Other Dances

Production#

Other Dances was made as a pièce d’occasion for James Lipton’s “The Star Spangled Gala”, which benefited the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Robbins had previously donated part of his profits from the musical Fiddler on the Roof to the library’s dance collection. It is set to Frédéric Chopin’s music, including four mazurkas and one waltz, the latter previously used in Fokine’s Les Sylphides. Robbins had previously used Chopin’s works in The Concert, Dances at a Gathering, and its follow-up, In the Night.

Choreography#

Baryshnikov wrote, “There is no idea for Other Dances, there is no story.” While the ballet follows the structure of a classical a pas de deux, with pas de deux, two solos and a coda, Baryshnikov noted it could have worked with any order.

Music#

All the music used in Other Dances are composed by Chopin, including: * Mazurkas, Op. 17, No. 4 * Mazurkas, Op. 41, No. 3 * Waltz, Op. 64, No. 3 * Mazurkas Op. 63, No. 2 * Mazurkas, Op. 33, No. 2

Performances#

Other Dances premiered on May 9, 1976, at “The Star Spangled Gala” held at the Metropolitan Opera House. The same night, Robbins was presented the Handel Medallion by Mayor Abraham Beame. Upon critical acclaim, the American Ballet Theatre, where Makarova and Baryshnikov were dancing at the time, acquired Other Dances shortly after it premiered. In November, Robbins’ company, the New York City Ballet, debuted the ballet, danced by Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins. The costumes were also designed by Loquasto, but in mauve instead of the blue in the original production. In 2012, when Makarova received the Kennedy Center Honors, an excerpt of Other Dances was performed by Tiler Peck, a New York City Ballet principal dancer.

Critical reception#

On the premiere of Other Dances, New York Times critic Clive Barnes called it a “masterpiece”. He compared it to Dances at a Gathering, another Robbins ballet to Chopin’s music, and wrote, “it could fit into Dances at a Gathering without a shudder of notice. It has precisely the original ballet’s sense of place and style, of Slavic forms growing in an alien soil, of transposed dance images, character motions and national glints, into an oddly pure form of classic dance. There is no choreography — with its mixture of character fervor and classic grace — quite like it anywhere.” In 1977, reviewing ABT performing Other Dances in London, Peter Williams of Dance and Dancers commented he would be happy to “see both these dancers in this piece every night of my life”.

Videography#

In 1980, a performance of Other Dances with Makarova and Baryshnikov was filmed and released on the PBS broadcast Dance in America.

External links#

• Other Dances on New York City Ballet’s website
• Other Dances on American Ballet Theatre’s website