Western Symphony Magenta

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 expressed through ballet.

The wild west, cowboys and dance hall girls meet with unexpected elegance in the form of the tutus that are as much Moulin Rouge in their luxurious complexity. The construction is yard upon yard of unique profiled tulle that ultimately creates an effect of endlessly overlapping leaves like that of spring cabbages. The bunched up lengths of elastic in the upper right hand corner serve as a nod to the structural decisions made by the costume designers in order to make these confections of tulle and silk function in the rigors of the dance.