Rodeo
(1942)
A One-Act Ballet in Four Sections • Buckaroo Holiday • Saturday Night Waltz • Corral Nocturne • Hoe-Down
Mixed Repertory
Choreography by Agnes de Mille (de MIL) Music by Aaron Copland (COPE-land)
An American Creative Team
A
During World War II, Agnes de Mille was commissioned to choreograph an “American” ballet for a European company’s U.S. performances. The result: Rodeo, a ballet with a ranch setting and costumes, comedy, and tap and square dance. With its American look was an American sound—music composed by Aaron Copland.
She prefers riding a horse to wearing a dress. That’s our heroine, a cowgirl on a southwestern ranch. She’s secretly in love with the head wrangler and tries but fails to impress him at the rodeo. Both the cowboys and the city girls reject her. After the champion roper encourages her to clean up for a dance, she puts on a dress and charms both the wrangler and the roper. Which one will she choose? Listen for... ...the country and western-style sounds of the music. FYI... After Rodeo’s success, de Mille was invited to create the dances for Oklahoma!, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. She introduced to musical theater the idea that dancing could advance the plot.
Cuesheet, American Ballet Theatre Working Rehearsal Editorial and Art Direction: Lynne B. Silverstein Writer: Marcia A. Friedman Design: The Kirwan Company
© 2007, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
MARIAN BUTLER IN RODEO. PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE
Notice the mix of ballet, folk dancing, and stylized steps (like riding a horse).
PHOTOS: ERICA CORNEJO IN RODEO PHOTO BY MARTY SOHL, MICHELE WILES IN DARK ELEGIES PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE; COMPANY MEMBERS IN LA BAYADERE PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE.
An American Love Story Circa 1900
t this working rehearsal, members of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) will perfect their work on their mixed repertory program. You will see two short ballets and one scene from a full-length ballet. These stylistically different ballets – pictured from top, Rodeo, Dark Elegies, The Kingdom of the Shades, are from choreographers whose work broke new ground in the world of dance. ABT, based in New York City, was established more than 65 years ago to preserve great ballets from the past and to offer opportunities for choreographers to create new ballets. The company has built its reputation on the diversity of its repertory (all the ballets a company performs) and the excellence of its dancers. Today ABT performs across the United States and around the world. As you watch the rehearsal, compare and contrast the three ballets.
Dark Elegies (1937) A Scene from the Full-Length Ballet, La Bayadère
A One-Act Ballet in Two Scenes: • Laments of the Bereaved • Resignation
Choreography by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa (PEH-tee-PAH) Music by Ludwig Minkus
Choreography by Antony Tudor Music by Gustav Mahler (Kindertotenlieder)
A Ghostly Vision Seeing the Feelings
La Bayadère takes place in ancient India. The warrior Solor agrees to marry princess Gamzatti despite Solor’s love for the bayadère (temple dancer) Nikiya. Jealous of her rival, Gamzatti arranges for Nikiya to suffer a snakebite. Feeling betrayed by Solor, Nikiya refuses the antidote and dies. In the “Shades” scene, the remorseful Solor dreams of an underworld of spirits (shades) where he reconciles with Nikiya.
An entire village suffers a calamity. Accompanied by German songs about the deaths of children, ensemble and solo dancers express the rite of mourning in Dark Elegies (an elegy is a song or poem expressing sorrow). British-born choreographer Antony Tudor considered Dark Elegies his favorite work. Many observers called it groundbreaking for the ways it used movement to explore inner feelings and interwove classical ballet with an expressive style.
Classic Ballet Evolves In “Shades,” choreographer Marius Petipa (1818–1910) introduced elements that would become the new markers of classic ballet, including graceful, skilled dancing of traditional ballet movements and choreography expressing the music. Using Petipa’s notes, Natalia Makarova recreated Petipa’s choreography in 1980.
Watch for... • How the villagers’ emotions evolve from anguish to acceptance. • A mix of classic ballet movements (leg extensions and en pointe dancing) with unconventional ones (falls, rounded arms, and heavy steps). • The use of folk dance in some ensemble dances.
Watch for... • The synchronized entrance of the corps de ballet (ensemble). • Solor’s double assemblés, elongated and angled jumps with a mid-air turn.
JULIE KENT AND GRANT DE LONG IN DARK ELEGIES. PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE
“Shades” is a ballet blanc, or white ballet, so-called for the all-white costumes. Watch for the other typical features—an ensemble of female spirits and dancing en pointe (on tips of toes).
FYI... “THE KINGDOM OF THE SHADES” FROM LA BAYADERE. PHOTO BY ROSALIE O’CONNOR
Think about... ...whether Petipa’s choreography seems old or modern to you. Why?
Think about... ...what contemporary setting you might give this ballet.
Before Agnes de Mille choreographed Rodeo (see p. 4) she danced in Dark Elegies. After that, she helped bring Antony Tudor to the company that was to become the ABT. Working together and individually, the two up-and-coming choreographers transformed ballet.
Compare and contrast the style of the movements and costuming with that of The Kingdom of the Shades.
Dark Elegies (1937) A Scene from the Full-Length Ballet, La Bayadère
A One-Act Ballet in Two Scenes: • Laments of the Bereaved • Resignation
Choreography by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa (PEH-tee-PAH) Music by Ludwig Minkus
Choreography by Antony Tudor Music by Gustav Mahler (Kindertotenlieder)
A Ghostly Vision Seeing the Feelings
La Bayadère takes place in ancient India. The warrior Solor agrees to marry princess Gamzatti despite Solor’s love for the bayadère (temple dancer) Nikiya. Jealous of her rival, Gamzatti arranges for Nikiya to suffer a snakebite. Feeling betrayed by Solor, Nikiya refuses the antidote and dies. In the “Shades” scene, the remorseful Solor dreams of an underworld of spirits (shades) where he reconciles with Nikiya.
An entire village suffers a calamity. Accompanied by German songs about the deaths of children, ensemble and solo dancers express the rite of mourning in Dark Elegies (an elegy is a song or poem expressing sorrow). British-born choreographer Antony Tudor considered Dark Elegies his favorite work. Many observers called it groundbreaking for the ways it used movement to explore inner feelings and interwove classical ballet with an expressive style.
Classic Ballet Evolves In “Shades,” choreographer Marius Petipa (1818–1910) introduced elements that would become the new markers of classic ballet, including graceful, skilled dancing of traditional ballet movements and choreography expressing the music. Using Petipa’s notes, Natalia Makarova recreated Petipa’s choreography in 1980.
Watch for... • How the villagers’ emotions evolve from anguish to acceptance. • A mix of classic ballet movements (leg extensions and en pointe dancing) with unconventional ones (falls, rounded arms, and heavy steps). • The use of folk dance in some ensemble dances.
Watch for... • The synchronized entrance of the corps de ballet (ensemble). • Solor’s double assemblés, elongated and angled jumps with a mid-air turn.
JULIE KENT AND GRANT DE LONG IN DARK ELEGIES. PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE
“Shades” is a ballet blanc, or white ballet, so-called for the all-white costumes. Watch for the other typical features—an ensemble of female spirits and dancing en pointe (on tips of toes).
FYI... “THE KINGDOM OF THE SHADES” FROM LA BAYADERE. PHOTO BY ROSALIE O’CONNOR
Think about... ...whether Petipa’s choreography seems old or modern to you. Why?
Think about... ...what contemporary setting you might give this ballet.
Before Agnes de Mille choreographed Rodeo (see p. 4) she danced in Dark Elegies. After that, she helped bring Antony Tudor to the company that was to become the ABT. Working together and individually, the two up-and-coming choreographers transformed ballet.
Compare and contrast the style of the movements and costuming with that of The Kingdom of the Shades.
Rodeo
(1942)
A One-Act Ballet in Four Sections • Buckaroo Holiday • Saturday Night Waltz • Corral Nocturne • Hoe-Down
Mixed Repertory
Choreography by Agnes de Mille (de MIL) Music by Aaron Copland (COPE-land)
An American Creative Team
A
During World War II, Agnes de Mille was commissioned to choreograph an “American” ballet for a European company’s U.S. performances. The result: Rodeo, a ballet with a ranch setting and costumes, comedy, and tap and square dance. With its American look was an American sound—music composed by Aaron Copland.
She prefers riding a horse to wearing a dress. That’s our heroine, a cowgirl on a southwestern ranch. She’s secretly in love with the head wrangler and tries but fails to impress him at the rodeo. Both the cowboys and the city girls reject her. After the champion roper encourages her to clean up for a dance, she puts on a dress and charms both the wrangler and the roper. Which one will she choose? Listen for... ...the country and western-style sounds of the music. FYI... After Rodeo’s success, de Mille was invited to create the dances for Oklahoma!, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. She introduced to musical theater the idea that dancing could advance the plot.
Cuesheet, American Ballet Theatre Working Rehearsal Editorial and Art Direction: Lynne B. Silverstein Writer: Marcia A. Friedman Design: The Kirwan Company
© 2007, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
MARIAN BUTLER IN RODEO. PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE
Notice the mix of ballet, folk dancing, and stylized steps (like riding a horse).
PHOTOS: ERICA CORNEJO IN RODEO PHOTO BY MARTY SOHL, MICHELE WILES IN DARK ELEGIES PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE; COMPANY MEMBERS IN LA BAYADERE PHOTO BY GENE SCHIAVONE.
An American Love Story Circa 1900
t this working rehearsal, members of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) will perfect their work on their mixed repertory program. You will see two short ballets and one scene from a full-length ballet. These stylistically different ballets – pictured from top, Rodeo, Dark Elegies, The Kingdom of the Shades, are from choreographers whose work broke new ground in the world of dance. ABT, based in New York City, was established more than 65 years ago to preserve great ballets from the past and to offer opportunities for choreographers to create new ballets. The company has built its reputation on the diversity of its repertory (all the ballets a company performs) and the excellence of its dancers. Today ABT performs across the United States and around the world. As you watch the rehearsal, compare and contrast the three ballets.