Although the Center Ballet of Buffalo had given its first performance only a few months prior to the one seen here, the Pillow’s connection to choreographer Bronislava Nijinska had begun in 1942 with the inaugural season of the Ted Shawn Theatre. It was because of this connection that Pillow founder Ted Shawn invited the Buffalo company to present two Nijinska works, Les Biches and Brahms Variations, both personally supervised by the choreographer. Under the direction of former Nijinska dancer Kathleen Crofton, the company was short-lived, changing its name to the Niagara Frontier Ballet and then reconstituting as the Festival Ballet of New York before closing in 1973. Regarded as one of the first neoclassical ballets, Les Biches was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes and it premiered to great acclaim in Monte Carlo. These rare film fragments were donated to Jacob’s Pillow by the filmmaker’s daughter in 2016.
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