1/11/19 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Interview with Gelsey Kirkland (60 Minutes 1987)

Former New York City Ballet dancer Gelsey Kirkland told “60 Minutes” in a 1987 interview. “[Balanchine] knocked on my chest and he said, ‘You know, dear, what is important is to see bones,”‘ … Down to the bone. That is what he believed was truly beautiful.” Continue reading

1/7/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Agon- New York City Ballet (1960)

Agon– the complete ballet with the original cast featuring Diana Adams, Todd Bolender, Jillana,  Arthur Mitchell, Richard Rapp, Francia Russell, Roy Tobias, and Violette Verdy.  Continue reading

5/6/16 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: La Valse (1951) Featuring Tanaquil LeClercq and Nicholas Magallanes

Shall We Dance hqdefault

George Balanchine choreographed Maurice Ravel’s La valse in 1951. Ravel wrote La valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestre (a choreographic poem for orchestra), between February 1919 and 1920. The music premiered in Paris on 12 December 1920. It was conceived as a ballet but is now more often heard as a concert work. The work has been described as a tribute to the waltz, and the composer George Benjamin. Continue reading