Choreographer George Balanchine | Music Johann Sebastian Bach | |
Premiere June 27, 1941
Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Created for School of American Ballet, American Ballet Caravan | ||
Concerto Barocco is a ballet made for students at the School of American Ballet by George Balanchine, subsequently ballet master and co-founder of New York City Ballet, to Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043. After an open dress rehearsal on May 29, 1941, in the Little Theatre of Hunter College, New York, the official premiere took place June 27, 1941, at Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro as part of American Ballet Caravan's South American tour.
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Concerto Barocco subsequently entered the repertory of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, premiering on September 9, 1945, at New York City Center. The New York City Ballet premiere was October 11, 1948, as one of three ballets on the program of its first performance at New York City Center.
Three years later, in 1951, Balanchine replaced the original costumes with leotards and tights, in what has come to be regarded as signature costumes for his contemporary works. He said that in the first movement of Concerto Barocco the two ballerinas personify the violins, and that, "If the dance designer sees in the development of classical dancing a counterpart in the development of music, and has studied them both, he will derive continual inspiration from great scores."