303. Western Symphony 1954

Hershy Kay (1954, commissioned by the New York City Ballet; themes: ‘Red River Valley,’ ‘Old Taylor,’ ‘Rye Whiskey,’ ‘Lolly-Too-Dum,’ ‘Good Night, Ladies,’ ‘Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,’ ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me’)

George Balanchine

Lighting by Jean Rosenthal

September 7, 1954, New York City Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama, New York. Conductor: Leon Barzin

FIRST MOVEMENT, ALLEGRO: Diana Adams, Herbert Bliss, 8 women, 4 men;
SECOND MOVEMENT, ADAGIO: Janet Reed, Nicholas Magallanes, 4 women;
THIRD MOVEMENT, SCHERZO: Patricia Wilde, André Eglevsky, 4 women;
FOURTH MOVEMENT, RONDO: Tanaquil Le Clercq, Jacques d’Amboise, 4 couples

Performance Type

Ballet

Video Archives Recording

The George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive (THIRD MOVEMENT, SCHERZO) 2020

Note

A ballet deriving its flavor and character from the American West while moving rigorously within the framework of classical dance technique and the symphony form. Initially presented without scenery, in practice clothes.

Additional Productions

Revisions

New Productions by Balanchine Companies

New York City Ballet: 1955, scenery by John Boyt (executed by Eugene B. Dunkel Studios), costumes by Karinska; 1968, scenery and costumes renewed in the same style, executed by Nolan Scenery Studios and Karinska.

Stagings

1975   Houston Ballet
1976   Geneva Ballet (Grand Theatre de Geneve [Ballet])
1978   Pennsylvania Ballet
1978   Zurich Ballet (Ballett des Opernhauses Zurich)
1981   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1981   San Francisco Ballet
1984   Ballet West
1986   Houston Ballet
1988   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1988   Pennsylvania Ballet
1989   Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
1990   Houston Ballet
1990   Pennsylvania Ballet
1991   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
1991   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
1993   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
1994   Hartford Ballet
1994   Miami City Ballet
1994   Milwaukee Ballet
1994   Pennsylvania Ballet
1995   Houston Ballet
1995   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
1996   Dance Theatre of Harlem
1996   Kansas City Ballet
1997   Colorado Ballet
1997   Miami City Ballet
1997   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1997   Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
1997   San Francisco Ballet
1997   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
1998   Ballet West
1998   Chautauqua Institution (New York)
1998   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
2000   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
2001   North Carolina Dance Theatre
2001   Pacific Northwest Ballet
2002   Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
2002   Miami City Ballet
2002   Sacramento Ballet
2004   Birmingham Royal Ballet
2005   Ballet West
2005   Star Dancers Ballet Company
2005   State Ballet of Georgia
2006   Houston Ballet
2006   Miami City Ballet
2006   Pennsylvania Ballet
2006   Sacramento Ballet
2006   Tulsa Ballet Theatre
2011   Los Angeles Ballet
2011   Miami City Ballet
2013   Sacramento Ballet
2014   Ballet Arizona
2014   Tbilisi Ballet
2015   Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
2015   St. Louis Ballet
2016   Louisville Ballet
2017   Ballet Arizona
2017   Nevada Ballet Theatre
2017   Pennsylvania Ballet
2017   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
2018   Los Angeles Ballet
2018   Nashville Ballet
2019   Sarasota Ballet
2019   Star Dancers Ballet Company
2021 Alabama Ballet
2021 Star Dancers Ballet Company
2022 Star Dancers Ballet Company

Recorded Performances

Videos/DVD

1996, The Balanchine Library: The Balanchine Celebration, Part Two (FOURTH MOVEMENT, RONDO [1993]);
2004, Kultur, Balanchine (excerpts from SECOND MOVEMENT, ADAGIO; FOURTH MOVEMENT, RONDO);
2008, City Lights Media, Bringing Balanchine Back: The Historic Return to Russia (excerpts)

Film

1955, Monitor Productions

Television

1958 Rondo (Australian television)
1977 (French television, FR3, “Balanchine à Arc et Senans”)
1984 Rondo (PBS, Dance in America, “Balanchine”)
1990 [excluding third movement] (PBS, Dance in America, “Balanchine in America”)
1993 Rondo and finale (PBS, Dance in America, “The Balanchine Celebration”)
1993 (BBC 2 [London])