''Union Jack'' is a ballet 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's fir ...

co-founder and founding choreographer

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

to traditional British tunes, hornpipe melodies and music-hall songs, ca. 1890–1914, adapted by Hershy Kay. The premiere took place on 13 May 1976, at the New York State Theater,

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 ...

, to honor British heritage in the United States its bicentennial with costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, original lighting by Ronald Bates and current lighting by Mark Stanley. At the finale the ensemble spells out "God Save the Queen" in semaphore code and the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

unfurls. Principal dancer Jock Soto included an excerpt from ''Union Jack'' in his farewell performance in June 2005.

Music

The music includes Scottish military tattoos and folk-dance forms; a music-hall pas de deux for the

costermonger A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''Costard (apple), costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to des ...

Pearly King and Queen; hornpipes, sea songs, work chants and jigs.

selections

*" Keel Row" *" Caledonian Hunt's Delight" *" Regimental Drum Variations" *"

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

" *" A Hundred Pipers" *" The Sunshine of Your Smile" *the Scottish theme from Händel's ''

Water Music The ''Water Music'' (German: ''Wassermusik'') is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three Suite (music), suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to George I of Great Britain, ...

Costermonger pas de deux

*" Dance wi' My Daddy" *" The Night the Floor Fell In" *" Our Lodger's Such a Nice Young Man" *" Following in Father's Footsteps" *" A Tavern in the Town"

finale

*" Rule Britannia!"

Original cast

* Sara Leland *

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. Sh ...

* Karin von Aroldingen * Suzanne Farrell * Patricia McBride * Helgi Tomasson * Jacques d'Amboise *

Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and J ...

* Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux * Victor Castelli * Bart Cook

References

*''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, 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 ...

'', New York City Ballet, Friday, 27 June 2008

Articles

NY Times
by Anna Kisselgoff, 13 May 1976
Sunday NY Times
by Clive Barnes, 23 May 1976
NY Times
by Gia Kourlas, 25 December 2005
NY Times
by Tobi Tobias, 12 February 2006

Reviews

by Clive Barnes, 14 May 1976
NY Times
by Jennifer Dunning, 10 January 1980
NY Times
by Jack Anderson, 21 June 2005
NY Times
by Alastair Macaulay, 30 June 2008

External links

Union Jack
on the Balanchine Trust website {{Balanchine ballets Ballets by George Balanchine New York City Ballet repertory 1976 ballets Ballets by Hershy Kay Ballets designed by Rouben Ter-Arutunian Ballets designed by Ronald Bates