The George Balanchine Foundation
Balanchine Catalogue
Balanchine Catalogue Archive

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Mikhail Glinka (Valse Fantaisie in B minor, 1839; orchestrated 1856)
George Balanchine
March 9, 1931, Sir Oswald Stoll’s Variety Shows, Coliseum
Doris Sonne, corps de ballet
Performance Type
Concert Works
See Also
Note
Balanchine choreographed works to this music in 1953 (Valse Fantaisie), and 1967 (as section of Glinkiana, soon after performed alone as Valse Fantaisie), both for the New York City Ballet.
(later called GLINKAIANA)
Mikhail Glinka
George Balanchine
Scenery, costumes, and lighting by Esteban Francés
November 23, 1967, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater. Conductor: Robert Irving
POLKA: Violette Verdy, Paul Mejia, 3 couples;
VALSE FANTAISIE: Mimi Paul, John Clifford, 4 women;
JOTA ARAGONESE: Melissa Hayden, 6 women, 8 men;
DIVERTIMENTO BRILLANTE: Patricia McBride, Edward Villella
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
Note
The curtain was lowered after each section and the décor changed. Glinkiana was seldom performed with the full four movements. From June 1,1969, VALSE FANTAISIE was presented as a separate work; the other movements were eliminated.
Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
1980, Direct Cinema Ltd., Man Who Dances: Edward Villella (DIVERTIMENTO BRILLANTE)
Film
1973, RM Productions (VALSE FANTAISIE);
1968, Direct Cinema Ltd., Man Who Dances: Edward Villella (DIVERTIMENTO BRILLANTE)
Television

1968 Divertimento Brillante (NBC, Bell Telephone Hour)
1968 Divertimento Brillante (CBC [Montreal], L’Heure du Concert)

Mikhail Glinka (Valse Fantaisie in B minor, 1839; orchestrated 1856)
George Balanchine
Costumes by Karinska. Lighting by Jean Rosenthal
January 6, 1953, New York City Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama, New York. Conductor: Leon Barzin
Diana Adams, Melissa Hayden, Tanaquil Le Clercq, Nicholas Magallanes
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
Note
The three ballerinas, wearing headdresses reminiscent of Glinka’s Russia, moved together in a perpetuum mobile, attended by the male dancer.
Additional Productions
Stagings

1958   Eglevsky Ballet Company
1964   Eglevsky Ballet Company
1970   Ballet de San Juan
1974   Cultural Center of the Philippines Dance Company
1982   New York Dance Theatre
1984   Pacific Northwest Ballet
1987   Miami City Ballet
1990   Miami City Ballet
1992   Miami City Ballet
1993   Miami City Ballet
1994   Lake Erie Ballet
1995   Miami City Ballet
1996   Miami City Ballet
1997   Miami City Ballet
1998   Greensboro Ballet
1998   Hartford Ballet
2021   Indianapolis Ballet
2021   St. Louis Ballet