''Vespro'' is a ballet by

Mauro Bigonzetti Mauro Bigonzetti (born 1960) is an Italian ballet dancer and choreographer. He trained at the ballet school of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and entered their company in 1979. In 1983 Bigonzetti joined the Reggio Emilia company Aterballetto, renown ...

to eponymous music of

Bruno Moretti Bruno Moretti (born 1957) is an Italian composer, pianist, and conductor. He has composed ballet music (as well as theatre, cinema and television music) working in collaboration with the choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti. He is also an accompanist ...

, commissioned 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' ...

. The première took place Saturday, May 8,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, as part of

Diamond Project The Diamond Project was inaugurated May 27, 1992, at New York City Ballet with funding from the Irene Diamond Fund. It has presented — every two to four years — work by new choreographers. Choreographers 1992 * David Allan * John Alley ...

V 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 ...

. ''Vespro'' is the first of three Bigonzetti / Moretti ballets commissioned by City Ballet, the others being ''

In Vento {{Use mdy dates, date=October 2011 ''In Vento'' is a ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti, artistic director of Italy's Aterballetto dance company, to eponymous music of Bruno Moretti. It was commissioned as part of New York City Ballet's Diamond Project. ...

'' and ''

Oltremare ''Oltremare'' is a ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti to Bruno Moretti's eponymous music commissioned by New York City Ballet. The premiere took place Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by the choreo ...

''.

Original cast

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 ...

Maria Kowroski Maria Kowroski is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet. Early life Kowroski was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She started ballet at the age of five. In 1992, she entered the School of American Ballet ...

* Jason Fowler *

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 ...

Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also ...

Reception

In the ''Village Voice'', the ballet's premiere at the NYBC 2002 Spring Gala was described by

Deborah Jowitt Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a ''Bessie'' (New York Dance and Performance Award) for h ...

as beginning "startlingly", with the male lead dancing and interacting with the on-stage piano, becoming "fascinating" as more musicians and dancers are added, but in parts feeling "long and aimless". ''

The 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 ...

'' review of the debut found the piece "witty neo-Futurist, neo-Dada and neo-Absurdist", praising its use of musicians and dancers used in "startling supple shapes", and its "distinctive originality." In a review the following year, the ''Times'' again described the dancing as "superb" and "marvelous", calling the ballet "a creative work.""Ballet Review; Veteran Soloist Bows Out in an Impromptu Farewell"
''New York Times''. Anna Kisselgoff, January 11, 2003.

References

{{reflist Ballets by Mauro Bigonzetti New York City Ballet repertory New York City Ballet Diamond Project 2002 ballet premieres Ballets by Bruno Moretti