Tonight we begin again where it all began: Serenade, Balanchine’s first work in America (1934). With tonight’s performance of Serenade,...

Balanchine was known for his elaborate Easter dinners which took him days to prepare. Although he celebrated Orthodox Easter which is...

The ballet Prodigal Son was originally choreographed by Balanchine in 1929 for the Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe. The composer, Prokofiev,...

Tonight is the first night of the Short Stories program! Featured in this post is the NYCB premiere of Slaughter on Tenth Avenue with...

(10/10) Lincoln Kirstein told New York Times in 1986, “Our Swan Lake has never been traditional, anyway. Balanchine created it as an...

(9/10) A lot of people say Balanchine’s one-act Swan Lake is cold and stripped of emotion. Although many story elements are absent I...

(8/10) Between Martha’s wonderful captures, Balanchine’s choreography, and the the beauty of the dancers—whittling thousands of photos...

(6/10) I really love picture 4, the diagonal energy that begins in Andre’s back foot and extends all the way through Patty’s arabesque...

(6/10) Darci Kistler danced Odette in Balanchine’s Swan Lake for her SAB workshop performance in 1980 at 15 years old. At 16 she debuted...

(5/10) “Violette communicates the plight of this Odette through daringly held poses that impress a state of feeling upon the viewer...

Today is the 4th out of 10 Swan Lake performances this season. (bottom left) Melissa Hayden & Jacques d’Amboise. Martha Swope, 1967....

(2/10) When Balanchine mounted his own one-act production of Swan Lake in 1951, New York Times critic John Martin was “bewildered” by the...

(3/10) “[Allegra’s potrayal] is poetic in the extreme and wonderfully musical […] Surely here is one of the loveliest of Odettes.”—John...

(1/10) Today begins NYCB’s run of 12 Swan Lake performances. Balanchine’s version (rather than Martins’) is being mounted for the first...

Did you know, the “silent” ballet, Moves (danced to the sound of slaps, claps, stomps, and steps) used to have a subtitle? It was Moves:...

Just a Misha/Rubies appreciation post. After performing at the White House for President Carter, the president asked Misha how he would...

As Mozartiana is onstage again tonight, I wanted to share some pictures of the men from the original and 2nd casts. Victor Castelli, the...

Rubies is on the program tonight so let’s talk about the premiere in 1967! Did you know that Jewels was so successful when it premiered...

Originally set on his company in 1958, Merce Cunningham staged Summerspace for NYCB in 1966. (left) Carolyn Brown and Viola Farber in...

On stage tonight: Mozartiana which premiered in 1981. From the NYTimes: Miss Farrell grinned. ''Everyone asks me to put 'Mozartiana' into...