''River of Light'' is a ballet made by

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' ...

balletmaster 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 ...

to eponymous music by

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

commissioned in honor of his sixtieth birthday. The premiere took place June 11, 1998, 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 millio ...

, with costumes by

Holly Hynes Holly Hynes is an accomplished, award winning costume designer with over 250 ballets to her credit, including more than 70 at the New York City Ballet. Hynes' designs are also on view in companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, ...

and lighting by Mark Stanley; the 2008 revival was conducted by the composer and held in honor of his seventieth birthday. ''The River of Light'' was the third work in a trio of scores the New York City Ballet commissioned from Wuorinen in the early 1990s, the others being ''The Mission of Virgil'' and ''The Great Procession''. All three works refer to scenes in

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

''.

Original cast

Darci Kistler Darci Kistler (born June 4, 1964) is an American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for choreographer George Balanchine. Early life Kistler was born in Riverside, California, the fifth child (with four older brothers) of a medic ...

Monique Meunier This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

Alexandra Ansanelli Alexandra Noel Ansanelli is a retired American ballet dancer who was a Principal dancer at New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet prior to her retirement at a relatively young age. Early life Ansanelli was born in Manhassett, Long Island ...

Jock Soto Jock Soto (born 1965)Kisselgoff, Anna. "Not Only a Partner, a Dynamic Interpreter", ''The New York Times'', June 18, 2005. p. B7. is a former American ballet dancer and current ballet instructor. Career Jock Soto danced featured roles in over 40 ...

Charles Askegard Charles Askegard is an American ballet dancer and ballet master at Pennsylvania Ballet. Early life and education Askegard was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began his dance training at the age of five with Loyce Houlton and the Minneso ...

Sébastien Marcovici This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

References

*''Repertory Week'', New York City Ballet, Spring Season, 2008 repertory, week 5 *''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

'', New York City Ballet, Thursday, May 29, 2008

Reviews

NY Times review
by

Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for ''The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at ''The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater cr ...

, May 31, 2008
NY Times review
by Anna Kisselgoff, June 18, 1999

by

Jennifer Dunning Jennifer Dunning (born February 4, 1942) is a writer and critic for ''The New York Times'' on the subjects of dance and ballet. She is the author of the 1985 ''But First a School: The First Fifty Years of the School of American Ballet'', the 1996 ...

, June 13, 1998 {{authority control Ballets by Peter Martins Ballets by Charles Wuorinen New York City Ballet repertory 1998 ballet premieres Ballets designed by Holly Hynes Serial compositions