Balanchine Catalogue Archive
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156. Rigoletto 1935
Opera in Four Acts by Giuseppe Verdi
ACT I INCIDENTAL DANCE
- Music
Giuseppe Verdi
- Choreography
George Balanchine
- Premiere
December 28, 1935, Metropolitan Opera, New York. Danced by American Ballet Ensemble. Conductor: Ettore Panizza
- Cast
Corps de ballet
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
121. Rigoletto 1932
Opera in Four Acts by Giuseppe Verdi
ACT I DIVERTISSEMENT
- Music
Giuseppe Verdi
- Choreography
George Balanchine
- Premiere
February 23, 1932, Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Danced by Ballets [Russes] de Monte-Carlo. Conductor: Michel Steiman
- Cast
4 couples
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
Source Notes
Choreography acknowledged by Balanchine
38. Carmen 1925
Opera in Four Acts by Georges Bizet
ACT II SEGUIDILLA
- Music
Georges Bizet
- Choreography
George Balanchine
- Premiere
January 25, 1925, Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Danced by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes
- Cast
4 couples
Performance Type
Ballet for Opera
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