''La Sonnambula'' ''(The Sleepwalker)'' is a ballet by the co-founder and ballet master of

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

, made to

Vittorio Rieti Vittorio Rieti (January 28, 1898 – February 19, 1994) was a Jewish- Italian-American composer. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Rieti moved to Milan to study economics. He subsequently studied in Rome under Respighi and Casella, and lived there ...

's music using themes from the operas of

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

including ''

La Sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the '' bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eug ...

'', ''

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

'', ''

I Puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and later changed to three acts on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set to a libretto ...

'' and ''

I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''Tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...

'' (1830–35). The ballet premiered as ''The Night Shadow'' with the

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its a ...

on Wednesday, 27 February

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, at

City Center of Music and Drama New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...

, New York, with sets and costumes designed by

Dorothea Tanning Dorothea Margaret Tanning (25 August 1910 – 31 January 2012) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism. Biography Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illin ...

and costumes executed by

Karinska Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska (October 3, 1886 – October 18, 1983), was the Oscar-winning costumier of cinema, ballet, musical and dramatic theatre, lyric opera and ice spectacles. Over her 50 year caree ...

. It was first performed by the

on 6 January 1960 at

. The ballet tells the story of a Coquette, a Poet, and a beautiful Sleepwalker. The original 1946 program describes the story as follows:

Amid the somber walls of a decaying castle a masked ball has just begun. The host, an eccentric nobleman, receives his guests, among them a poet and a dazzling coquette. The poet, seduced by her charms, dances with her as the guests gradually leave the scene, then she too leaves. As the poet turns to follow, he sees a lovely white apparition gliding across the roofs toward him. It comes nearer and he sees that it is a beautiful somnambulist. He loses his heart to her at once, unaware that she is the wife of the host who keeps her locked away from the world. They dance, and he sees to join her in her realm of dreaming sleep. But they are seen. The coquette, flushed with jealousy, steals out to tell the host....All too soon the marvelous sleep-walker drifts away. The poet would follow her but the guests reenter and their dancing forms a barrier. Finally, he breaks through and disappears but the host follows too and stabs him. As he lies unconscious among the terrified guests the white figure of his love appears once more, gently raises him and together they glide away.

The ballet was renamed ''La Sonnambula'' in 1961, and has been revived numerous times.

Original cast

Alexandra Danilova Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (''Russian'': Александра Дионисьевна Данилова; November 20, 1903 – July 13, 1997) was a Russian-born prima ballerina, who became an American citizen. In 1989, she was recognized fo ...

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

Ruthanna Boris Ruthanna Boris (March 18, 1919 – January 5, 2007) was the first American Ballerina to star with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo troupes of the 1940s. She was born in Brooklyn. She was among the first students at George Balanchine and Lincol ...

Frederic Franklin Frederic Franklin (13 June 1914 – 4 May 2013), sometimes also called "Freddie", was a British-American ballet dancer, choreographer and director. Dancer Born in Liverpool, England, Frederic Franklin claimed that on seeing the 1924 film ...

Leon Danielian Leon Danielian (31 October 1920 – 8 March 1997) was an American ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and educator. As guest artist with ballet companies around the world, he became one of the first American male dancers to achieve internati ...

Marie-Jeanne Marie-Jeanne Godwin (née Pelus, August 12, 1920 – December 27, 2007) was an American ballet dancer. She was one of the first students of George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. Her dance career started at the Ballet Caravan in 1937, fo ...

Nicholas Magallanes Nicholas Magallanes (November 27, 1922 – May 2, 1977) was a principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet. Along with Francisco Moncion, Maria Tallchief, and Tanaquil Le Clercq, Magallanes was among the core group of dance ...

Michel Katcharoff Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

References

* Souvenir Program for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo 1946-47 season. New York: General Program Corporation, 1946. * ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

'', New York City Ballet, Friday, 20 June 2008 * ''Repertory Week'', New York City Ballet, Spring Season, 2008 repertory, week 8

Reviews

* John Martin
"BALANCHINE DANCE IN WORLD PREMIERE; 'Night Shadow' Introduced by Ballet Russe at City Center --Music From Operas"
''New York Times'', 28 February 1946 *Allen Hughes

''New York Times'', 7 January 1965 *

Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for ''The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at ''The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater cr ...

Four Distinct Dream Worlds, Sharing the Same Language of Classical Ballet
''New York Times'', 19 January 2008 *

Deborah Jowitt Deborah Jowitt is an American dance critic, author, and choreographer. Her career in dance began as a performer and choreographer. Jowitt has received several awards for her work, including a ''Bessie'' (New York Dance and Performance Award) for h ...

review
''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'', 5 February 2008

External links

Entry for La Sonnambula at the Balanchine Trust website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnambula, La Ballets by George Balanchine New York City Ballet repertory 1946 ballet premieres Ballets by Vittorio Rieti Ballets designed by Barbara Karinska Ballets to the music of Vincenzo Bellini Adaptations of works by Eugène Scribe