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NYCB Vol. 16 No. 11- Western Symphony
Suki Schorer. Photo by Martha Swope, 1964. Nicholas Magallanes, Suki Schorer, Gloria Govrin, Frank Ohman 1964. Photo by Erio Piccagliani...

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 6


NYCB Vol. 16 No. 9 - Episodes
Bart Cook and Allegra Kent in Episodes. Photo by Martha Swope. From Once a Dancer... by Allegra Kent: "When Balanchine created the part...

Lauryn Johnson
Sep 28


NYCB Vol. 16 No. 6 - Square Dance and Elisha C. Keeler
Elisha C. Keeler Square dance calling was in Elisha’s blood. His father, Thaddeus Keeler, farmer, carpenter and sawyer, was a well known...

Lauryn Johnson
Sep 22


NYCB Vol. 16 No. 3 - Square Dance
Nicholas Magallanes and Patricia Wilde. Photo by Martha Swope, 1957. "Last night at the City Center the New York City Ballet presented its first new work, and the hitherto sluggish young season came to life with a bang. The work in question was George Balanchine's "Square Dance" and it is a gem. "The set is just a bare hall such as usually houses square dancing, and on a dais sits a band of fiddlers in shirt-sleeves. Below them is caller (a famous one he is, named Elisha C. K

Lauryn Johnson
Sep 17


NYCB Vol. 15 No. 15 - La Valse
Patricia McBride and Nicholas Magallanes in La Valse. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1963. In 1919, Diaghilev requested that Maurice Ravel compose...

Lauryn Johnson
May 17


NYCB Vol. 15 No. 9 - Divertimento #15
Men (L-R): Nicolas Magallanes, Jonathan Watts, ? Women(L-R): ?, Diana Adams, Melissa Hayden, Jillana, ? On Balanchine’s Divertimento No....

Lauryn Johnson
May 8


NYCB Vol. 14 No. 3 - Allegro Brillante
Maria Tallchief: “In Allegro Brillante George extended aspects of classical technique beyond anything I had done before. Rather than...

Lauryn Johnson
Jan 25


NYCB Vol. 14 No. 1 - Concerto Barocco
"By the time Le Clercq emerged as the Balanchine-favored executant of Concerto Barocco, she had become recognized as ‘most nearly the...

Lauryn Johnson
Jan 21


Serenade 90th Anniversary No. 6 - Susan Pilarre
Back in August, I discovered several photos of a very young Suzy Pilarre in the corps of Serenade: Photos by Fred Fehl, 1964 Harry Ransom...

Lauryn Johnson
Jun 8, 2024


Serenade 90th Anniversary No. 4
Below is the program note that accompanied Serenade at its second performance in December, 1934 performance in Hartford, CT: “Without an...

Lauryn Johnson
Jun 6, 2024


Serenade 90th Anniversary No. 3
For a ballet that turns 90 this Monday (June 10th), Serenade has endured it fair share of audiences and critics hypothesizing and...

Lauryn Johnson
Jun 5, 2024


NYCB Vol. 11 No. 3 - Bourrée Fantasque
In Balanchine's Bourrée Fantasque, Maria Tallchief was the second movement ballerina. She wrote, "Increasingly, the roles George created...

Lauryn Johnson
Apr 25, 2024


New York State Theater No. 22 - Opening Night
“The night was mild, a star glittered somewhere in the distance, the water of the plaza fountain soared and splashed, and a brass quintet...

Lauryn Johnson
Apr 23, 2024


NYCB in London No. 4 - Rehearsals
“During the day we rehearsed both ballets [Serenade & Symphony in C], and it was painful. The Covent Garden stage took getting used to....

Lauryn Johnson
Mar 9, 2024


NYCB Vol. 9 No. 37, 38 & 39 - Nutcracker
(37/50) Maria Tallchief on the preparation for the first Nutcracker: “As usual, he created the pas de deux for André and me with a...

Lauryn Johnson
Dec 23, 2023


NYCB Vol. 8 No. 22 - Symphony in C
Speaking of the opening night performance in 1948, Anatole Chujoy wrote, "The thrill of the evening came with Balanchine's Symphony in C....

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 12, 2023


NYCB Vol. 8 No. 21 - Serenade
“Serenade is like a labyrinth Balanchine has constructed to guide us, gently, but with no recourse but to proceed.” —Toni Bentley in...

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 11, 2023


NYCB Vol. 8 No. 20 - 75th Anniversary of New York City Ballet
On October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet gave its first official performance at the City Center Theater. The program was all Balanchine....

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 10, 2023


NYCB Vol. 8 No. 19 - Orpheus
On the opening night of Orpheus in 1947: “When the slight figure of Stravinsky appeared at the conductor’s sand he was given a tumultuous...

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 9, 2023


NYCB Vol. 8 No. 17 - Piano Concerto No. 2
'Ballet Imperial' was choreographed in 1941 for American Ballet Caravan's South American tour. It was thought that a classical ballet...

Lauryn Johnson
Oct 6, 2023
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