Felix Mendelssohn (Overture and incidental music to Ein Sommernachtstraum, Opp. 21 and 61, 1826, 1842; Overture to Athalie, Op. 74, 1845; Concert overture Die schöne Melusine, Op. 32, 1833; Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Op. 60; Symphony No. 9 for strings [first three of four movements], 1823; Overture to Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, Op. 89, 1829)
Choreography
George Balanchine
Production
Scenery and lighting by David Hays, assisted by Peter Harvey. Costumes by Karinska
Premiere
January 17, 1962, New York City Ballet with children from the School of American Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama, New York. Conductor: Robert Irving. Singers: Veronica Tyler (soprano), Marija Kova (mezzo-soprano), 4 women
Cast
ACT I: Butterflies, Suki Schorer, 4 women, 8 children; Puck, Arthur Mitchell; Helena, in love with Demetrius, Jillana; Oberon, King of the Fairies, Edward Villella; Oberon’s Pages; Titania, Queen of the Fairies, Melissa Hayden; Titania’s Cavalier, Conrad Ludlow; Titania’s Page; Bottom, a Weaver, Roland Vazquez; Bottom’s Companions, 4 men; Theseus, Duke of Athens, Francisco Moncion; Courtiers to Theseus; Hermia, in love with Lysander, Patricia McBride; Lysander, beloved of Hermia, Nicholas Magallanes; Demetrius, Suitor to Hermia, Bill Carter; Titania’s Retinue, 12 women; Oberon’s Kingdom: Butterflies and Fairies, 13 children; Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Gloria Govrin; Hippolyta’s Hounds, 6 women; ACT II: Courtiers, 18 women, 8 men; DIVERTISSEMENT: Violette Verdy, Ludlow, 6 couples
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
215.1. [Dances for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'], 319. A Midsummer Night's Dream
Balanchine’s first wholly original full-length ballet. Act I relates the story of Shakespeare’s play. Act II is a wedding celebration, concluding with a brief return to the enchanted forest, Shakespeare’s ending.
Additional Productions
Revisions
New York City Ballet: Act II, third movement of Symphony No. 9 deleted almost immediately; 1964, Act II, new choreography for courtiers, DIVERTISSEMENT shortened (to first two movements of Symphony No. 9, omitting second movement fugue); 1978, Act I, new choreography for Hippolyta’s Hounds.
New Productions by Balanchine Companies
New York City Ballet: 1964, scenery and costumes redesigned by David Hays and Karinska for the New York State Theater, with color scheme in Act II changed from white and gold to red; 1980, scenery adapted by David Hays to facilitate use in repertory, lighting by Ronald Bates.
1971 Geneva Ballet (Grand Theatre de Geneve [Ballet])
1979 Zurich Ballet (Ballett des Opernhauses Zurich)
1984 San Francisco Ballet
1986 Pennsylvania Ballet
1997 Open Stage of Harrisburg
1997 Pacific Northwest Ballet
1999 Pennsylvania Ballet
1999 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)
2000 Pacific Northwest Ballet
2001 Ballet de Santiago
2001 Ballet West
2002 Longview Ballet Theater
2003 Pacific Northwest Ballet
2003 Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
2004 Carolina Ballet
2004 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
2004 Washington Ballet
2005 Mid-Columbia Regional Ballet
2006 Pennsylvania Ballet
2007 Boston Ballet
2007 Pacific Northwest Ballet
2007 Teatro alla Scala
2008 Pacific Northwest Ballet
2011 Boston Ballet
2011 Teatro alla Scala
2012 Mariinsky Ballet
2013 Pennsylvania Ballet
2014 Nevada Ballet Theatre
2014 Pacific Northwest Ballet
2015 Mariinsky Ballet
2016 Ballet Augsburg
2016 Carolina Ballet (Act 1 Only)
2016 Miami City Ballet
2017 Paris Opera Ballet
2017 Teatro alla Scala
2020 San Francisco Ballet
Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2001, Winstar TV & Video, Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse (brief excerpts of Titania’s two pas de deux); 2001, BBC/Opus Arte (Complete [1999]); 2004, Kultur, Balanchine (pas de deux for Titania and Bottom)
Film
1965, Association Films, Watching Ballet (Act II DIVERTISSEMENT pas de deux [1963]); 1967, Oberon Productions [1966]; 1996, Seahorse Films, Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse (brief excerpts of Titania’s two pas de deux)
n.d. (pas de deux from Divertissement , German television)
1965 film, New York City Ballet [abridged]
1967 film (WSBK, Boston)
1986 (PBS, Great Performances/Live from Lincoln Center)
1999 (BBC [London])
Jacques d’Amboise remembers an outdoor performance on a garden platform in New Jersey or Long Island in 1943 with Balanchine choreography to Mendelssohn music. D’Amboise, eight years old, played Puck; Tanaquil Le Clercq and five other young girls were nymphs.
