Interplay
Choreography by Jerome Robbins
Music by Morton Gould
Staged by Judith Fugate
Costume Design by Santo Loquasto
Lighting Design by Jennifer Tipton
Lighting recreated by Perry Silvey
Interplay was the second ballet that Jerome Robbins choreographed, after his huge success with Fancy Free. It debuted in 1945 for Billy Rose’s Concert Varieties at the Ziegfeld Theater and entered the New York City Ballet repertory in 1952. Using the interplay of classical and vernacular choreography, Robbins experimented with choreographic patterns and the interactions of dancers in various formations. Originally titled American Concertette, Morton Gould’s score, full of humor and jazzy orchestration, revels in the swingtime rhythms of the 1940s. At the center of Interplay is a bluesy pas de deux that stands in bold relief to the joyfully competitive spirit of the ballet.
Repertory notes provided courtesy of and adapted from New York City Ballet Online Repertory Index.
Kansas City Ballet Premiere: Friday, May 12, 2017. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
World Premiere: June 1, 1945. Ziegfeld Theatre, New York.