''Mercurial Manoeuvres'' is a ballet choreographed by

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Early life Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at th ...

to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, with costumes designed by Carole Divet. The ballet premiered on April 28, 2000 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 ...

. The first movement features a male soloist, two female demi-soloists, four male demi-soloists and a ''

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

'' of twelve women. The second movement is a ''

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

''. The entire cast then return to the stage for the final movement. ''Mercurial Manoeuvres'' was made as part of the

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 ...

's Diamond Project. The original cast includes

Miranda Weese Miranda Weese (born ) is an American former ballet dancer, teacher and ballet master. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1993 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1996. In 2007, she left to perform with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, first ...

Jock Soto Jock Soto (born 1965)Kisselgoff, Anna. "Not Only a Partner, a Dynamic Interpreter", ''The New York Times'', June 18, 2005. p. B7. is a former American ballet dancer and current ballet instructor. Career Jock Soto danced featured roles in over 40 ...

Edwaard Liang Edwaard Liang (born c. 1975/1976 Also available a. in Taipei, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese-born American dancer and choreography, choreographer. He grew up in Marin County, California. Career Liang began studying dance at the age of 5. He entered the ...

, Audrey Morgan and Elena Diner. When the ballet was made, Wheeldon was dancing with the company as a soloist. He retired from performing after ''Mercurial Manoeuvres'' to become a full-time choreographer. In 2020, in response to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts, the New York City Ballet will release a 2017 video recording of the pas de deux from ''Mercurial Manoeuvres'', featuring

Tiler Peck Tiler Kalyn Peck (born January 12, 1989) is an American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. As well as ballet, she has performed in musical theatre shows and has made cameo appearances in films including '' Don ...

and

Tyler Angle Tyler Angle (born September 30, 2000) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently under contract with Düsseldorfer EG of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He has previously played for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National ...

References

2000 ballets Ballets by Christopher Wheeldon Ballets to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich New York City Ballet repertory {{ballet-stub