Divertimento No. 15
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This ballet, one of Balanchine’s purest dance creations, displays the flavor of eighteenth-century elegance with only the slightest emotional overtones. A music critic, Biancolli, once said of the piece, “It is so close to the music that the chances are no company short of a banc of dancing Mozarts with ever be able to attain either the perfection of Mozart or the ingenuity of Balanchine; the gap will always remain between what both Mozart and Balanchine have devised and what is humanly possible in the dance.”
As usual, Balanchine closely follows the rhythms in the Mozart manuscript. The intricate patterns of the notes inspired the beautiful dance patterns of the choreography. An accomplished pianist, Mr. Balanchine created his choreography literally from the rhythms, phrases, formalities, and colorings of the score.
World Premiere: Mary 31, 1956
Kansas City Ballet Premiere: October 7, 1999, Lyric Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri