''Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'' is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

made by

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' ...

co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G major, Op. 55 (1884). The premiere took place on 3 December 1970 at the

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

, with scenery and costumes by Nicolas Benois.

Theme and Variations

Balanchine set the final movement of Tschaikovsky's third orchestra suite in 1947 for

Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

under the title '' Theme and Variations''. He incorporated this choreography substantially unchanged into ''Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'' as the fourth–and final–movement, which is sometimes called ''Tema con variazioni'', when he set the entire suite.

Original cast

* Karin von Aroldingen *

Kay Mazzo Kay Mazzo (born January 17, 1946) is an American former ballet dancer and educator. In 1961, she joined Jerome Robbins' company, Ballets USA. The following year, she joined the New York City Ballet, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1969. S ...

* Marnee Morris *

Gelsey Kirkland Gelsey Kirkland (born December 29, 1952) is an American ballerina. She received early ballet training at the School of American Ballet. Kirkland joined the New York City Ballet in 1968 at age 15, at the invitation of George Balanchine. She was ...

* Anthony Blum *

Conrad Ludlow Conrad Ludlow is a former principal dancer with New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. He also danced at San Francisco Ballet and founded and directed Ballet Oklahoma (now Oklahoma City Ballet). He is currently a professor at the University ...

* John Clifford *

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

Reviews

NY Times
by

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 ...

, 1 June 2007

External links

Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
on the Balanchine Trust website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 1970 ballet premieres Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets designed by Nicolas Benois Suite No. 3, Tschaikovsky New York City Ballet repertory