Apollo (ballet)

Apollon musagète (French Apollo, leader of the Muses ) is a ballet in two images, which was composed by Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky 1927-1928. George Balanchine wrote in 1928 the corresponding choreography based on Stravinsky libretto. The work is an example of the often listed founded by Balanchine neoclassical style in ballet.

Stravinsky Apollon musagète composition was commissioned at the request of the American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge for a festival of contemporary music in the Washington Library of Congress. The premiere took place in Washington, D.C. in April 1928 in the choreography by Adolph Bolm instead. In Europe, the work was first performed in Balanchine's version on June 28, 1928 at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris by the Ballets Russes. The stage was from André Bauchant, the main role was played by Serge Lifar.

Action

The plot of the ballet is based on figures from ancient Greek mythology. Apollo, god of music, dances with three muses and guides them in the end to Parnassus Mountains. The Muses are: Calliope, Muse of poetry, Polyhymnia, muse of hymns and Terpsichore, muse of dance.

• First Photo Prologue: The Birth of Apollo

• Second Picture Variation of Apollo
• Scene: Apollo and the Muses
• Variation of Calliope
• Variation of Polyhymnia
• Variation of Terpsichore
• Second Variation of Apollo
• Pas de deux
• Coda
• Apotheosis