''Antique Epigraphs'' is a ballet made on

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's fir ...

by ballet master

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

to an orchestrated version of Debussy's ''

Six épigraphes antiques ''Six épigraphes antiques'', L. 131, CD. 139, is a suite of six pieces by Claude Debussy, originally written for piano duo. Completed in July 1914, the suite was Debussy's only completed composition that year. In 1915 Debussy transcribed them for ...

'', L131, for piano, four hands, from 1914: * “Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d'été” * “Pour un tombeau sans nom” * “Pour que la nuit soit propice” * “Pour la danseuse aux crotales” * “Pour l'égyptienne” * “Pour remercier la pluie au matin” and his ''

Syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx () was an Arcadian nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Being pursued by Pan, she fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then mad ...

'', L129, a melody for unaccompanied flute from 1913. ''Six épigraphes antiques'' were originally written to accompany

Pierre Louys Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

' ''

Les Chansons de Bilitis ''The Songs of Bilitis'' (; ) is a collection of erotic, essentially lesbian, poetry by Pierre Louÿs published in Paris in 1894. Since Louÿs claimed that he had translated the original poetry from Ancient Greek, this work is considered a pseud ...

'', prose poetry which was purported to be a translation of freshly discovered autobiographical verse by a lover and contemporary of

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

. The premiere took place on February 2, 1984, at the

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet and dance at Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally named the New York State Theater, the venue has been home to the New York City Ballet sinc ...

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 ...

, with costumes by

Florence Klotz Florence Klotz (October 28, 1920 – November 1, 2006) was an American costume designer on Broadway and on film. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents who owned a millinery store, she graduated from Parsons School of Design, and ...

and lighting by

Jennifer Tipton Jennifer Tipton (born September 11, 1937) is an American lighting designer. She has designed for dance, theater, and opera. She is known for working on many productions of American Ballet Theatre. Life and career Tipton was born in Columbus, Ohi ...

Casts

Original

* Kyra Nichols *

Stephanie Saland Stephanie Saland (born ) is an American former ballet dancer and teacher. She was spotted by George Balanchine whilst a student at the School of American Ballet, then joined the New York City Ballet in 1972, and was promoted to principal dancer i ...

* Helene Alexopoulos * Victoria Hall * Maria Calegari * Simone Schumacher * Jerri Kumery * Florence Fitzgerald

Articles

NY Times
by

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

, February 12, 1984

Reviews

NY Times
by

, February 4, 1984
NY Times
by Jack Anderson, February 21, 1984
NY Times
by Jack Anderson, June 18, 1984
NY Times
by

Gia Kourlas Gia Kourlas is an American dance critic. Since 2019, she had written as the dance critic for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Kourlas was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She began dancing at age 5; a few years later, she switched to f ...

, May 17, 2008 {{Jerome Robbins Ballets by Jerome Robbins Ballets to the music of Claude Debussy New York City Ballet repertory 1984 ballets Ballets designed by Jennifer Tipton Ballets designed by Florence Klotz