Sparkling jewels

A cornerstone of every great classical ballet company: the iconic pieces by neoclassical master George Balanchine (1904-1983), which are considered the "perfect introduction to ballet". On January 30, his brilliant Jewels celebrate their revival with the Vienna State Ballet.

Of Balanchine's oeuvre of around 450 ballets, the Vienna State Opera has given 19 premieres to date - not including further performances by guest soloists such as the pas de deux from Sylvia (1991) and Sonatine (1999). The pas de trois from Paquita was the first time a piece by the master choreographer was shown at Haus am Ring in 1958. The complete Jewels, on the other hand, only found its way into the Viennese repertoire in 2019, while the middle section - Rubies - was already shown in 2010. However, this work brings together almost the entire spectrum of Balanchine's oeuvre and traces the phases of his life, as well as his unmistakable and versatile style.

George Balanchine's career took him from St. Petersburg via various stations in Western Europe - including the avant-garde Ballets Russes in Paris - to New York, where he founded the School of American Ballet together with the impresario Lincoln Kirstein in 1934. His first ballet in the USA, Serenade to Tchaikovsky's composition of the same name in C major, was created as part of a lesson in which he wanted to teach his students stage technique. With his own training center, Balanchine also created the basis for his legendary company, which was called New York City Ballet from 1948 and soon became one of the leading ensembles in the world, for which he choreographed numerous works. However, he also created works for Hollywood and Broadway. Today, many of his ballets are part of the repertoire of major companies worldwide.

George Balanchine used the vocabulary of classical dance in his choreographies, which he grew up with during his ballet studies at the Imperial Theater School in St. Petersburg. The fact that his style is referred to as neoclassicism and still has a modern effect today is - according to his own statements - not so much a conscious development as a result of the music in question. As a highly musical choreographer, Balanchine was always keen to focus on dance as making music with the body. His works therefore contain movements that are unusual for classical ballet, such as legs thrown out from the hips, foot positions in the sixth position or inward-turned passés. Many of his pieces have a purist feel, captivate with their clear formal language and are danced in simple ballet leotards against a blue background. They always exude great beauty and aesthetics - this also applied to the famous Balanchine ballerinas, his muses, who were often at the center of his works, as was generally the case with the large number of women in the ensemble. Balanchine's saying "Ballet is woman" is legendary.

Jewels is regarded as the first full-length ballet without a plot, which premiered in 1967 with the New York City Ballet. This had a precursor in the first production of Balanchine's Symphony in C at the Paris Opera in 1947, where each movement of the ballet - then called Le Palais de Cristal, which also celebrated its premiere under this title at the Vienna State Opera in 1972 - was costumed in a different jewel color. According to the story, Balanchine was inspired for Jewels by a look at the jewelry display or a visit to the famous Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry store on New York's Fifth Avenue to once again make gemstones the subject of a choreography. However, he was much more interested in creating a framework for Barbara Karinska's magnificent costumes in emerald green, ruby red and white in order to link three almost independent, loose parts - Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds. However, as always, the dancers - the true jewels - were to be at the center of his ballet.

The three different parts of Jewels not only differ significantly from each other in terms of color and appearance - for example, the tutus have different lengths, from over-the-knee length in Emeralds to skimpy skirts in Rubies - but also musically. With Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky and Piotr I. Tchaikovsky, Balanchine has turned to those musical spaces that correspond to the most important stages of his career - in Russia, France and America. At the same time, he reflects three stylistic forms of ballet: romantic, classical and contemporary.

Emeralds is lyrical and dreamy and not only forms artistic group formations at the end. Rubies conveys a lively New York flair to jazzy sounds: the dancers sweep across the stage at a fast pace, sometimes even running athletically, legs are kicked upwards full of energy, hips are thrown flirtatiously or virtuoso turns are performed. Finally, the virtuoso Diamonds pays homage to the great ballet classics of Petipa in Tsarist Russia, conveying pure classicism and culminating in a pas de deux full of elegance and grace.

Even though Jewels is considered an abstract ballet and there is no plot as such, it nevertheless conveys a variety of moods and emotions and exudes great splendor. Nanette Glushak, who already directed Rubies in 2010, and Diana White - both former Balanchine ballerinas who, in the spirit of the George Balanchine Trust, are passing on the choreographer's works to the new generation in a faithful and stylish manner - are responsible for rehearsing Jewels with the Vienna State Ballet.

The revival on January 30, 2026 will feature debuts in all solo roles, with more to follow in February. As in 2020, the musical direction will be in the proven hands of Paul Connelly. Anna Malikova makes her house debut at the Vienna State Opera with the piano part of Igor Stravinsky's Capriccio in Rubies.