Square Dance is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso in B minor and the first movement of his Concerto Grosso in E major, Op. 3, nos. 10 and 12, respectively; in 1976 he added Arcangelo Corelli's Sarabanda, Badinerie e Giga, second and third movements. The premiere took place on November 21, 1957, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with lighting by Nananne Porcher. The original version placed the musicians on stage with a square dance caller calling the steps; from its 1976 revival the caller was eliminated, the orchestra placed in the pit, and a solo added for the premier danseur to the Corelli Sarabanda. The Pacific Northwest Ballet restored the caller for one performance at the 2007 Vail International Dance Festival.
Original cast Patricia Wilde Nicholas Magallanes
References
Playbill, New York City Ballet, Friday, June 27, 2008 Dance review: OBT does a little 'Song and Dance', Arts Dispatch, Monday, April 25, 2011
Reviews
NY Times by John Martin, November 22, 1957 NY Times by Anna Kisselgoff, May 22, 1976 NY Times by Jack Anderson, October 13, 1984 Ballet Dance review by Jeff Kuo, April 3, 2004
Seattle Times by Moira Macdonald, September 22, 2007 NY Times by Alastair Macaulay, September 25, 2007 NY Times by Alastair Macaulay, April 1, 2008 NY Times by Alastair Macaulay, June 30, 2008
External links
Square Dance on the website of the Balanchine Trust