''Élégie'' is a

neoclassical ballet Neoclassical ballet is the style of 20th-century classical ballet exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. The term "neoclassical ballet" appears in the 1920s with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, in response to the excesses of romanticis ...

by George Balanchine, to ''Élégie-Elegy for solo viola'' by Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine had made three versions of the ballet, premiered in 1948, 1966 and 1982 respectively. The first version, a pas de deux, premiered on April 28, 1948 at the City Center of Music and Drama, during a

Ballet Society Ballet Society is a non-profit educational institution founded in 1946 by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. At its founding, Balanchine was the Artistic Director and Kirstein served as the Secretary. The president of Ballet Society is Nanc ...

performance, with dancers Tanaquil Le Clercq and Pat McBride, and violist

Emanuel Vardi Emanuel Vardi (21 April 1915 – 29 January 2011), an American violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century. Early life Emanuel Vardi was born April 21, 1915 in Jerusalem. His mother, Anna Joffa Vardi, ...

. Stravinsky described this version as a preview of a pas de deux from the ballet ''

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

''. The second version is a solo which premiered on July 15, 1966 at the Philharmonic Hall, performed by dancer

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 ...

and violist Jesse Levine, in a program about Stravinsky directed by

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

. The

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' ...

premiered it later that month with the same cast. The last version, again with Farrell, premiered on June 13, 1982 at the New York State Theater, as part of NYCB's Stravinsky Centennial Celebration, with Warren Laffredo playing the viola on stage. Balanchine died the following year. It was not revived until 2012 at the Vail Dance Festival, danced by

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

Carla Körbes Carla Körbes is a Brazilian ballet dancer who performed as a principal dancer with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, then became the associate artistic director of L.A Dance Project. She is now an associate professor at Indiana University Jacobs S ...

. Artistic director of the festival Damian Woetzel learned the choreography via tapes of Farrell, then taught it to Körbes. In 2020, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, the festival streamed video of the 2012 performance online.

References

External links

''Élégie''
on the website of the Balanchine Trust Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets to the music of Igor Stravinsky 1982 ballet premieres New York City Ballet repertory New York City Ballet Stravinsky Centennial Celebration {{ballet-stub