NYCB Vol. 15. No. 14 - Sontatine

Balanchine’s Sonatine premiered on the gala night of the Ravel Festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French composer’s birth. The evening was attended by French dignitaries, and to further the French homage, Sonatine was choreographed for the two French-born NYCB principals: Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. The ballet even premiered with the cyclorama lit red-white-blue in reference to the French flag (which has since been removed)

“It’s overall flavor was playful, wispy, and slightly windblown […]

—Nancy Reynolds Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet

“Delicious and skillful. All Sonatine is, is a stroll for two. Very walks on pointe; Bonnefoux is her escort. Occasionally he turns her under his arm or skims her off the ground, so that her feet can prick the air as a continuum of the ground—and that’s it.”

—Nancy Goldner

(left)Photo by M. Lidvac, 1975

(right) Photo by Fred Fehl, 1975

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Sonatine (1975) was the first ballet the Balanchine had choreographed for Violette since the 1972 Stravinsky Festival and according to Nancy Reynolds, Violette “made the most of it.”

“It’s about the French virtue of making much out of little. Verdy’s role is a small masterpieces. Balanchine is still able to make a part for her that’s unlike any she has done, and [she] dances it as if she knew exactly how great a gift this is.”-- Arlene Croce, The New Yorker, 1975

(left) Violette Verdy. Photo by unknown photographer

(right) Isabela Guerin coached by Violette at the Paris Opera.

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“It was almost as if Balanchine had deliberately made it a slight piece, knowing that Verdy’s mastery would make something important of it and knowing that this combination would produce a winner.” —Robert Garis, Dance Life, 1975

I don’t know the origin of this footage, only that I found it on John Clifford’s YouTube.

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In this clip we see Violette Verdy coaching Monique Loudières in Balanchine’s Sonatine. Violette was 68 in this video and she demonstrates beautifully. The footage is from the documentary Violette et Mr. B (2001). See my previous post for footage of Violette dancing it herself!

The translation was done by me with the help of AI so my apologies for any inaccuracies but I think it gets the intent across!