233. Raymonda 1946
Ballet in Three Acts
Alexander Glazounov (Op. 57, produced 1898)
George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova after Marius Petipa
Scenery and costumes by Alexandre Benois. Scenery executed by E. B. Dunkel Studios; costumes executed by Karinska
March 12, 1946, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, City Center of Music and, Drama, New York. Conductor: Ivan Boutnikoff. Violinist: Earle Hummel. Harpist: Marjorie Call
Raymonda, Alexandra Danilova; Jean de Brienne, Nicholas Magallanes; Emir Abd-er-Raham, the Saracen Knight, Nikita Talin. ACT I: Raymonda; Brienne; Friends of Raymonda, 3 women; Raymonda’s Page; Two Noblemen, Friends of Brienne; The White Lady, Protectress of the Castle, Joy Williams; The Seneschal of the Castle, G. Alexandroff; Peasant Girls, Marie-Jeanne, Gertrude Tyven [Gertrude Svobodina], 8 women; 4 Knights. ACT II: Raymonda; Brienne; Emir; Emir’s Favorite Slave, Leon Danielian; Slaves, Pauline Goddard, 4 women, 2 men; 4 Jongleurs; Jongleuses, Marie-Jeanne, 4 women. ACT III: DIVERTISSEMENTS: CZARDAS: Goddard, Stanley Zompakos, 6 couples; PAS DE TROIS: Tyven, Patricia Wilde, Danielian; PAS CLASSIQUE HONGROIS: Danilova, Magallanes; Marie-Jeanne, Ruthanna Boris, Maria Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Herbert Bliss, Talin, Robert Lindgren, Ivan Ivanov (VARIATIONS: I. Tallchief; II. Chouteau; III. 4 men; IV. Marie-Jeanne; V. Boris; VI. Magallanes; VII. Danilova); FINALE: Entire cast.
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
Video Archives Recording
George Balanchine Foundation Archive of Lost Choreography (VARIATION VI, male solo from Act III), 1998; (VARIATIONS I, II, IV, V, VII, female solos from Act III, with solos from later Balanchine ballets to the same music), 2000.
Note
This version derives from the Petipa original at the Maryinsky as remembered by Balanchine and Danilova, abbreviated and rechoreographed by Balanchine, retaining the Petipa style. The male pas de quatre and the ballerina’s variation in Act III (VARIATIONS III and VII of the PAS CLASSIQUE HONGROIS) are particularly close to the Petipa choreography, as set by Danilova. The other female solos in Act III (with the exception of Variation IV, below) are probably close to the Petipa originals as well. Balanchine provided new choreography for several waltzes, and in Act III, the Pas de Trois, Variation VI (male solo), and Variation IV. He and Danilova choreographed the finale together. The original was a full evening’s ballet for more than two hundred performers; the Balanchine-Danilova version lasted three-quarters of an evening, omitting much of the Petipa mime, and used the entire Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo company of about forty dancers. Frederic Franklin was scheduled to dance Jean de Brienne on opening night, but was injured. The central pas de deux from the Act III PAS CLASSIQUE HONGROIS, usually called Pas de Deux from Raymonda (and as often credited to Petipa as to Balanchine, who staged the Petipa choreography for Diaghilev in 1925), is frequently performed by a ballerina and cavalier as a concert piece. In 1955, Balanchine choreographed Pas de Dix [309] for the New York City Ballet, using much of the PAS CLASSIQUE HONGROIS music, but adding a fast finale (coda). The choreography, for the most part new, retained VARIATION III exactly; VARIATION VII (ballerina solo) was retained in essence, although made more brilliant and sultry. In 1973, Balanchine incorporated this version of VARIATION VII into Cortège Hongrois [384], a new work for the New York City Ballet using much of the Pas de Dix music. In 1961, Balanchine choreographed a completely different work to other selections from the Raymonda score for the New York City Ballet: Valses et Variations [339, retitled Raymonda Variations in 1963].
Additional Productions
Revisions

(material from Act III divertissements performed under varying Raymonda titles [distinct from Valses et Variations (339, later retitled Raymonda Variations)]; most stagings include material from Pas De Dix [309]; choreography often not credited to Balanchine):

1959   Washington Ballet
1961   American Ballet Theatre (titled Grand Pas—Glazounov)
1962   Ballet de San Juan
1964   National Ballet (Washington, D.C.)
1967   Oklahoma City Ballet
1969   Minnesota Dance Theater
1970   North Carolina Dance Theatre
1972   Delta Festival Ballet
1974   Chicago City Ballet (Closed)
1975   Fairfax Ballet (Virginia)
1977   Cincinnati Ballet
1977   Louisville Ballet
1978   Maryland Ballet
1979   Princeton Ballet (New Jersey)
1980   Atlanta Ballet (until 1968 known as Atlanta Civic Ballet)
1982   Tulsa Ballet Theatre

Additional information about the conception of the ballet provided by Balanchine, Alexandra Danilova; additional revisions information provided by Frederic Franklin, Robert Lindgren, Nikita Talin, Maria Tallchief; additional stagings information provided by Lew Christensen, Frederic Franklin; structure of Pas de Dix clarified by Maria Tallchief. Additional information provided by Doug Fullington.