Details

Famous as America s first culturally diverse neo-classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) was founded in 1969 by African American Arthur Mitchell and the late Karel Shook. The company is now widely acclaimed as a major cultural institution encompassing a world-class ballet company, a school of dance, and a national and international arts education and community outreach programme. Agon - (the Greek word for ?contest') is the ultimate Balanchine ballet. Made in 1957, the great Russian-born choreographer called it ?a machine that thinks.' Responding to Igor Stravinsky's daring modernisation of 16th and 17th-century court music, Balanchine pushes and plays with the classical vocabulary. The result is dance stripped down to its steely, yet pliable, bones. For those able to hear the dancing and see the music (as Balanchine and Stravinsky once described their collaboration), Agon is a rich, scintillating experience. Prodigal Son - adapted in 1929 from a New Testament parable, is Balanchine's most linear ballet. A young man's misadventures culminate in a sublime act of forgiveness. Set to Sergei Prokofiev's music, it is one of Balanchine's few ballets to have a male central character. The sole ballerina role is The Siren, a figure of monumental seduction and blatant eroticism. Serenade - Serenade, from 1934, is a moonlit allegory of metamorphosis. Gliding upon Tchaikovsky's score, this abstract storybook-like romance is all about the glorification of woman as ballerina. Balanchine realises his theme with great sensitivity and lyrical elegance. Dance Theatre of Harlem - Agon/Prodigal Son/Serenade website.

Creatives/Company

Choreographer(s): George Balanchine (Agon), George Balanchine (The Prodigal Son), George Balanchine (Serenade)
Music(s): Igor Stravinsky (Agon), Prokofiev (The Prodigal Son), Tchaikovsky (Serenade)
Other(s): Rosemary Dunleavy (Staged for DTH - Agon), Richard Tanner (Staged - The Prodigal Son), Suzanne Farrell (Coached - The Prodigal Son), Suzanne Farrell (Coach - Serenade)
Lighting(s): Paul Sullivan (Agon), Jean Rosenthal (The Prodigal Son), Kevin Meek (The Prodigal Son), Edward Ferron (Serenade)
Costume(s): Georges Rouault (The Prodigal Son), Karinska (Serenade), Zelda Wynn (Costume Execution - Serenade)