Emmanuel Chabrier (Dix Pièces Pittoresques, 1880 [piano pieces, some orchestrated by Chabrier, others by Vittorio Rieti] and the third of the Trois Valses Romantiques for piano, 1883 [orchestrated by Rieti]). Book by Boris Kochno
Choreography
George Balanchine
Production
Scenery and costumes by Christian Bérard. Scenery executed by Prince A. Schervashidze; women’s costumes executed by Karinska, men’s costumes executed by Lidvall
Premiere
April 12, 1932, Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Conductor: Pierre Kolpikoff. (Preview: January 17, 1932, Ballets [Russes] de Monte-Carlo, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, with George Balanchine in the role later danced by David Lichine. Conductor: Marc-César Scotto.)
Cast
THE TOILETTE: THE BALLROOM, WHERE THE FINAL PREPARATIONS ARE INTERRUPTED BY THE ARRIVAL OF GUESTS: Tamara Toumanova, Natalie Strakhova, David Lichine; THE INTRODUCTIONS: Valentina Blinova, 12 women, 6 men; THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES RUNS IN LATE: Léon Woizikowsky; THE PLEASURE GARDEN: THE MASTER AND MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES DEMONSTRATE THE FIGURES OF THE FIRST DANCE, WHICH ARE REPEATED BY ALL THE GUESTS: Blinova, Woizikowsky, corps de ballet; NEW ENTRÉE AND DANCE OF HATS: Harlequins, Jockeys, and Spaniards, Toumanova, Strakhova, 4 women; Lichine, 2 men; THE HANDS OF FATE: THE CAVALIER COMES UP TO THE CURTAIN TO CHOOSE ONE OF THE HANDS THAT ARE REVEALED ABOVE IT, BUT IS STOPPED BY THE SUDDEN APPARITION OF A HAND GLOVED IN BLACK: Lubov Rostova, Valentin Froman; THE MAGIC LANTERN: A YOUNG GIRL TELLS THE FORTUNES OF THE GUESTS; APPEARANCE OF THE BAT AND THE CUP OF CHAMPAGNE: Toumanova, Blinova, Rostova, Froman, Lichine, corps de ballet; GRAND ROND AND END OF COTILLION: Entire cast
Amid the program of festivities at a cotillion, Fate appears in the guise of a vampire wearing black gloves. A Young Girl telling fortunes is rebuffed by the Mistress of Ceremonies and runs off, but reappears to lead the Grand Rond in which she pirouettes around the ballroom by herself, until the guests join her spinning and the curtain falls. The preview performance marked the debut of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which within six weeks became the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo. Cotilion and Balanchine’s other major work for the company, La Concurrence, were performed by the several Ballets Russes companies in Europe, North America, Australia (and in the case of Cotillon, South America) until 1939 (La Concurrence) and well into the 1940s (Cotillon), among other things providing the base for Balanchine’s early reputation in the United States. In 1967, Balanchine choreographed Chabrier’s Trois Valses Romantiques for the New York City Ballet.
