Western Symphony Black

Music Traditional American Melodies orchestrated by Hershy Kay

Choreography by George Balanchine (1954)

Western Symphony exemplifies Balanchine’s fascination and desire to embrace American Themes. While the ballet is very much a classical work, the melding of worlds in its choreography is evident as an amalgamation of American folk and cowboy culture with ballet.

The setting is a town in the Old West complete with cowboys and dance hall girls. The tutus are Moulin Rouge in their complexity and unexpected elegance. The construction is yard upon yard of unique profile tulle that ultimately creates an effect of endlessly overlapping leaves like that of spring cabbages. The decision to leave the safety pin with what I imagine is the number of the dancer for that position in the dance serves as a visual nod to the larger story of choreography and mechanics of putting a ballet together.