28. Chorus Reading 1923
George Balanchine
Late 1923 [?], Young Ballet, Duma, Petrograd
10-12 members of the Young Ballet
Performance Type
Ballet
Note
Choreography by Balanchine to the chanting of Alexander Blok’s The Twelve and other poems by a chorus of fifty voices, without music, with the performers dressed in national costumes. This was a single number in an evening of works, the rest of which had music. No certain information regarding the premiere date or location has been obtained; the suggested date is provided by Bernard Taper in his biography of Balanchine. Possibly this work and others as yet undocumented were first performed on the second program of the Young Ballet. Pëtr Gusev recalled that this work, with Marche Funèbre [19], was given on a program at the Cineselli Circus, Petrograd, by the Young Ballet.