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Opera in Five Acts by Charles Gounod ACT III, SCENE 1 WALPURGISNACHT BALLET
Charles Gounod
George Balanchine
June 3, 1975, Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris. Danced by Paris Opéra Ballet. Conductor: Michel Plasson
Claudette Scouarnec, Sylvie Clavier, Jean-Paul Gravier; Joysane Consoli, Janine Guiton, corps de ballet
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
See Also
Note
In 1980, the WALPURGISNACHT BALLET [413] entered the New York City Ballet repertory as an independent work.
Additional Productions
Revisions
1979, Chicago Lyric Opera: Ballerina variation rechoreographed.
Stagings

1979   Chicago Lyric Opera
1980   New York City Ballet (Walpurgisnacht Ballet only)

Source Notes

Maria Tallchief (Chicago)

From Gounod’s ‘Faust’
Charles Gounod (from Faust, produced with ballet music 1869)
George Balanchine. Staged by Brigitte Thom
Lighting by Ronald Bates
May 15, 1980, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater. Conductor: Robert Irving. (Preview: School of American Ballet Gala Benefit, January 24.)
Suzanne Farrell, Adam Lüders; Heather Watts; Stephanie Saland, Judith Fugate; 20 women
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
Note
alanchine’s presentation as an independent ballet of the work he originally staged as part of the Paris Opéra production of Gounod’s Faust [397] in 1975.
Additional Productions
Stagings

1975   Paris Opera Ballet
2006   North Carolina Dance Theatre
2010   City Ballet of San Diego
2011   Opera di Roma
2014   Ballet Arizona
2015   City Ballet of San Diego
2015   Suzanne Farrell Ballet
2016   Ballet Arizona
2017   Miami City Ballet
2017   Star Dancers Ballet Company (Japan)
2019   Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
2020   City Ballet of San Diego
2022   Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre

Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
1996, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: The Balanchine Celebration, Part One (pas de deux, 3 principals’ solos, finale)
Opera in Four Acts by Charles Gounod WALPURGISNACHT BALLET
Charles Gounod
George Balanchine
June 26, 1945, Ópera Nacional, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Danced by advanced students from the School of American Ballet and guest soloists. Conductor: Jean Morel
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
See Also
Note
Patricia Wilde remembers performing a solo. Marie-Jeanne remembers performing a pas de deux with Nicholas Magallanes.
Source Notes

Balanchine, Marie-Jeanne, Patricia Wilde

Opera in Four Acts and Five Scenes by Charles Gounod ACT I, SCENE 2 INCIDENTAL DANCE (KERMESSE)
Charles Gounod
George Balanchine
December 19, 1935, Metropolitan Opera, New York. Danced by American Ballet Ensemble. Conductor: Louis Hasselmans
Corps de ballet
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
See Also
Opera in Five Acts by Charles Gounod ACT II KERMESSE: VALSE
Charles Gounod
George Balanchine
February 13, 1932, Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Danced by Ballets [Russes] de Monte-Carlo. Conductor: Gabriel Grovlez
6 couples
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
See Also
Source Notes

Choreography acknowledged by Balanchine

Opera in Four Acts by Georges Bizet ACT II SEGUIDILLA
Georges Bizet
George Balanchine
January 25, 1925, Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Danced by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes
4 couples
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
See Also
Note
Diaghilev’s dancers were employed between ballet seasons as the resident company of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and his first assignments to Balanchine were opera divertissements. Balanchine has said that all choreography for operas in Monte Carlo during his tenure with Diaghilev was newly created by him; programs occasionally include no credits for choreography, and it may be that some dances by Nijinska, resident choreographer with Diaghilev at Monte Carlo in 1923 and 1924, remained during Balanchine’s early years. When choreography credits appear in the opera programs between 1925 and 1929, they are variously given as ‘Maître de ballet: Georges Balanchine,’ ‘Chorégraphie de Georges Balanchine,’ or ‘Ballet reglé par Georges Balanchine’; the significance of these differences is unknown.
Source Notes

Balanchine