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On Dances at a Gathering

During much of my early years with New York City Ballet, Jerome Robbins was away working on Broadway and touring with his own company. He returned to NYCB shortly before I joined Maurice Béjart's company in Brussels, Belgium. When I came back, my focus was on Balanchine repertoire. But, meeting in the hallway one morning, Jerry said "If there are any of my ballets that you would like to do, feel free to do them."

A while later, vacationing at my summer home, I was doing a barre in the studio to a tape of Ashkenazy playing Chopin. A particular mazurka and etude got under my skin, and I thought, "I simply have to dance to this." The music is part of Jerry's Dances at a Gathering. When I returned to the city, I spoke with Jerry about my reaction to the music and I asked to perform the ballet. It was a joy to do, and Jerry eventually created two ballets for me: In G Major and In Memory of ...

Balanchine admired Jerry. There was mutual respect between them and a history. (Jerry had danced Balanchine's Prodigal Son in the 1950s.) When Jerry decided to shift his focus from Broadway back to the ballet, Mr. B was happy to have him return. Jerry brought his ideas and a new voice. I remember seeing Mr. B often standing in the wings to watch Dances at a Gathering.

I always got along very well with Jerry, but for some, he was famously temperamental to work with. However, I very much enjoyed our close working relationship. Jerry and I shared many dinners after performances and wrote letters to each other up until he died in July 1998 at age 79.

On Stravinsky Violin Concerto

Stravinsky Violin Concerto premiered in 1972 as part of NYCB's ambitious Stravinsky Festival and was immediately declared a masterpiece. It is often referred to as one of Balanchine's "black and white" ballets after the basic costuming. Instead, I call it one of Mr. B's symbolic Stravinsky ballets. He definitely saw Stravinsky's music as being clear and precise, and the choreography and costuming visually reflects the music.

In a way, Mr. B and Stravinsky each grew as artists through one another. Stravinsky often said he learned to understand his music differently when he saw Balanchine's visual concept.  And for his part Mr. B returned to Stravinsky over the years, reexamining the music and letting it inspire new movements and new visions.

Interestingly, Violin Concerto was the second time Mr. B choreographed to this Stravinsky music. In 1941 Balustrade was premiered by the Original Ballet Russe as a highly costumed production. Thirty years later, Mr. B heard the music differently as his understanding of the music had grown to another level. Through this type of evolution, Balanchine choreography and Stravinsky music became a seamless whole-perfectly integrated.