George Balanchine Catalogue

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Introduction to the Database

Preface by Lincoln Kirstein
Background

Chronology: Life and Works
Roles Performed By Balanchine

Chronological Title List
Titles By Category

Festivals Directed By Balanchine
Bibliography
Filmography
Videography

Itineraries Undertaken by
Balanchine's American
Companies

Research Resources
Credits
Acknowledgments

Contact Us: information@balanchine.org

316. AGON

Music: By Igor Stravinsky (1953-56, commissioned by the New York City Ballet with funds from the Rockefeller Foundation and dedicated to Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine).

Choreography: By George Balanchine.

Production: Lighting by Nananne Porcher.

Premiere: December 1, 1957, New York City Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama, New York. Conductor: Leon Barzin. (Preview: March of Dimes Benefit, November 27.)

Cast: PART I: PAS DE QUATRE: 4 men; DOUBLE PAS DE QUATRE: 8 women; TRIPLE PAS DE QUATRE: 8 women, 4 men; PART II: FIRST PAS DE TROIS: SARABANDE: Todd Bolender; GAILLIARD: Barbara Milberg, Barbara Walczak; CODA: Milberg, Walczak, Bolender; SECOND PAS DE TROIS: BRANSLE SIMPLE: Roy Tobias, Jonathan Watts; BRANSLE GAY: Melissa Hayden; BRANSLE DOUBLE (DE POITOU): Hayden, Tobias, Watts; PAS DE DEUX: Diana Adams, Arthur Mitchell; PART III: DANSE DES QUATRE DUOS: 4 duos; DANSE DES QUATRE TRIOS: 4 trios; CODA: 4 men.

Note: Agon is the Greek word for contest; the movements of the ballet are named after French court dances. Although when commissioned the work was intended to complete a triad of ballets (with Apollo and Orpheus) on Greek themes, Stravinsky and Balanchine later noted that the historical references are pretexts. The composer and the choreographer together designed the structure of the ballet during the creation of the music. The outline for the score specifies in detail, with exact timings, the basic movements for twelve dancers.

Film: 1973, RM Productions; 1978, The Film Company, Peter Martins: A Dancer (PAS DE DEUX [excerpt]);1989, Seahorse Films, Dancing for Mr. B (PAS DE DEUX [excerpt]).

Video/DVD: 1995, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library:Dancing for Mr. B (PAS DE DEUX [excerpt]); 1996, Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: The Balanchine Celebration, Part Two (FIRST PAS DE TROIS, SECOND PAS DE TROIS, PAS DE DEUX [1993]); 2001, Kultur, Peter Martins: A Dancer (PAS DE DEUX [excerpt]); 2002, George Balanchine Foundation, Music Dances: Balanchine Choreographs Stravinsky (FIRST PAS DE TROIS; BRANSLE GAY; PAS DE DEUX [2001]); 2004, Kultur, Balanchine (PAS DE QUATRE [partial], PAS DE DEUX); 2008, City Lights Media, Bringing Balanchine Back: The Historic Return to Russia (PAS DE DEUX [excerpt]); 2014 Video Artists International, New York City Ballet in Montreal, Vol. 2 (complete recorded 1960).

Archival Video: George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive (PAS DE DEUX), 2005.

Revisions: 1960, New York City Ballet: GAILLIARD rechoreographed; 1970s, final arm sequence in GAILLIARD changed; final pose of ballet (in CODA) changed--four men face toward back of stage (repeating opening pose) rather than each other, following Stravinsky's original schematic manuscript indications in the outline for the score.

Television: show...

Source notes: hide...

Revisions information provided by Nancy Goldner, Stephanie Jordan, Leigh Witchel

Stagings: hide...

1963 Paris Opera Ballet

1965 Pacific Northwest Ballet

1967 San Francisco Ballet

1970 Ballett der Deutschen Oper (Berlin)

1970 Stuttgart Ballet

1970 Grand Theatre de Geneve Ballet (Geneva, Switzerland)

1971 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1971 Ballett der Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg, West Germany)

1973 Royal Ballet

1974 Paris Opera Ballet

1975 San Francisco Ballet

1976 Ballett der Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg, West Germany)

1977 Dutch National Ballet

1978 Zurich Ballet (Ballett des Opernhauses Zurich)

1979 Hungarian National Ballet

1981 Royal Ballet

1982 Aterballetto-Centro Regionale della Danza (Reggio Emilia, Italy)

1982 New York Dance Theatre

1984 Ballet du Nord (France)

1984 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1985 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1986 San Francisco Ballet

1987 Ballet de Basler Theatres (Switzerland)

1987 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1987 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1987 NAPAC Ballet (Natal Performing Arts Council—Durban, South Africa)

1987 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)

1988 Cleveland San Jose Ballet

1988 Dutch National Ballet

1988 PACT Ballet (Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal—Johannesburg, South Africa)

1988 Royal Danish Ballet

1989 Ballett des Stadtischen Bühnen (Frankfurt Opera)

1989 Ballet du Nord (France)

1989 Banff Center (Alberta, Canada)

1989 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1989 Royal Danish Ballet

1990 Ballet Oklahoma

1990 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)

1991 Ballet del Teatro Lirico Nacional (Madrid, Spain)

1991 Boston Ballet

1991 Cleveland San Jose Ballet

1991 Frankfurt Ballet

1991 Royal Ballet

1992 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1992 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1992 Pennsylvania Ballet

1992 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)

1993 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1993 Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo

1993 Pacific Northwest Ballet

1993 San Francisco Ballet

1994 Ballet de l'Opera du Rhin (Strasbourg, France)

1994 Cincinnati Ballet

1994 Dutch National Ballet

1994 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1994 Pennsylvania Ballet

1995 Ballett der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Munich)

1995 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

1995 Miami City Ballet

1995 Paris Opera Ballet

1995 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)

1995 Royal New Zealand Ballet

1996 Birmingham Royal Ballet/Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet

1996 Ballett der Deutschen Oper (Berlin)

1996 Houston Ballet

1996 Pacific Northwest Ballet

1996 Royal Ballet

1997 Dutch National Ballet

1997 Miami City Ballet

1997 PACT Ballet (Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal—Johannesburg, South Africa)

1997 Teatro Comunale (Florence, Italy)

1997 Teatro alla Scala (Milan)

1998 Ballet Arizona

1998 Ballet de l'Opera du Rhin (Strasbourg, France)

1998 San Francisco Ballet

1998 Texas Ballet (formerly Fort Worth Dallas Ballet)

1999 Bolshoi Ballet

1999 Dance Theatre of Harlem

1999 James Sewell Ballet (St. Paul, Minnesota)

1999 National Ballet Lisbon

1999 Oregon Ballet Theatre

1999 Pacific Northwest Ballet

1999 San Francisco Ballet

1999 Washington Ballet

2000 Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo

2001 Kansas City Ballet

2001 Royal Ballet

2001 Royal Swedish Ballet

2002 Dance Theatre of Harlem

2002 San Francisco Ballet

2003 North Carolina Dance Theatre

2003 Sacramento Ballet

2004 Ballet Arlington

2004 Bolshoi Ballet

2004 Dance Theatre of Harlem

2004 Dance Theatre of Harlem (English Tour)

2004 Dutch National Ballet

2004 Den Norske Opera [Ballet] (Norway)

2004 Pacific Northwest Ballet

2004 Pennsylvania Ballet

2004 The Australian Ballet

2004 Royal Ballet

2005 Ballet Arizona

2005 Ballet West

2005 Carolina Ballet

2006 Louisville Ballet

2006 Sadler's Wells

2006 Scottish Ballet

2007 Birmingham Royal Ballet

2007 City Ballet of San Diego

2007 Los Angeles Ballet

2007 Miami City Ballet

2007 Milwaukee Ballet

2007 Orlando Ballet

2007 Pacific Northwest Ballet

2007 Paris Opera Ballet

2008 New Orleans Ballet Theatre (pas de deux)

2008 Suzanne Farrell Ballet (pas de deux)

2008 Louisville Ballet

2009 Oper Leipzig

2009 Suzanne Farrell Ballet

2010 Ballet San Jose

2011 Pennsylvania Ballet

2011 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

2011 Suzanne Farrell Ballet

2012 City Ballet of San Diego

2012 Royal Danish Ballet

2013 Dance Theatre of Harlem

2013 Festival Ballet Providence

2013 Het Nationale Ballet

2013 Los Angeles Ballet

2013 Suzanne Farrell Ballet, The

2014 Ballet Austin

2014 Oregon Ballet Theatre

2014 San Francisco Ballet

2016 American Contemporary Ballet

2016 Norwegian National Ballet

2016 Washington Ballet

2017 Ballet Arizona

2017 Paris Opera Ballet

2018 Ballet Idaho

2018 Sacramento Ballet Selections

2019 Pacific Northwest Ballet

2019 Royal Swedish Ballet

2020 Boston Ballet

2020 Los Angeles Ballet