Trio con Brio

Synopsis:

In this short, punchy pas de trois technical statement, Tudor presents a woman and two men who work in Petipa-like movement formulas to Glinka's predictable music with pirouettes, bourrées, and movement patterns. The men partner her and walk around like peacocks. She acknowledges their obeisance, treating both men as elegant porters for her leanings. Upstage, she extends her leg front and arches back. She waits and deigns to move from one cavalier to the other, balancing, pirouetting, and unfolding her legs. The men have their moments of individual triumph as well. In a very presentational way, they cover the jumps, turns, and the quick, difficult batterie that we associate with the origins of ballet. Alone, the ballerina executes step piqué pirouettes and pas de chats on diagonals. She concludes with a double pirouette and bows as if to say, now the audience must recognize my command performance. The show literally stops, and she goes off. After the other cavalier performs his varation with a lot of quick, stiff, beating jumps, the three dancers come out, with typical end of the pas de deux/trois fireworks-bellannés, Czardas steps and rapid folksy steps, one arm up, pulling into fifth positions, a fitting ending to this imperial academic display.

Ballet Synopsis excerpted with permission from the Ballets of Antony Tudor by Judith Chazin-Bennahum.

Choreography: Antony Tudor.

Music / Composer: Dances from Russian and Ludmilla, Mikhail Glinka.

First Performance: Lee, Massachusetts. Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. June 27th, 1952.

First Performance Cast: Tatiana Grantzea, Nicholas Polajenko, Ralph McWilliams.

Costumes / Scenery: Marie Nepo and Adolphine Rott.

Number of Dancers: 1 Women, 2 Men.

Costumes: New York Theatre Ballet.

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