Trivia Thursday Quiz
serenade
Test your ballet knowledge!
1. How many dancers are in the formation as the curtain goes up at the beginning of Serenade?
a) 5
b) 8
c) 12
d) 17
2. Who did George Balanchine first choreograph Serenade on? (sources- newyorker.com, theballetspot.com)
a) American Ballet Theatre
b) Ballet Russes
c) Students of the School of American Ballet
d) New York City Ballet
3. What year did Serenade premiere? (source- theballetspot.com)
a) 1925
b) 1934
c) 1944
d) 1951
4. Who composed the music for Serenade?
a) Fauré
b) Verdi
c) Tchaikovsky
d) Elgar
5. Each of the soloist/principal roles in Serenade is commonly referred to by a name to describe the role. Which of these is NOT a name used to refer to one of the three main roles?
a) Sapphire Girl
b) Russian Girl
c) Waltz Girl
d) Dark Angel
Answers
1. Answer- D
2. Answer- C
Ballet Fun Fact- Balanchine created Serenade based on how many students showed up to rehearsal each day. Each section of the ballet utilizes a different number of dancers. When a dancer was late one day, he added a dancer showing up late into the choreography as well as incorporating a dancer “falling” just as she had one day in rehearsal. Over time, Balanchine added soloist and principal roles to the ballet which didn’t appear in the original choreography. (source- newyorker.com)
3. Answer- B
Ballet Fun Fact! The students of SAB first performed Serenade on June 10, 1934 in White Plains, NY. (source- balanchine.com)
4. Answer- C
Ballet Fun Fact! Serenade is set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C, Op 48. The ballet is currently comprised of four movements, listed by the George Balanchine Trust as “Sonatina,” “Waltz,” “Russian Dance,” and “Elegy.” The last two movements reverse the music from Tchaikovsky’s original order. (source- balanchine.com)
A quote from George Balanchine on the NYCB web page states, “In everything that I did to Tschaikovsky’s music, I sensed his help. It wasn’t real conversation. But when I was working and saw that something was coming of it, I felt that it was Tschaikovsky who had helped me.” (source- nycb.com)
5. Answer- A