Let’s look at how to appreciate Danses Concertantes Ballet.
This is a one act ballet and it was choreographed by the Scottish Kenneth MacMillan. This was his first commission.
The music is Stravinsky and the Decor was originally done by Nicholas Geogiadis.
Danses Concertantes Ballet was first performed by the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre on the 18 of January 1955.
Maryon Lane, Donald Britton and David Pool were the dancers for this first performance.
The ballet was redesigned by Nicholas Georgiadis in 1979
Appreciating The Danses Concertantes Ballet
When the curtain fell after the first performance of Danses Concertantes, the excitement of the occasion must have been obvious to the whole audience.
It is a plotless ballet.
The choreography consists of an intricate suite of dances. There is a bustling general dance full of entrances and exits for the company, a pas de trois, a rumbustious solo for a male dancer, an adagio for a ballerina and five cavaliers, and a pas de deux.
This is first professional work by a young Royal Ballet dancer was an amazing piece, glittering with inventiveness, intensely personal in its expression.
It seems a kaleidoscope in which all the old, accepted dance ideas had been thoroughly shaken up by this new talent, to form fresh and intriguing patterns.
Not many first ballets can retain their place in a repertory year after year, but whenever it has been revived, Danses Concertantes’ interest seems to increase, for here are many of the qualities that have been so richly extended in MacMillan’s later work.
This cool view of a hothouse was full of unexpected allusions as dancers are as interesting sitting down on chairs as they are when working in class,. Fingers make mysterious masks and the dancers are like horsemen and gymnasts and movie sirens.
It was an explosion of bright dance ideas that never lost sight of those fundamental truths of the classic tradition that had produced and educated MacMillan, and nothing he has created since has departed from this basic belief in the academic dance.
This ballet lives because it perennially suites young dancers in a young company.
Encouraged by the response of audiences and critics, MacMillan decided to stop dancing and to commit himself wholeheartedly to choreography.
This is a video of George Balanchine’s version.
And this my friends is how to appreciate Danses Concertantes in all it’s glory.
Reading about *Danses Concertantes* has given me a new appreciation for how ballet can be both innovative and rooted in tradition.
As a mom exploring ballet as an extracurricular activity for my daughter, I find it inspiring that MacMillan’s first professional work still resonates with audiences decades later. The concept of a plotless ballet filled with intricate patterns and expressive movement makes me believe that ballet could be a wonderful way for children to learn discipline while also exploring their creativity.
Do you think works like this, which blend classic technique with fresh ideas, are particularly suited to helping young dancers stay engaged and motivated?
I think it depends on the dancer. A lot of younger dancers get more inspiration from Tik Tok videos and Instagram. I however love to find out more about the history of how it all evolved.
I really enjoyed reading your thoughtful exploration of Danses Concertantes and how to appreciate this unique ballet. It was enlightening to learn about its origins as a one-act piece by Kenneth MacMillan, set to Stravinsky’s music, and how its inventive choreography still resonates with audiences decades after its premiere. Your description of the intricate suite of dances and the plotless structure really helped me understand what makes this work stand out. I’m curious, do you think the plotless nature of this ballet makes it easier or harder for new audience members to connect emotionally with the performance?
Hi Hanna,
I think it depends on the audience. Some love a good story while others like just to watch something without having to think too much. Personally I can connect with a ballet with a plot more.