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NAQT Ballets




Appalachian Spring
Ballet by Aaron Copland (1944)
Choreographed by Martha Grahm
Name from Hart Crane's poem 'The Bridge'
About a group of pioneers in PA
First performed in the Library of Congress

Billy the Kid
Ballet by Aaron Copland (1938)
Choreographed by Eugene Loring
Main character's mother is accidentally killed, he kills killer, is eventually killed at the end

The Creation of the World
Ballet by Darius Milhaud (1923)

Choreographed by Jean Börlin
Shows creation according to African tradition
Inspired by jazz and tradition African rythms
No violas, has an alto sax

The Creatures of Prometheus
Ballet by Beethoven (1801)

Choreographed by Salvatore Viganò, who asked Beethoven to write it for Austrian empress Maria Theresa
2 statues come to life and Prometheus shows them the 'passions of human life'

Daphnis and Chloe
Ballet by Maurice Ravel (1912)

Choreographed by Michel Fokine
Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev
Based on only surviving work by Longus
Starts with title characters giving offerings to statues of the Nymphs

Fancy Free
Ballet by Leonard Bernstein (1944)

Choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Inspired by Paul Cadmus's painting The Fleet's In!
3 sailors in NY who meet 2 women and dance to see who will date them, no one wins and the girls leave
Super succesful, turned into a movie and musical called 'On the Town'

The Firebird
Ballet by Igor Stravinsky (1910)

Choreographed by Michel Fokine
Prince Ivan captures the title animal, and she offers a feather to Ivan if he releases her. Later, he finds 13 princesses who are imprisoned by Kashchei the Immortal

Giselle
Ballet by Adolphe Adam (1841)

Choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perot
Written for Perot's lover Carlotta Grisi
The title character, a peasant girl, falls in love with Loys, who is secretly Duke Albrecht of Silesia. She does the He loves me (not) game with a flower. She goes insane by the end and dies of a broken heart

The Miraculous Mandarin
Ballet by Belá Bartók (1926)

Based on a story by Melchior Lengyel
Robbers have a girl dance in their apartment windows to lure people, lure the title character and kill him, he starts to glow

Gayane
Ballet by Aram Khachaturian (1942)

Choreographed by Nina Aleksandrovna Anisimova
Title character lives on a co-op farm w/ her husband and father, husband is abusive, she gets him arrested as an anti-Soviet spy and marries a soldier.
Adagio movement was used in 2001: a space odessey

La Péri
Ballet by Paul Dukas (1912)

Choreographed by Ivan Clustine
Alexander the Great (Iksender) is searching Iran for the Flower of Immortality. He finds it in the hands of the sleeping title character, who awakens, and seduces Iksender, who surrenders the flower.

Petrushka
Ballet by Igor Stravinsky (1911)

Choreographed by Michel Fokine
3 puppets, title, the ballerina, and the moor are brought to life by a magician. Title character loves the ballerina, who loves the moor, who kills the title character. The title character then haunts the magician.

Pulchina
Ballet by Igor Stravinsky (1920)

Choreographed by Léonide Massine
Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev
Title character, who has a lover, Pimpinella, kisses a girl, Rosetta, which angers Pimpinella and the suitors of Rosetta and Prudenza, who beat him up/'kill' him. Its actually his friend, Furbo, and he isn't dead. Then Pimpinella forgives him (?) and they get married

The Rite of Spring
Ballet by Igor Stravinsky (1913)

Choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky
In 2 parts, 'The Adoration of the Earth' and 'The Sacrifice.'
Ends with a girl being forced to dance to her death
A riot broke out at the Paris premier

Rodeo
Ballet by Aaron Copland (1942)

Choreographed by Agnes DeMille
Tomboy Cowgirl in the West falls in love with the Head Rangler, who likes the Rancher's Daughter. The Cowgirl eventually kisses the Champion Roper
Hoe-down section was used in the Beef:it's whats for dinner commercials

Romeo and Juliet
Ballet by Sergei Prokofiev (1938)

Choreographed by Ivo Váña-Psota
Originally wanted them to survive, conductor Yuri Fayer talked him out of it
In 1940 choreographer Mark Morris revised it and used the original happy ending

Sleeping Beauty
Ballet by Tchaikovsky (1890)

Choreographed by Marius Petipa
Based on the fairy tale, but people like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella are in it too
Carabosse does the curse, not Maleficent
Prince Desire goes to the castle

Swan Lake
Ballet by Tchaikovsky (1867)

Choreographed by Julius Reisinger
Prince Siegfried turned 21, and his mom wants him to get a wife. He goes hunting and almost shoots a swan, but it turns into a woman (Odette) who was cursed by von Rothbart. Someone who has never loved must declare love for her.

The Three-cornered Hat
Ballet by Manuel de Falla (1919)
Based on a novella by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón
Costumes designed by Picasso
A magistrate tries to seduce a Miller's wife, the Miller beats him, the magistrate gets the Miller arrested.