Australia Dancing

Apollo

McMurdo, Don: Adam Marchant as Apollo and Justine Summers as Terpsichore in 'Apollo', the Australian Ballet, 1991

George Balanchine choreographed his Apollon Musagete in 1928. His was the second ballet of that title to be created that year, both being choreographed to Igor Stravinsky's score of the same name, commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Collidge in 1927. The first, by Adolph Bolm, premiered in Washington in April. Stravinsky, however, reserved the European rights to the score for Serge Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes production, choreographed by the twenty-four year old Balanchine, opened at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, on June 12. While Bolm's ballet made little impact, Balanchine's Apollon Musagete, the title of which he shortened to Apollo in the 1950s, is hailed as a landmark work. His oldest surviving ballet and first great public success, it marked the beginning of his significant and enduring collaboration with Stravinsky and featured the neoclassical style for which Balanchine was to become renowned.

Scenery and costumes for the 1928 Ballet Russe production were by French artist Andre Bauchant, with new costumes designed by Coco Chanel in 1929. The libretto involved the birth of Apollo, his interactions the three muses, Terpsichore (dance), Polyhymnia (mime) and Calliope (poetry), and his ascent as a god to Mount Parnassus. This classical tableau proved a launching pad for Balanchine's extension and distortion of classical vocabulary. The original cast included Serge Lifar as Apollo, Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore (alternating with Alexandra Danilova), Lubov Tchernicheva as Polyhymnia, Felia Doubrovska as Calliope and Sophie Orlova as Leto, mother of Apollo.

Balanchine staged Apollon Musagete for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1931. Following his move to the United States two years later, the work was performed by his American Ballet in 1937, subsequently becoming a feature of Balanchine's New York company and of many other companies the world over. In 1978 Balanchine made major changes to the piece, discarding the ballet's prologue which depicts Apollo's birth. For a revival with Mikhail Baryshnikov as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and rechoreographed the ending of the ballet. This revision saw the piece concluding not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with the earlier memorable tableau of the muses posing in ascending arabesques beside Apollo. In the 1980 staging for the New York City Ballet, Apollo's first variation was restored. Suzanne Farrell restored the birth scene for her company in 2001.

The Stravinsky score was used by Margaret Scott in creating her version of Apollon Musagete for the Ballet Guild in 1951, by Charles Lisner in his 1962 version for the Queensland Ballet, and by Robin Grove in his 1967 production for the Victorian Ballet Company. The first performance of the Balanchine work in Australia was by the Australian Ballet on May 3, 1991, when it was staged for the company by Karin von Aroldingen, former leading artist of New York City Ballet. On opening night, Steven Heathcote danced the role of Apollo with Justine Miles as Calliope, Miranda Coney as Polyhymnia and Lisa Pavane as Terpsichore. Lighting was by William Akers. A 1997 Australian Ballet staging again saw Heathcote in the title role, with Justine Summers dancing as Terpsichore, Lucinda Dunn as Polyhymnia and Simone Goldsmith as Calliope. Apollo was last presented by the flagship company in 2007 as part of the 'New Romantics' program. This was the first staging by the Australian Ballet to include the prologue of Apollo's birth. As in 1997, Francis Croese reproduced Akers' lighting. The opening cast was led by Robert Curren as Apollo, with Lucinda Dunn as Terpsichore.

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Find more about Apollo in:

Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia
Internet - Google