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]
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.
