To be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet:
Oct. 8, 9, 11 eve., 12 mat.
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Liebeslieder Walzer, set to music by Brahms with two pianists and four vocalists on stage, is in two parts. The first part is performed in period costumes. After a brief pause, the women return in flowing gowns and toe shoes.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a performer for me is getting to “live” in a past age, if only for an hour on the stage. Liebeslieder Walzer takes us back to the genteel era of elegant gowns, whirling dances, and proper manners. I know it’s a romanticized vision of the past but like a whiff of perfume it evokes so many wonderful sensations.

The piece is of course based on the 3/4 meter of the waltz. The classical ballet vocabulary is still there but it takes on a different “world” and time period.

Liebeslieder is German for “love songs.” Although Mr. B did not want translations of the lyrics in the program (he felt they would influence audiences to look for a literal interpretation), the emotions being expressed can certainly be felt. In the dance, the four couples could perhaps represent the different stages of love, from young passion to bittersweet reflection, tempered by the grace of social behavior.

I began learning Liebeslieder Walzer one year after I joined the company, while we were on tour in Europe. After returning to New York, Diana Adams suffered an injury and I took over her role.

This work has had several stagings over the years. The original 1960 production had dreamy scenery that just suggested a ballroom. After Mr. B’s death, Liebeslieder Walzer was restaged with a very elaborate and literal recreation of a Viennese ballroom. Walking out onto that marble floor under the palatial set was a little overwhelming!

For my company, I have chosen to return to the simpler staging. I feel a whisper can ignite the imagination. The audience is free to be provoked into re-creating their views on life. And for me, this is one role of the arts, to remind us what life could—and should—be like.

To be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet:
Oct. 8, 9, 11 eve., 12 mat.
Buy tickets

Balanchine first used this music in 1922. And then again as a dance for Diana Adams and Bill Carter. Six years later, in 1966, he reworked it completely for Arthur Mitchell and me. This jazz-inspired version was completely different although they share the same music. It was for the occasion of a Stravinsky Festival at the new Philharmonic Hall and, along with the orchestral selections, Balanchine was asked to create a pair of dances. Mr. B admired Stravinsky immensely (he set ballets to his music many times over the years) and appreciated this opportunity to pay tribute to his mentor. Stravinsky attended the concert so it was a very special evening for us all.

Stravinsky’s music for Ragtime suggests the quick and lively syncopated rhythms of that style without being a literal imitation. It was written in 1918 so he was certainly influenced by the compositions of Scott Joplin and those other great ragtime musicians. The work is a lively pas de deux and having the 11 musicians on stage adds an extra dimension to the work. For me, it felt like going back in time and stepping out onto the dance floor.

After the dance concert, Ragtime was put into the repertory in 1967 but it only remained there for a year. Arthur Mitchell was beginning to start his own company (which became of course Dance Theatre of Harlem) and was not around as much to perform it with me, so the piece eventually fell out of the company’s offerings. Mr. B frequently did not have understudies for his ballets, so when those who danced them left the company the works were unfortunately lost to the past.

When I was thinking back on work that would be appropriate projects for the Balanchine Preservation Initiative, Ragtime came to mind. It was a delightful piece that few people had the chance to experience. When it came to the task of restoring this “lost” work, all I had was my memory and a short film clip that my sister had taken with an 8 mm camera when the company was on tour in Saratoga Springs, NY. It was taken from the back of the audience and I’m afraid my sister was not an expert cinematographer for I am frequently dancing out of the frame! On top of that, there was no audio, since this was well before the days of video cameras. Therefore, I relied heavily on my memory.

Certainly this was a greater challenge than some of my past reconstructions since I had fewer fragments to work with but I find that often the fragments can be very revealing. With Ragtime, it’s almost as if Mr. B is re-choreographing for my dancers since they have no visual memory of the piece. Of course, neither do the audiences so they will be discovering it as if it was the first time.

This restaging also includes new costumes. The dance-concert performance in 1966 was done in practice clothes and the piece in the repertoire had a green costume. Our resident designer, Holly Hynes, has created ensembles for the dancers that are a reflection of the music’s period. Click here to read an interview with Holly and see two of the sketches. Once I saw the dancers in their costumes, I adjusted a few of the movements I created to work better with the flow of the fabric.

I enjoyed making Ragtime come together and I know my dancers will have a special treat performing it for a new generation of audiences.

To be performed by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet:
Oct. 8, 9, 11 eve., 12 mat.
Buy tickets

Episodes was created in 1959 and was unique in that the first half of the piece was choreographed by Martha Graham and the second half by Balanchine. They did not collaborate on its creation and over the years only the second section remained in active repertoire. We will be performing Mr. Balanchine’s section. I am also pleased that this engagement marks The Suzanne Farrell Ballet’s second Artistic Partnership with the Ballet Austin under the Artistic Direction of Stephen Mills.

Episodes is set to the music of Anton Webern, whose music was introduced to Mr. B by his friend Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine said that this dance is about the music.

You can see this clearly in the Third Movement pas de deux. The way the man partners the woman is the same way the conductor has the musician work the instrument.

The last movement is Webern’s tribute to Bach whose liturgical music is well loved. It is a musical offering, a serene canon that conveys a sense of peace. When you see it, it seems as if everything in the world is as it should be.

The work is performed in black and white practice clothes, which enable the audience to see the pure line and movement. Some like to group these as “leotard ballets” but I feel their only connection is a similarity of costume. The movements from Agon are as unique to that work as the movements of Episodes are to it. You could not mistake one for the other.