Roles Performed by Balanchine Archive
Search by ballet name, year, choreographer, composer or production details.
1915 The Sleeping Beauty
- Dance/Role
PEASANT [GARLAND] WALTZ (Act I); CUPID (Act III). 1915-17 also RETINUE OF CARABOSSE (Prologue); PAS D’ACTION (Act I); HOP O’ MY THUMB AND THE SEVEN BROTHERS (Act III)
- Composer
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
- Choreography
Marius Petipa
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
Balanchine’s first appearance on stage was in a performance of The Sleeping Beauty.
Source
Balanchine, p. 746; Slonimsky, p.24
1916 La Jota Aragonesa
- Dance/Role
ROLE UNDETERMINED
- Composer
Mikhail Glinka
- Choreography
Michael Fokine
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
First character role
Source
Balanchine, p. 749; Taper, p. 49
1917 Tarantella
- Dance/Role
DUET with Mara Dolinskaya
- Composer
Unknown
- Choreography
Unknown
- Production
Alexandrinsky Theater, Petrograd
Source
Petrogradskaya gazeta, January 4, 1917, p. 4
1917 The Bear [Medved']
- Dance/Role
OLD MAN
- Production
Theater (Ballet) School, Petrograd
Note
Play by Anton Chekhov
Source
Taper, p. 45; Kisselgoff, New York Times, November 10, 1975; Balanchine
1917 Don Quixote
- Dance/Role
SPANISH BOY (Act I)
- Composer
Ludwig Minkus
- Choreography
Marius Petipa
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Slonimsky, p. 23
1917 The Fairy Doll
- Dance/Role
MARCH OF THE TOY SOLDIERS ; later PAS DE TROIS with O. Barysheva and Nicholas Efimov (performance location undetermined)
- Composer
Josef Bayer
- Choreography
Nikolai and Sergei Legat
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
Later performed with Lydia Ivanova and Efimov in the Chinese theater at Tsarskoye Selo.
Source
Slonimsky, p. 24; Slonimsky, p. 43
1917 La Fille du Pharaon
- Dance/Role
MONKEY
- Composer
Cesare Pugni
- Choreography
Marius Petipa
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
First named role in a printed program
Source
Taper, p. 47
1917 A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Dance/Role
BUG
- Composer
Felix Mendelssohn
- Production
Mikhailovsky Theater, Petrograd
Note
Play by William Shakespeare
Source
Balanchine, p. 749; Reynolds, p. 216
1917 The Nutcracker
- Dance/Role
TOY SOLDIER; MOUSE KING; CHILD PRINCE; GRAND DIVERTISSEMENT
- Composer
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
- Choreography
Lev Ivanov
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Balanchine, p. 748; Slonimsky, p. 23; Taper, p. 49
1917 Orfeo ed Euridice
- Dance/Role
FURY IN HADES
- Composer
Christoph Willibald Gluck
- Choreography
Michael Fokine
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
Also performed in 1919-20 season. Directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold.
Source
Balanchine, p. 749; Slonimsky, p. 38; Krasovskaya
1917 Paquita
- Dance/Role
MAZURKA (Act III)
- Composer
Edouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus
- Choreography
Marius Petipa
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Slonimsky, p. 23; Balanchine
1917 Le Pavillon d'Armide
- Dance/Role
JESTER
- Composer
Alexander Tcherepnine
- Choreography
Michael Fokine
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Reynolds; Balanchine
1917 Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
- Dance/Role
YOUNG BOY
- Composer
Alexander Borodin
- Choreography
Michael Fokine
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Slonimsky, p. 24
1917 Professor Storitsyn
- Dance/Role
YOUNG STUDENT
- Production
Alexandrinsky Theater, Petrograd
Note
Play by Leonid Andreyev
Source
Balanchine, p. 749; Kisselgoff, New York Times, November 10, 1975
1917 Raymonda
- Dance/Role
DANCE OF THE ARAB BOYS (Act Il)
- Composer
Alexander Glazounov
- Choreography
Marius Petipa
- Production
Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Slonimsky, p. 23
1917 The Storm or The Thunderstorm [Groza]
- Dance/Role
ROLE UNDETERMINED
- Production
Theater (Ballet) School, Petrograd
Note
Play by Alexander Ostrovsky
Source
Taper, p. 45
1917 Woe from Wit or Wit Works Woe or The Trouble with Reason [Gore ot uma]
- Dance/Role
CHATSKY
- Production
Alexandrinsky and/or Theater (Ballet) School, Petrograd
Note
Play by Alexander Griboyedov
Source
Taper, p. 45; Slonimsky, p. 24; Kisselgoff, New York Times, November 10, 1975
1918 Nightingale
- Dance/Role
ROLE UNDETERMINED
- Composer
Igor Stravinsky
- Choreography
Unknown
- Production
State Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Note
Premiere
Source
Slonimsky, p. 76
1919 Enemy Force
- Dance/Role
ROLE UNDETERMINED
- Production
State Maryinsky Theater, Petrograd*
Source
Slonimsky, p. 46
1919 Gypsy Dance
- Dance/Role
ENSEMBLE
- Composer
Unknown
- Choreography
Unknown
- Production
Theater (Ballet) School, Mikhailovsky
Note
Exam performance of Petrograd Theater (Ballet) School
Source
Maryinsky, p. 45
*The official theater where Balanchine danced in Russia was known as the Maryinsky Theater until
1917 and between 1918 and 1920 as the State Marysinky Theater. In 1920 it became the State
(Academic) Theater of Opera and Ballet.
Full citations for published sources other than printed programs are given in the Bibliography. When
no page numbers are given, the source is unpublished.
