The George Balanchine Foundation
Balanchine Catalogue
Balanchine Catalogue
Balanchine Catalogue Archive

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  • Music
Richard Rodgers (from On Your Toes, 1936, with new orchestration by Hershy Kay)
  • Choreography
George Balanchine
  • Production
Scenery and lighting by Jo Mielziner, executed by Feller Scenery Studios. Costumes by Irene Sharaff
  • Premiere
May 2, 1968, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater. Conductor: Robert Irving. (Preview: Annual New York City Ballet Gala Benefit, April 30.)
  • Cast
Hoofer, Arthur Mitchell; Strip Tease Girl, Suzanne Farrell; Big Boss, Michael Steele; 2 Bartenders; Thug; 3 Policemen; Morosine, Premier Danseur Noble, Earle Sieveling; Gangster; 7 Ladies of the Ballet; 4 Gentlemen of the Ballet
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
  • *166. On Your Toes,
    186. On Your Toes
View Listings
Note
Originally choreographed in 1936 for the Broadway musical On Your Toes, the ballet was mounted for the New York City Ballet as a separate work, following the original ideas but with different steps. Mitchell created some of his own dance material, as Ray Bolger undoubtedly had done in On Your Toes.
Additional Productions
Stagings

1991   Reagle Players (Massachusetts)
1992   Lyric Theatre
1992   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
1994   Kansas City Ballet
1997   Pennsylvania Ballet
1997   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
1998   Cincinnati Ballet
1999   Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
2000   Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet
2000   Miami City Ballet
2000   North Carolina Dance Theatre
2002   Ballet Arizona
2002   Boston Ballet
2002   Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
2004   Ballet Arizona
2004   Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse
2004   Pennsylvania Ballet
2007   The Suzanne Farrell Ballet
2008   Oregon Ballet Theatre
2009   Pacific Northwest Ballet
2010   Miami City Ballet
2010   Kansas City Ballet
2011   Pennsylvania Ballet
2012   Ballet de Capitale Toulouse
2012   Suzanne Farrell Ballet
2014   Birmingham Royal Ballet
2015   Nevada Ballet Theatre
2016   Richmond Ballet
2017   Pacific Northwest Ballet
2019   Miami City Ballet
2020   Washington Ballet
2022   Ballet Arizona

Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2001, Winstar TV & Video, Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse (rehearsal excerpt)
Film
1996, Seahorse Films, Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse (rehearsal excerpt)
Source Notes

Arthur Mitchell

  • Music
Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Musical direction by Leo F. Forbstein
  • Choreography
George Balanchine
  • Production
Warner Brothers. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, Jack L. Warner, and Robert Lord (associate). Directed by Ray Enright. Screenplay by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay from the Broadway show by George Abbott, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart. Cinematography by James Wong Howe and Sol Polito (SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE). Film editing by Clarence Kolster. Art direction by Robert M. Haas. Costumes by Orry-Kelly.
  • Cast
Vera, Vera Zorina; Phil Dolan, Jr., Eddie Albert; Sergei Alexandrovitch, Alan Hale; Konstantine Morrosine, Erik Rhodes; Phil Dolan, Sr., James Gleason; Mrs. Dolan, Queenie Smith; Peggy Porterfield, Gloria Dickson; Ivan Boultonoff, Leonid Kinsky; Phil Jr. as a boy, Donald O’Connor; and others. LA PRINCESSE ZENOBIA BALLET: Vera Zorina and others.
SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE BALLET: Zorina, Eddie Albert; Lew Christensen, André Eglevsky, and others.
Performance Type
Film
See Also
  • *166. On Your Toes,
    361. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
View Listings
Note
Balanchine directed the filming and editing of his dance sequences. He described the choreography as essentially the same as that for the stage play of 1936.
Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2004, Kultur, Balanchine (SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE [excerpt])
Film
Released 1939
Source Notes

Balanchine, Beth Genné, Frank Ries

All photos unless otherwise indicated are courtesy of The New York Public Library/Martha Swope or Costas.
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Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust.
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Balanchine in front of the curtain in a blue jacket and plaid pants after a performance of Union Jack
George Balanchine
Heather Watts in a penché, supported by Mel Tomlinson in a performance of Agon
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Kyra Nichols amidst a corps of dancers all reaching to the side of stage in tulle skirts in a performance of Scotch Symphony
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