Balanchine Catalogue Archive
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136. Les Sept Péchés Capitaux 1933
- Music
Kurt Weill (Die sieben Todsünden, produced 1933, commissioned by Boris Kochno and Edward James). Text by Bertolt Brecht from a suggestion by Boris Kochno and Edward James
- Choreography
George Balanchine
- Production
Produced and directed by George Balanchine. Scenery and costumes by Caspar Rudolph Neher
- Premiere
June 7, 1933, Les Ballets 1933, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Conductor: Maurice Abravanel
- Cast
The Two Annas, Lotte Lenya (singer), Tilly Losch; The Family, Heinrich Gretler, Otto Pasetti, Albert Peters, Erich Ruchs (singers); corps de ballet. Singers and dancers appeared together on stage.
I. Introduction. II. Sloth. III. Pride. IV. Anger. V. Gluttony. VI. Lust. VII. Avarice. VIII. Envy
I. Introduction. II. Sloth. III. Pride. IV. Anger. V. Gluttony. VI. Lust. VII. Avarice. VIII. Envy
Performance Type
Ballet
Note
An ironic morality play, the story of Anna who leaves Louisiana to travel across the United States intending to make her fortune and build a family home. Anna-Anna’s double nature is portrayed by a dancer and a singer; in cabaret-style song and dance with pantomime, the two performers dramatize the opposing tendencies of Anna’s nature, idealism and cynicism, generosity and meanness. As she goes from city to city (with her family onstage intoning Lutheran pieties) she betrays her art for success, love for money, justice for power.
Additional Productions
Other Versions
1958, New York City Ballet (The Seven Deadly Sins)
Source Notes
Boris Kochno
