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Balanchine’s Jewels Is A Multi-Faceted Look At
Three Golden Ages Of Dance

From September 23 – October 3, 2010, Houston Ballet presents George Balanchine's Jewels, three separate and distinct works creating a unified full evening work, premiered on April 13, 1967 by New York City Ballet. Jewels was hailed as the first plotless full-length ballet. The gems in Jewels pay tribute to three golden ages of dance and also to the beauty of the ballerinas Balanchine adored. Poetic and flowing, Emeralds evokes France, the birthplace of Romantic dance. Its ballerinas drift on stage in clouds of tulle, whispering of elegance, fashion and fragrance. Rubies mirrors the carefree spontaneity of America, a throwback to the musical comedies and films Balanchine created soon after he arrived in his beloved adopted country: a sassy, jazzy burst of sunshine. Diamonds dazzles as Balanchine's tribute to the work of Marius Petipa and evokes the grandeur and precision of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg with each shimmering wave of classical elegance.

"Balanchine's Jewels is a multi-faceted look at Romantic, classical and neo-classical ballet. The Emeralds section is soft and moody with fluid movements in the Romantic style. Rubies is sexy, cheeky and sleek in the neo-classical style, a style Balanchine personified. And Diamonds focuses on precision and cleanliness in the classical style. Technically Emeralds is the most difficult section because of the subtleness in the movements required to make it a success," remarks Mr. Welch.

"Jewels will showcase the versatility and stylistic depth of our dancers. The audience will see the whole company on stage. This piece celebrates where Houston Ballet's dancers are today," Mr. Welch states.
Balanchine was inspired to create Jewels by the jewelry collection of Van Cleef and Arpels in New York - a French jewelry company founded in 1896 in Paris renowned for their precious stones.

In his article on Jewels in The International Dictionary of Ballet, noted critic Robert Greskovic quoted long-time Balanchine observer Professor Robert Garis who pronounced Jewels "a work of genius both as a work of art and as show-business."

Set to sections of Gabriel Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Shylock, Emeralds features two couples and a trio of two women and one man bordered by 10 corps de ballet women. The Emeralds section evokes nineteenth century Romantic ballets by giving the women an ethereal look, featuring long green tulle skirts.

Set to the jazzy tune of Igor Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, Rubies epitomized the collaboration of Balanchine and Stravinsky, and the American style of ballet that Balanchine developed. The piece features a central couple, a female soloist and an ensemble of four men and eight women wearing short, seductive red flapper-like skirts. The dynamic neo-classical choreography is crisp and witty, a true game of wits and teasing.

Diamonds dazzles audiences with its classical Imperial Russian style, representing the refracted colors of a diamond. Set to the last four movements of Peter Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, the piece features an intimate pas de deux, 14 corps de ballet women, four couples of demi soloists and a forceful polonaise finale of the entire cast. Adorned in white tutus, the ballerinas and their mates fill the stage as glittery diamonds.

Russian/American designer Barbara Karinska created the Jewels costumes. Karinska began her career as the highly acclaimed interpreter of designs by such artists as Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, and Marc Chagall. However, it was as principal costumer of New York City Ballet that she made her name. Karinska’s first costumes were made for nightclub performers, but in 1932 she received a commission to make the costumes for Balanchine's ballet Cotillon. After many more commissions for theater and ballet, she quickly became known as the only costumer able to translate an artist's sketches into fabric. In 1948, she won an Academy Award for her designs for Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc. In 1962, Karinska’s achievements were publicly recognized when she received the Capezio Dance Award for costumes. Balanchine appointed Karinska as principal costumer of New York City Ballet in 1962. She died in New York in October 1983.

"We are very lucky to have Elyse Borne, one of the most respected repetiteurs from the Balanchine Trust, and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Maria Calegari, who danced for Balanchine, staging Jewels. Each will focus on the different styles present in Jewels. For our dancers to work with coaches who have such firsthand knowledge will be indispensable," explains Mr. Welch.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Balanchine (1904-1983) is regarded as a major artistic figure of the twentieth century who revolutionized the look of classical ballet. Taking classicism as his base, he heightened, quickened, expanded, streamlined, and even inverted the fundamentals of the 400-year-old language of academic dance. This had an inestimable influence on the growth of dance in America. With Lincoln Kirstein, Balanchine founded New York City Ballet in 1948, and served as its ballet master and principal choreographer until his death in 1983. Balanchine's more than 400 dance works include Serenade(1934), Concerto Barocco(1941), Le Palais de Cristal, later renamed Symphony in C (1947), Orpheus(1948), The Nutcracker(1954), Agon(1957), Symphony in Three Movements(1972), Stravinsky Violin Concerto(1972), ViennaWaltzes(1977), Ballo della Regina(1978), and Mozartiana(1981).

Houston Ballet has 11 Balanchine works in its repertory, including Apollo (1928), Symphony in C (1947), Serenade (1934), Western Symphony (1954), La Valse (1951), Theme and Variations (1947), The Four Temperaments (1946), Agon (1957), Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960), Concerto Barocco (1941) and Pas de Dix (1955).

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HOUSTON BALLET OVERVIEW
All performances listed here are in Wortham Theater Center.

JEWELS (1967)
Houston Ballet Premiere
Choreography by George Balanchine
Costume Designs by Karinska
Lighting Recreated by Christina R. Giannelli

EMERALDS
Music by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), from Pelléas et Mélisande, 1898, and Shylock, 1889

RUBIES
Music by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Capriccio for piano and orchestra, 1929

DIAMONDS
Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, first movement omitted

A ballet in three parts, George Balanchine's Jewels was hailed as the first plotless full-length ballet. The gems in Jewels pay tribute to three golden ages of dance and also to the beauty of the ballerinas Balanchine adored. Poetic and flowing, Emeralds evokes France, the birthplace of Romantic dance. Its ballerinas drift on stage in clouds of tulle, whispering of elegance, fashion and fragrance. Rubies mirrors the carefree spontaneity of America, a throwback to the musical comedies and films Balanchine created soon after he arrived in his beloved adopted country: a sassy, jazzy burst of sunshine. Diamonds dazzles as Balanchine's tribute to the work of Marius Petipa and evokes the grandeur and precision of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg with each shimmering wave of classical elegance.

At 7:30 pm on September 23, 25, and October 1, 2, 2010
At 2:00 pm on September 26 and October 2, 3, 2010

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Full season subscriptions, with tickets to six productions, range in price from $78 to $996, depending on seat location and date of performances. To subscribe, call (713) 5-BALLET (713-522-5538) or purchase online at www.houstonballet.org.

SINGLE TICKETS
Single tickets go on sale Monday, August 2, 2010 and may be purchased by calling 713-227-ARTS (713-227-2787) or purchased online at www.houstonballet.org.

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