- The Four Temperaments (ballet)
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This article is about Balanchine's 1946 ballet. For the four humours, see Four Temperaments.
The Four Temperaments is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to music he commissioned from Paul Hindemith (the latter's eponymous 1940 music for string orchestra and piano) for the opening program of Ballet Society, immediate forerunner of City Ballet. The première took place on Wednesday, November 20th, 1946, at the Central High School of Needle Trades, New York City, with mise en scène by Kurt Seligmann and lighting by Jean Rosenthal. Leon Barzin conducted and the pianist was Nicholas Kopeikine. The City Ballet première was held in 1951 in practice clothes and without scenery; in 1964 it received new lighting at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, by David Hays. NYCB principal dancer Albert Evans chose to include The Four Temperaments in his farewell performance, Sunday, June 20th, 2010.
Contents
Casts
original
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- Theme
- Beatrice Tompkins
- Elise Reiman
- Gisella Caccialanza
- José Martinez
- Lew Christensen
- Francisco Moncion
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- First variation: Melancholic
- Rita Karlin
- 4 women
- William Dollar
- Georgia Hiden
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- Second variation: Sanguinic
- Mary Ellen Moylan
- 4 women
- Fred Danieli
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- Third variation: Phlegmatic
- 4 women
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- Fourth variation: Choleric
- Tanaquil LeClercq
NYCB revivals
2009 Spring
first cast
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- Theme
- Ellen Ostrom
- Lauren King
- Rebecca Krohn
- Christian Tworzyanski
- Allen Peiffer
- Jason Fowler
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- First variation: Melancholic
- Sébastien Marcovici
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- Second variation: Sanquinic'
- Abi Stafford
- Jared Angle
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- Third variation: Phlegmatic
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- Fourth variation: Choleric
- Teresa Reichlen
second cast
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- Theme
- Ellen Ostrom
- Amanda Hankes
- Ashley Laracey
- Adrian Danchig-Waring
- Craig Hall
- Jason Fowler
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- First variation: Melancholic
- Sean Suozzi
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- Second variation: Sanquinic
- Savannah Lowery
- Tyler Angle [1]
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- Third variation: Phlegmatic
- Ask la Cour
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- Fourth variation: Choleric
- Ellen Bar
2009 Saratoga Springs
first cast
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- Theme
- Faye Arthurs
- Lauren King
- Megan LeCrone
- Adrian Danchig-Waring
- Amar Ramasar
- Jason Fowler
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- First variation: Melancholic
- Sean Suozzi
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- Second variation: Sanguinic
- Jennie Somogyi
- Tyler Angle
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- Third variation: Phlegmatic
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- Fourth variation: Choleric
- Teresa Reichlen
second cast
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- Theme
- Faye Arthurs
- Lauren King
- Ashley Laracey
- Adrian Danchig-Waring
- Amar Ramasar
- Jason Fowler
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- First variation: Melancholic
- Craig Hall
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- Second variation: Sanguinic
- Jennie Somogyi
- Tyler Angle
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- Third variation: Phlegmatic
- Ask la Cour
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- Fourth variation: Choleric
- Teresa Reichlen
2009 Winter
- t.b.a.
notes
- ^ first time in rôle
Filmography
- 1989, Seahorse Films, Dancing for Mr.B. (excerpts from 1947 Ballet Society rehearsal).
Videography and DVD
- 1995 Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: Dancing for Mr.B, excerpts from the 1947 Ballet Society rehearsal
- 1995 Nonesuch, The Balanchine Library: Choreography by Balanchine, 1977
- 2004 Kultur, Balanchine, excerpt from Melancholich
Television
- 1962 Dutch television
- 1963 NBC, excerpt
- 1984 PBS, Dance in America: Balanchine
See also
- San Francisco Ballet at 75 productions
- New York City Ballet repertory
Reviews
- NY Times, October 21st, 1946
- NY Times by John Martin, December 6th, 1957
- NY Times by Anna Kisselgoff, May 26th, 1979
- NY Times by Alastair Macaulay, April 26th, 2007
- NY Times by Roslyn Sulcas, May 8th, 2008
External links
Ballets by George Balanchine A La Françaix · A Midsummer Night's Dream · Agon · Allegro Brillante · Apollo (stagings) · Le baiser de la fée · Le Bal · Ballade · Ballo della Regina · Bayou · Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme · Bourrée fantasque · Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet · Bugaku · Chaconne (stagings) · Le chant du rossignol · Circus Polka · Clarinade · Concertino · Concerto Barocco · Coppélia · Cortège Hongrois · Divertimento Brillante · Divertimento from “Le Baiser De La Fée” · Divertimento No. 15 · Don Quixote · Donizetti Variations · Duo Concertant · Élégie · L'enfant et les sortilèges · Episodes (stagings) · Etude for Piano · The Firebird · The Flood · The Four Temperaments (stagings) · Garland Dance · Gounod Symphony · Haieff Divertimento · Harlequinade · Hungarian Gypsy Airs · Ivesiana · Jeu de cartes · Jewels (stagings) · Kammermusik No. 2 · Liebeslieder Walzer (stagings) · Meditation · Metamorphoses · Metastaseis and Pithoprakta · Monumentum pro Gesualdo (stagings) · Movements for Piano and Orchestra · Mozartiana · Noah and the Flood · The Nutcracker · Orpheus · Pas de Dix · Pas de Trois (Glinka) · Pas de Trois (Minkus) · Pavane · The Prodigal Son · Pulcinella · Ragtime I · Ragtime II · Raymonda Variations · Requiem Canticles · Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze · Scherzo à la Russe · Scotch Symphony · Serenade · The Seven Deadly Sins · Slaughter on Tenth Avenue · La Sonnambula · Sonatine · La source · Square Dance · Stars and Stripes · The Steadfast Tin Soldier · Stravinsky Violin Concerto · Swan Lake · Sylvia Pas de Deux · Symphonie Concertante · Symphony in C · Symphony in Three Movements · Tango · Tarantella (stagings) · Theme and Variations · Le tombeau de Couperin · Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux · Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 · Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 · Tzigane · Union Jack · La valse · Valse-Fantaisie · Variations · Variations for Orchestra · Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir · Vienna Waltzes · Walpurgisnacht Ballet · Western Symphony (stagings) · Who Cares? (stagings) · Zenobia
Categories:- 1946 ballet premieres
- Ballets by George Balanchine
- Ballets by Paul Hindemith
- Ballets designed by Jean Rosenthal
- Ballets designed by Kurt Seligmann
- New York City Ballet repertory
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