SERENADE (Sacramento Ballet - 2011 / Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings) 

Here's my 2011 staging of Balanchine's enduring masterpiece, SERENADE for the Sacramento Ballet.. This was the first ballet he choreographed in America, and it was for his students at his (and Lincoln Kirstien's) new SCHOOL of AMERICAN BALLET in New York City. Choreographed in 1934 to "teach the students how to be on stage," according to Balanchine, this ballet has gone through many changes, including costumes, decor, order of the music, and even the number of soloists...and yet...this ballet has remained true to his original intent ("Dancers dancing in the moonlight") and is still, SERENADE. When he was choreographing this he said he never knew who would turn up for rehearsals, so he just choreographed for the number of dancers who showed up. This rather haphazard approached has morphed into a genuine masterpiece of dance and loved internationally, and is in the repertory of every major (and minor) ballet company in the world. The lead dancers in this video are Alexandra Cunningham, ("Waltz") Amanda Porter, ("Russian") Ava Chatterson, ("Dark Angel") Oliver-Paul Adams, ("Waltz") and Rick Porter, ("Elegie"). I've now staged this ballet for over 30 years; for co's ranging from the Paris Opera Ballet to the Milwaukee Ballet, and from the Beijing Dance Academy to Goucher College...and it is always a grand success. Like so many of Balanchine's ballets, it's virtually indestructable.