Edward Villella on Symphony in Three Movements:
"I danced the pas de deux in the ballet opposite Sara (Sally) Leland, and the tone in this section was completely different fro the other movements. The music sounds exotic and foreign, not exactly Western. Balanchine had a terrific time choreographing this pas de deux. He viewed it as a witty, inside joke and came up with extraordinary invention for Sally and me. Every now and then he offered a few words of explanation. At one point when he was fixing our arms into somewhat contored positions, he said, 'Balinese,' and the word conjured up exactly what he wanted: Asian gods with many arms and legs.
"At one point in the pas de deux the ballerina stands in front of her partner looking out at the audience. She crouches down and moves her outstretched arms in a circular pattern. The man stands at his full height and moves his outstretched arms in the same way on a different count. Then as the woman rises up, he begins to crouch, but their arms are still moving. Balanchine said to us, 'Helicopter,' and somehow the movements do conjure up the whirling of a helicopter's propeller action. He also had us crook our heads as we danced, look over at each other like wild creatures, stare like big birds, and then run away. We stand, and stop and look, and then run."
--Prodigal Son: Dancing for Balanchine in a World of Pain and Magic by Edward Villella
Photos by Martha Swope, 1972. NYPL
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