Balanchine Black & White included three different ballets: Agon (Stravinsky), Apollo (Stravinsky), and Concerto Barocco (Bach), three of George Balanchine’s best-loved works which display simple, aesthetic costumes of leotards and leggings in black and white, in contrast to the ornate, classical-style ballets of the era that preceded these works. But this spring season offers a binge in the best sense of the word. Concerto Barocco premiered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1941. In 1928 a 24-year-old Balanchine created Apollon Musagte (today's Apollo), a distillation of the young god and three of his muses danced to a refined score for strings by Igor Stravinsky. By Dan Meyer, Ryan McPhee, Bethany Rickwald | 04/09/2021. By Christina Campodonico. New York City Ballet went back to basics this week with its “Black and White” program. In particular, by examining the interracially-cast duet from the ballet Agon (1957) as a visual case study, we may see how Balanchine{\textquoteright}s rejections of the concept, amplified by critics{\textquoteright} vague terminological invocations of, or silence about, abstractive choreographic gestures, occluded the work{\textquoteright}s participation in the discourse of abstraction. Choreographer George Balanchine was known for rejecting the premise that his ballets were abstract. moniker for George Balanchine's abstract masterpieces in black and white that defined the style and soul of the Company he created. Balanchine, in turn, famously referred to Agon as his IBM ballet: "precise, like a machine, but a machine that thinks.". By turns romantic and jazzy, its seven sections are full of sensuous intertwinings and formal architectural patterns. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. His influential words found response in dance critical writing, where the term “abstract” continued to circulate, but was often applied in vague ways, such as “so-called abstraction.” This and other softened versions of the term formed an ambiguous collection of terms, like a vague word cloud around the dance concept. There’s still time to sign up for the latest online Ballet Connoisseurship sessions on Balanchine’s black and white ballets. Los Angeles Ballet takes on three of Balanchine’s black and white masterpieces. In particular, by examining the interracially-cast duet from the ballet Agon (1957) as a visual case study, we may see how Balanchine’s rejections of the concept, amplified by critics’ vague terminological invocations of, or silence about, abstractive choreographic gestures, occluded the work’s participation in the discourse of abstraction. New York City Ballet’s spring season, which opened Tuesday, is starting with what it calls Balanchine Black & White Week, comprising a dozen of these hard-core ballets. The Balanchine Black & White The Perfect Pairing Stravinsky Violin Concerto + a Blanchine White Russian. ... Graham, 2 and it was suggestive to compare the pieces’ reception then to what it might be now, if we could see the ballets with fresh eyes. His influential words found response in dance critical writing, where the term “abstract” continued to circulate, but was often applied in vague ways, such as “so-called abstraction.” This and other softened versions of the term formed an ambiguous collection of terms, like a vague word cloud around the dance concept. Simultaneously, unnoticed yet potent choreographic gestures of semantic abstraction may have promoted whiteness as a normative structure, one that relies on a hegemonic “bodily integrity” (as discussed by Saidiya Hartman). Throughout the rest of his career he circled back to this minimalist aesthetic, following a tutu ballet, a suite of waltzes, or a spectacle choreographed to Sousa marches or British hornpipes with a stark new black and white creation. New York City Ballet opened its 50th-anniversary season at the New York State Theater with a "Balanchine Black + White" celebration, Jan. 5-10. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, UR - https://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/dance_abstraction, IS - Special Issue: Dance and Abstraction. download. "There's no story so I'm more free to Together, Balanchine and Stravinsky designed the structure of the ballet during the creation of the music. New York City Ballet audiences are accustomed to seeing black and white ballets punctuate programs of dances by Balanchine and other choreographers. Twelve pivotal works open New York City Ballet's spring season.In these inimitable compositions, Balanchinezeroed in on the raw essentials: music and dance: strippingaway fancy costumes and scenery along with a host ofaccepted ideas of what constitutes a ballet. A full spectrum of Balanchine's black and white ballets. N2 - Abstract: Choreographer George Balanchine was known for rejecting the premise that his ballets were abstract. In these inimitable compositions, Balanchine zeroed in on the raw essentials: music and dance: stripping away fancy costumes and scenery along with a host of accepted ideas of what constitutes a ballet. Audra McDonald, Chita Rivera, Mandy Patinkin, More Celebrate, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Hudson, Dr. Fauci, More Will Appear in COVID-19 Vaccine NBC Special, Explore London's West End From Your Home April 18, Playbill Vault's Today in Theatre History: April 18, Scott Rudin Says He Will ‘Step Back’ From Broadway After Abuse Allegations, Let Lin-Manuel Miranda Take You on a Tour of the ‘Greatest City in the World’, Back on the Road: National Tours Begin to Schedule 2021-2022 Stops Across the Country, Industry Members, Artists, More Begin to Speak Out After The Hollywood Reporter Publishes Abuse Allegations Against Scott Rudin, 17 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch On Stage From Home, Celebrating the Legacy of Rebecca Luker on the Stage. Balanchine Black & White Ballets. Black and White is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master, subsequently ballet master in chief, Peter Martins to some of Michael Torke's eponymous music which was commissioned for City Ballet's American Music Festival; the premiere took place on 7 May 1988 at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center. Visual theories of “semantic abstraction" by Harald Osborne, and of “the gesture of abstraction” by Blake Stimson, may help us to understand the abstractive modes in several of Balanchine’s black-and-white ballets. T1 - The Balanchine Dilemma: So-Called Abstraction and the Rhetoric of Circumvention in Black and White Ballets, N2 - Abstract: Choreographer George Balanchine was known for rejecting the premise that his ballets were abstract. On February 27, 2020, The Broad Stage presented Los Angeles Ballet’s, “Balanchine Black and White” The evening’s offering of three Balanchine’s early masterpieces, Agon, Apollo and Concerto Barocco was a welcome remembrance. 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