a member of NYCB. Costumes and sets were designed by

Rouben Ter-Arutunian Rouben Ter-Arutunian(Ռուբէն Տէր-Յարութիւնեան) (July 24, 1920 – October 17, 1992) was an American-Armenian costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television. Anderson, JackRouben Ter-Arutunian, 72, Dies ...

. The premiere took place on 8 April 1979 at the

, as part of a double bill with Henry Purcell's short opera ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

''. 1979 opening night cast: *

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born 9 April 1943, in Bourg en Bresse, France) is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution. At 14, Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera ...

— Mr. Jourdain *

— Cléonte *

Patricia McBride Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's ...

— Lucille *Darla Hoover *

Michael Puleo Michael Puleo is an American dancer, currently ballet master at the Compagnia Virgilio Sieni Danza, Florence, and assistant choreographer at Compagnia del Teatro Nuovo, Turin, Italy. He received his dance training at the Richard Andros Theater Ar ...

*students of the School of American Ballet On 22 May 1980, the

produced the ballet at the

, featuring Frank Ohman,

Suzanne Farrell Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is an American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Farrell began her ballet training at the age of eight. In 1960, she received a scholarship ...

, Heather Watts, and Victor Castelli."Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,"
New York City Ballet website. Accessed Jan. 24, 2015.

References

External links

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
on the website of the Balanchine Trust {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Le (ballet) Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets to the music of Richard Strauss 1932 ballet premieres 1979 ballet premieres New York City Ballet repertory Adaptations of works by Molière