Jewels

Ballet by George Balanchine

©The George Balanchine Trust

Produced and Performed by National Ballet of China

Producer and Artistic Director: Feng Ying

Choreography by George Balanchine    ©The George Balanchine Trust

Music by Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Scenery Design: Gong Xun

Lighting Design: Liu Zhao

Costume Design: Yue Songshan

Make-up and Style Design: Xu Bin

Répétiteurs: Sandra Jennings, Diana White

NBC General Répétiteurs: Zhu Yan

NBC Répétiteurs Team: Zhang Jian, Li Jun, Wang Qi, Wang Hao, Lu Na, Wang Qimin

Piano Accompanists: Yin Yue, Wang Jing, Huang Xilun

Project Coordinators: Qin Xi, Yao Songyu

Music Performed by National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra

Conductors: Zhang Yi

Piano Soloist: Tan Xiaotang(Guest)

Concert Master: Wang Xiaomao

Stage Production: The Stage Production Department of NBC

Stage Production Supervisors: Zhang Bingzhi, Zhang Jianhua

Starring：Zhang Jian, Wang Qimin, Ma Xiaodong, Sun Ruichen, Lu Na, Qiu Yunting, Zhan Xinlu, Xu Yan, Zheng Yu, Fang Mengying, Wu Sicong, Li Wentao, Chen Zhuming, Guan Wenting, Sun Yimeng, Liu Xuechen, Zhang Tiao, Sun Haifeng, etc.

*The Performance of the Jewels, a Balanchine Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine® Style and Balanchine® Technique Service standards established and provided by the Trust.

Introduction of Jewels

Jewels, a work in three parts choreographed by George Balanchine, was premiered in 1967. Each of the three parts represents a specific ballet school. Emeralds for French, Rubies for American and Diamonds for Russian.

Emeralds shows the characteristics of the French romantic ballet in the nineteenth century. With emerald crowns, the ballerinas dress like shining emeralds and dance to music from Gabriel Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande and Shylock. Thus, the first part of Jewels perfectly embodies the noble, elegant and mysterious characteristics of the emerald and vividly shows the exquisite and aesthetic French romantic ballet style to the audience.

There is a passionate American ballet style in Rubies, which starts with a forte chord of Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. In this part, the jazzy ballet movements flow in the neoclassical score and represent the brilliant, lively and scintillating rubies as well as the enchanting charm of "see the music, hear the dance".

The third part is called Diamonds, the music of which is selected from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.3 in D Major. There you can see the same Russian ballet style as in Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, and the magnificent and elegant classic ballet as well. It is not only a re-creation of the glory of the heyday of Russian ballet, but also a declaration that the beauty of classic ballet would be firm and eternal just as diamonds are.