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. Apollo - from 1928, is the earliest Balanchine ballet to become staple of the international repertory. Here he and Stravinsky strike a timeless balance between modernity and tradition. A simple story, the young god Apollo infusing the three Muses (of poetry, mime and dance) with the divine spark of creativity, becomes the springboard for a truly innovative homage to the classical dance heritage. 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. Dance Theatre of Harlem website.

Creatives/Company

Choreographer(s): George Balanchine (Agon), George Balanchine (Apollo), George Balanchine (The Prodigal Son)
Music(s): Igor Stravinsky (Agon), Igor Stravinsky (Apollo), Prokofiev (The Prodigal Son)
Other(s): Rosemary Dunleavy (Staged for DTH - Agon), Richard Tanner (Staged - The Prodigal Son), Suzanne Farrell (Coached - The Prodigal Son)
Lighting(s): Paul Sullivan (Agon), Jean Rosenthal (The Prodigal Son), Kevin Meek (The Prodigal Son)
Costume: Georges Rouault (The Prodigal Son)