''Twinkliana'' is a ballet made by

Sean Lavery Sean Lavery (1931–1999) was a Roman Catholic priest for the Missionary Society of St. Columban ("''The Columbans''") and a church music director. Lavery was born in Lurgan, County Armagh. Shortly after his ordination in 1954, Father Lavery mo ...

, assistant to the ballet master in chief at

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' ...

, for students of the

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

Dance Department, to Mozart's

Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

(or "

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in '' Rhymes for the Nurser ...

"). The premiere took place Thursday, 11 October 1990 at Barnard's Minor Latham Playhouse. It represents an homage to

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 ...

, whose works include ''

Ivesiana ''Ivesiana'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to compositions by Charles Ives. The ballet premiered on September 14, 1954, four months after Ives's death, at the City Center of Music and Drama, performed by the New York City Ball ...

'', '' Mozartiana'' and '' Glinkaiana'' (who was, in turn, paying tribute to Fokine's '' Chopiniana''). The ballet begins with a series of solos, followed by a ''pas de deux'' and a finale. It was revived at the

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 ...

(SAB) Workshop in June, 2007.

Original cast

*Cecilia Stancell *Ede Thurrell *Jennifer Abramson *Annette Ezekiel *Margot Kong *Jennifer Miller * Dominic Antonucci, ''guest dancer from the SAB'' {{col-end

External links

NY Times review by Jack Anderson, 14 October 1990
Ballets by Sean Lavery Ballets to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1990 ballet premieres