Fall Ballet

Chopiniana
Alexandra Danilova

In 1972, New York City Ballet premiered this stripped-down version of Mikail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, widely thought to be the first ballet about solely mood and dance. Choreographed by Russian-born prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova to the music of Chopin, its sleek and minimalist aesthetic showcases numerous woodland nymphs, or sylphs, dancing in the moonlight.

Allegro Brillante
George Balanchine

Balanchine described this work set to the strains of Tchaikovsky as “Everything I know about ballet in 13 minutes.” The leading bravura role of this joyful piece that challenges the dancers’ technical prowess at every level was created on Maria Tallchief, the first significant American prima ballerina and the first Native American to attain that status.

This Bitter Earth
Christopher Wheeldon

A beautiful and poignant pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Five Movements, Three Repeats. The music, originally mixed by Robbie Robertson for Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, layers Dinah Washington’s evocative rendition of Clyde Otis’s “This Bitter Earth” over the strings of Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” creating a haunting soundscape for the dancers.

World Premiere
Gianna Reisen

Gianna Reisen is the youngest person in history to have been commissioned to choreograph for the storied New York City Ballet. She will bring her unique artistic vision to Jacobs for several weeks to create her latest work, with the students of the IU Ballet Department to music by Johann Strauss II.