521 performances, followed by national tour. Created during Balanchine’s year-long association with the New Opera Company, dedicated to producing opera in English, for which he choreographed opera divertissements and mounted a production of Ballet Imperial.
PROLOGUE: A mimed bat sequence with cape for Todd Bolender, ending with his jumping through a window.
WAITERS DANCE (Act I): Todd Bolender, Douglas Coudy.
BALLETS IN BALLROOM SCENE, INCLUDING GRAND WALTZ
FINALE (Act II): Mary Ellen Moylan, José Limón, ensemble.
DREAM PANTOMIME: DANCE OF DRUNKEN GENTLEMEN IN PRISON (Act III): Paul Best, male ensemble, ‘ballerina,’ dancing couples.

Originally presented by the American Ballet, New York, 1935. At the invitation of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed American Ballet Caravan, bringing together members of the former American Ballet and of Ballet Caravan for a five-months tour of South America. Serenade was presented in repertory with other ballets, including Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, Concerto Barocco, Divertimento, Errante, Apollo, The Bat, and Fantasia Brasileira.

Balanchine conceived The Bat as a couple, a man and a woman, each wearing a huge spangled wing. The ballet is an evocation of Vienna, set in a park; a young poet seeking inspiration is confounded by two beautiful but identical ladies; a band of Gypsies invades the scene. At the end the park is empty, except for the shadow of The Bat.
The Bat was the first independent ballet choreographed by Balanchine at the Metropolitan while the American Ballet Ensemble was in residence. It was performed about a dozen times over the next two seasons.