# Dances at a Gathering

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{{short description|Ballet by Jerome Robbins}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox ballet
| name           = Dances at a Gathering
| italic title   = yes
| image          = Dances at a Gathering Royal Ballet 2008.jpg
| image_size     = 260px
| alt            =
| caption        = Royal Ballet dancers at the curtain call of ''Dances at a Gathering'' (2008)
| choreographer  = [Jerome Robbins](/source/Jerome_Robbins)
| composer       = [Frédéric Chopin](/source/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin)
| premiere       = {{Start date|1969|05|22}}
| place          = [New York State Theater](/source/New_York_State_Theater)
| ballet_company = [New York City Ballet](/source/New_York_City_Ballet)
| designer       = [Joe Eula](/source/Joe_Eula)
| created_for    =
| genre          = [Neoclassical ballet](/source/Neoclassical_ballet)
| type           =
| url            = <!--{{URL|example.com}}-->
}}
'''''Dances at a Gathering''''' is a [ballet](/source/ballet) choreographed by [Jerome Robbins](/source/Jerome_Robbins) to music by [Frédéric Chopin](/source/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin), with costumes designed by [Joe Eula](/source/Joe_Eula). The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969, at the [New York State Theater](/source/New_York_State_Theater), performed by the [New York City Ballet](/source/New_York_City_Ballet).

==Production==
''Dances at a Gathering'' is the first ballet Robbins created for the [New York City Ballet](/source/New_York_City_Ballet) (NYCB) in years, after he worked on [Broadway theatre](/source/Broadway_theatre).<ref name=Lin>{{cite news|url=https://bachtrack.com/feature-dances-at-a-gathering-jerome-robbins-esplanade-paul-taylor-america-month-may-2019|title=American masterworks: Dances at a Gathering and Esplanade|website=Bachtrack|last=Lin|first=Ivy|date=May 1, 2019}}</ref> He first planned to make a [pas de deux](/source/pas_de_deux) for [Patricia McBride](/source/Patricia_McBride) and [Edward Villella](/source/Edward_Villella), but it was eventually expanded to five couples.<ref name=Oxford/> According to NYCB, after [George Balanchine](/source/George_Balanchine) saw 25 minutes of the ballet, he said: "[m]ake more, make it like popcorn", so Robbins enlarged the ballet to an hour long.<ref name=NYCB/> With costumes by [Joe Eula](/source/Joe_Eula) and lighting by Thomas Skelton, the ballet had a gala preview on May 8, 1969, before premiering on May 22. Robbins dedicated the ballet to lighting designer [Jean Rosenthal](/source/Jean_Rosenthal), who had died on May 1.<ref name=Oxford/>

Following the premiere, there were many speculations regarding the narratives of the ballet so Robbins wrote to ''[Ballet Review](/source/Ballet_Review)'' in [all caps](/source/all_caps) to insist that the ballet has no stories, plot or roles, and the dancers are merely "themselves dancing with each other to music in that place."<ref name=Macaulay/> In the ballet, the performers are credited by the colors of their costumes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/25/archives/delia-peters-beguiling-in-dances-at-a-gathering.html|title=Delia Peters Beguiling in 'Dances at a Gathering'|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 26, 1976}}</ref> The ballet starts with a solo performed by Brown Boy, originally Villella, and in the middle of the ballet, a woman who had not appeared in the ballet before dances a solo.<ref name=Macaulay>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/arts/dance/the-wisdom-beneath-the-steps-of-dances-at-a-gathering.html|title=The Wisdom Beneath the Steps of 'Dances at a Gathering'|newspaper=New York Times|last=Macaulay|first=Alastair|date=October 11, 2016}}</ref><ref name=SF/> In one section featuring three men and three women, the women are tossed from partner to partner. The most well-known part of the ballet is a pas de deux between Pink Girl (originally McBride) and Mauve Boy.<ref name=Lin/> No more than six dancers are on stage at the same time until the finale.<ref name=Macaulay/>

==Other companies and revivals==
[The Royal Ballet](/source/The_Royal_Ballet) in London premiered ''Dances at a Gathering'' in 1970, staged by Robbins himself.<ref name=Oxford>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095659272|title=Dances at a Gathering|website=Oxford References}}</ref> When he taught the role originated by Villella to [Rudolf Nureyev](/source/Rudolf_Nureyev), who was regarded as one of the best ballet dancer in his generation, Robbins attempted to make Nureyev unrecognizable to the audience.<ref name=Macaulay/> The Royal Ballet continued to perform the ballet until 1976, then did not revive it until 2008, staged by [Susan Hendl](/source/Susan_Hendl) and Ben Huys.<ref name=Royal>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/arts/dance/19gath.html|title=Memory Transfigured by Spontaneity|newspaper=New York Times|last=Macaulay|first=Alastair|date=May 19, 2008}}</ref> Robbins also staged the ballet for the [Paris Opera Ballet](/source/Paris_Opera_Ballet), and the company debuted it in 1991.<ref name=Oxford/> The [San Francisco Ballet](/source/San_Francisco_Ballet) first performed it in 2002, also staged by Hendl and Huys.<ref name=SF/>

In 2014, when original cast member Patricia McBride was honored at the [Kennedy Center Honors](/source/Kennedy_Center_Honors), an excerpt of ''Dances at a Gathering'' was performed by [Tiler Peck](/source/Tiler_Peck) and [Jared Angle](/source/Jared_Angle).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://dancetabs.com/2014/12/patricia-mcbride-honoured-at-the-37th-annual-kennedy-center-honours/|title=Patricia McBride Honoured at The 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honours|website=DanceTabs|last=Khadarina|first=Oksana|date=December 16, 2014}}</ref>

== Casts ==
* World premiere: [Allegra Kent](/source/Allegra_Kent), [Sara Leland](/source/Sara_Leland), [Kay Mazzo](/source/Kay_Mazzo), [Patricia McBride](/source/Patricia_McBride), [Violette Verdy](/source/Violette_Verdy), Anthony Blum, [John Clifford](/source/John_Clifford_(choreographer)), Robert Maiorano, John Prinz, [Edward Villella](/source/Edward_Villella)<ref name=NYCB>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/dances-at-a-gathering/|title=Dances at a Gathering|website=New York City Ballet}}</ref>
* [Royal Ballet](/source/Royal_Ballet) premiere (1970): [Laura Connor](/source/Laura_Connor), Ann Jenner, [Monica Mason](/source/Monica_Mason), [Lynn Seymour](/source/Lynn_Seymour), [Antoinette Sibley](/source/Antoinette_Sibley), [Michael Coleman](/source/Michael_Coleman_(dancer)), [Anthony Dowell](/source/Anthony_Dowell), Jonathan Kelly, [Rudolf Nureyev](/source/Rudolf_Nureyev), [David Wall](/source/David_Wall_(dancer))<ref name=ROH>{{cite web|url=http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=12022&row=0|title=Dances at a Gathering – 19 October 1970 Evening |website=Royal Opera House Collections Online}}</ref>
* [Paris Opera Ballet](/source/Paris_Opera_Ballet) premiere (1991): [Monique Loudières](/source/Monique_Loudi%C3%A8res), [Marie-Claude Pietragalla](/source/Marie-Claude_Pietragalla), [Isabelle Guérin](/source/Isabelle_Gu%C3%A9rin), Claude de Vulpian, Véronique Doisneau, [Manuel Legris](/source/Manuel_Legris), [Kader Belarbi](/source/Kader_Belarbi), Jean-Yves Lormeau, [Patrick Dupond](/source/Patrick_Dupond), Wilfred Romoli<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.memopera.fr/SpectRepres.cfm?SpeCode=ROB&SpeNum=9192&Dist=10860|title=Jerome Robbins|website=MémOpéra}}</ref>
* [San Francisco Ballet](/source/San_Francisco_Ballet) premiere (2002): Sherri LeBlanc, [Tina LeBlanc](/source/Tina_LeBlanc), Joanna Berman, [Lucía Lacarra](/source/Luc%C3%ADa_Lacarra), [Yuan Yuan Tan](/source/Yuan_Yuan_Tan), Stephen Legate, [Gonzalo Garcia](/source/Gonzalo_Garcia_(dancer)), [Damian Smith](/source/Damian_Smith_(dancer)), Vadim Solomakha, Roman Rykine<ref name=SF>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Ballet-shows-Robbins-humanity-2875646.php|title=Ballet shows Robbins' humanity|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicles|last=Roca|first=Octavio|date=February 7, 2002}}</ref>

==Music==
All the music used in ''Dances at a Gathering'' is composed by [Frédéric Chopin](/source/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin), including:<ref name=NYCB/>
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [Mazurka, Op. 63](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._63_(Chopin)), No. 3
* [Waltz, Op. 69, No. 2](/source/Waltz_in_B_minor%2C_Op._69%2C_No._2_(Chopin))
* [Mazurka, Op. 33](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._33_(Chopin)), No. 3
* [Mazurka, Op. 6](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._6_(Chopin)), No. 4
* [Mazurka, Op. 7](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._7_(Chopin)), No. 5
* Mazurka, Op. 7, No. 4
* [Mazurka, Op. 24](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._24_(Chopin)), No. 2
* Mazurka, Op. 6, No. 2
* [Waltz, Op. 42](/source/Waltz_in_A-flat_major%2C_Op._42_(Chopin))
* [Waltz, Op. 34](/source/Waltzes%2C_Op._34_(Chopin)), No. 2
* [Mazurka, Op. 56](/source/Mazurkas%2C_Op._56_(Chopin)), No. 2
* [Etude, Op. 25, No. 4](/source/%C3%89tude_Op._25%2C_No._4_(Chopin))
* Waltz, Op. 34, No. 1
* [Waltz, Op. 70, No. 2](/source/Waltzes%2C_Op._70_(Chopin))
* [Etude, Op. 25, No. 5](/source/%C3%89tude_Op._25%2C_No._5_(Chopin))
* [Etude, Op. 10, No. 2](/source/%C3%89tude_Op._10%2C_No._2_(Chopin))
* [Scherzo, Op. 20](/source/Scherzo_No._1_(Chopin))
* [Nocturne, Op. 15, No. 1](/source/Nocturnes%2C_Op._15_(Chopin))
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8GOTCkrekU Tiler Peck on ''Dances at a Gathering'']

{{Jerome Robbins}}
{{Chopin ballets |state=autocollapse}}

Category:Ballets by Jerome Robbins
Category:Ballets to the music of Frédéric Chopin
Category:1969 ballets
Category:New York City Ballet repertory

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dances at a Gathering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dances_at_a_Gathering) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dances_at_a_Gathering?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.