International Voices in American Ballet
From the early 1940s to today, Jacob’s Pillow has showcased American ballet artists embodying the works of choreographers from abroad. Collected here are some video highlights, with earlier examples outlined in this illustrated essay on the 1941 season.
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Center Ballet of Buffalo
Les Biches, 1969
Often overshadowed by her famous brother, Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian-born choreographer Bronislava Nijinska was lauded for her contributions to 20th century ballet. Her 1924 ballet, Les Biches (literally “the does” or “the girls”) was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes and is regarded as one of the first neoclassical ballets.
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Tulsa Ballet
Celestial Bodies, 2023
Freelance British choreographer Andrew McNicol has created works for companies throughout the world, and this dance was commissioned to celebrate Tulsa Ballet’s 65th anniversary.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet
Second to Last, 2021
Spanish-born choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo has spent most of his professional career with American companies, becoming Pacific Northwest Ballet’s first resident choreographer in 2020.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
Balamouk, 2019
Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa borrowed this dance’s title from an album of the same name by the French band, Les Yeux Noirs, who used the Romanian word for a ‘house of the insane.’
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The Washington Ballet
Seven Sonatas, 2017
Ukrainian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky created this dance for American Ballet Theatre in 2009, a decade after his choreography was first introduced to America by Nina Ananiashvili at the Pillow.
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Miami City Ballet
Polyphonia, 2017
Though he is now a dual citizen of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon began his career as a dancer with The Royal Ballet in his native England. He started creating ballets as a dancer with New York City Ballet, where he premiered this work in 2001 after being named as the company’s resident choreographer.
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New York Theatre Ballet
Dark Elegies, 2016
British choreographer Antony Tudor created this work in 1937 before he emigrated to the U.S. It was performed twice at the Pillow in the 1950s, but hadn’t been seen here in nearly six decades at the time of this performance.
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The Sarasota Ballet
Monotones I, 2015
As one of the rare abstract works by Sir Frederick Ashton, this 1966 ballet is part of the sizable Ashton repertory presented by The Sarasota Ballet.
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Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Necessity, Again, 2013
Although it ceased operations in 2015. Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet was especially known for its international repertory, such as this work by Norwegian dancemaker Jo Strømgren. Other ballets commissioned by the company included Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Orbo Novo and Didy Veldman’s Frame of View.
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David Hallberg
Kaburias, 2012
This solo was reworked especially for Hallberg by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato, the founder and former director of CND2, who originally created Kaburias in 1991.
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Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Stamping Ground, 2011
Stamping Ground is Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián’s exploration of Aboriginal culture and dance, seeking the universal qualities that link age-old cultures with contemporary ballet.
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Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake, Act II), 2010
The classic 19th-century ballets of Russian choreographer Marius Petipa have long been performed by American companies, and his Swan Lake is given a unique twist by this all-male company, popularly known as the Trocks.
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Boston Ballet
Plan to B, 2004
Finnish-born choreographer Jorma Elo was named resident choreographer of Boston Ballet in 2005, the year after he created Plan to B on the company.
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Julie Kent & Robert Hill
Manon (Scene from Act I), 1999
Choreographed for The Royal Ballet by Sir Kenneth MacMillan in 1974, Manon entered the repertory of American Ballet Theatre twenty years later. At the time of the performance seen here, both Julie Kent and Robert Hill were principals with ABT.
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Dancers
Etude aux Objets, 1977
Created by Italian choreographer Vittorio Biagi for the Lyon Opera Ballet in 1972, this contemporary work was staged for Dennis Wayne’s chamber group soon thereafter. Biagi was born in 1941 and was a member of Maurice Béjart’s company in the 1960s.
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San Francisco Ballet
Apollon musagète (Apollo), 1956
Having influenced the course of American ballet perhaps more than any other choreographer, George Balanchine began staging his works for American companies in the 1930s. He had particularly close relationships with companies led by his former dancers, such as Lew Christensen’s San Francisco Ballet, which presented both Apollo and Concerto Barocco as part of their East Coast debut engagement at the Pillow.