''Novelette'' is a solo modern dance work 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 wa ...

to an existing piece of music, Op. 99, No. 9 from

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's ''Bunte Blätter'', also known as ''Colored Leaves''. The ninth movement from the piano solo, also titled ''Novelette'', is a three-minute long piece in B-minor. The ballet premiered on April 18, 1926 at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

's 48 Street Theater in the first independent concert presented by Graham. The all-Graham program also featured the solos: ''Intermezzo'', ''Maid with the Flaxen Hair'', ''Clair de Lune'', ''Desir'', ''Deux Valses'', ''Masques'', ''From a Century Tapestry'' and ''A Study in Lacquer'', and works for members of the newly-formed Martha Graham Concert Group: ''Tanze'', ''Arabesque No. 1'', ''The Marionette Show'' and ''

Chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

'', which also included Graham. In her autobiography ''Blood Memory'', Graham wrote that everything she did that night "was influenced by

Denishawn The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California, helped many perfect their dancing talents and became the first dance academy in the United States to produce a professiona ...

," but added the audience came because she was "such a curiosity - a woman who could do her own work."

References

{{reflist 1926 ballet premieres Ballets by Martha Graham