Dance in America: "Jewels"

     According to reviews, George Balanchine, the original choreographer,  made ballet a modern art. Premiering in 1967, "Jewels" is the choreographer's only plotless work in three acts.The abstract ballet illuminates, with clarity and brilliance in its three movements -- the romantic "Emeralds," the jazzy, neoclassical "Rubies," and the classically inspired "Diamonds.""Jewels" literally shines, as the dancers' costumes are imbued with the brilliance of the stone for which each section is named.

  On February 20th, 2012, the class watched the ballet performance from the video, Dance in America. Of the three parts we only watched two, emeralds and diamonds.

     Emeralds (Merill Ashley, Gerard Ebitz: For the first part, the dancers wore green leotards lined with jewels at the top and tutus, It features staccato movements of the arms and legs then soft and slow walking movements. In the second part the piece contains many lifts. 

     Diamonds(Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins): With music by Stravinsky,  for the first part the costumes consisted of white leotards studded with jewels and short white tutus, featuring many penches in their movements. In the second part, the dancers change into a more traditional ballet costume consisting of black leotard tights and skirts for females and white shirt and black tights for males. This part includes quick movements and features two sets of pas de deux (dance for two) which shows the dancers using a different style with bent knees and incorporating a series of back bends in the piece. The other, using wide second positions and a lot of intertwining arm movements. The last part of this piece consists of the dancers wearing black or pink tights and incorporates a folk style of dancing with a lot of foot work.
Overall the pieces, emeralds and diamonds, with their elaborate costumes and unusual movements captivated the audience making it a remarkable ballet for all to enjoy.