Diamonds

Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold in Diamonds.
Photo © Angela Sterling

Music: Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, 1875, first movement omitted)
Choreography: George Balanchine, © The George Balanchine Trust
Staging: Elyse Borne
Costume Design: Karinska
Lighting Design: Mark Stanley
Duration: 31 minutes
Premiere: April 13, 1967; New York City Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: June 1, 2006

Diamonds is Balanchine's homage to his native St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet pays homage to Balanchine's youth: the grandeur of St. Petersburg, the Maryinsky Theater and the Imperial Ballet, where Balanchine trained. Echoes of Petipa's Swan Lake and Raymonda abound, and the centerpiece of the ballet is an intimate pas de deux, potent in its chivalrous reserve, for the ballerina and her cavalier. At its end, the entire cast joins the principal couple for a gloriously spirited polonaise.

Recommended Listening:
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Mariss Jansons, Chandos

Notes by Doug Fullington.