An American in Paris (ballet)

An American in Paris is a 21-minute ballet[1] made by New York City Ballet's first resident choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, to eponymous music by George Gershwin from 1928.[2] The premiere took place on Wednesday, 4 May 2005, at New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with scenery by Adrianne Lobel, costumes by Holly Hynes and lighting by Natasha Katz.

This article is about the 2005 Wheeldon ballet. For the 1928 George Gershwin music, see An American in Paris. For the 1951 film starring Gene Kelly, see An American in Paris (film). For the 2014 musical play inspired by the film, see An American in Paris (musical).

A decade later, Wheeldon returned to An American in Paris[3] and adapted the 1951 film to a full-length musical play of the same name.

When composing the musical score, Gershwin used instruments that replicated sounds he recalled from his visit to France about two years prior to completing the composition. After Gershwin had completed working on 'ROSALIE' a show by Florenz Ziegfeld. Gershwin and his wife, Ira, decided to take some time off and stay in Paris for a while where he was inspired to keep working on his number 'Very Parisienne'; the number he had started two years prior to this trip. " Gershwin and his friend Mabel Schirmer went shopping for those horns in the automobile shops along the Avenue de la Grande Armee and he returned home to incorporate them into this “rhapsodic ballet,” which had its debut at Carnegie Hall later that year." (An American in Paris)

Cast

Original

Spring 2008

Further reading
  • Playbill, New York City Ballet, Saturday, May 10, 2008[4]
  • Repertory Week, New York City Ballet, Spring Season, 2008 repertory, week 2

Reviews

References
  1. "An American in Paris". NYCB. May 4, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2016. Christopher Wheeldon presents his own take of the romantic encounter between a brash American painter and a lovely young Parisienne in this ballet. A large ensemble ballet interspersed with pas de deux; this sweeping panoramic piece is filled with the vibrant sounds, rhythms, and colors of urban Paris life. The cast of 31 includes beatniks, fashion models, tourists, schoolgirls, gendarmes, and even a Tour de France bicyclist in a yellow jersey. Set designer Adrienne Lobel has created backdrops inspired by Picasso and Braque that provide a skewed Cubist perspective of a "postcard" City of Lights, including stone bridges and picturesque streets, the banks of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
  2. "Hey, Gene Kelly, You've Got Competition". The New York Times. April 1, 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  3. "Christopher Wheeldon Directs 'An American in Paris' on Broadway". March 5, 2015. Mr. Wheeldon decided to create an “American in Paris” ballet to the Gershwin score for City Ballet. “That music, its jazz influences, that American view of Paris, always fascinated me,” Mr. Wheeldon said in an interview in his office, overlooking the Seine. The ballet had its premiere in 2005, with Picasso- and Braque-inspired décor by Adrianne Lobel, but Mr. Wheeldon said he had never felt entirely happy with it and always intended to return to the score.
  4. "An American in Paris @ Palace Theatre". Playbill. February 14, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  5. Rockwell, John (May 6, 2005). "An Elegant Audience, Certainly, and Five Premieres". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  6. Anderson, Jack (May 12, 2005). "A Celebration of Romantic and Comedic Joy". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  7. Macaulay, Alastair (January 25, 2008). "New York City Ballet - Dance - Review". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2016.


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