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Agon is particularly unusual. It was staged by Peter Martins (who borrowed Darcey Bussell from The Royal Ballet) in front of a live audience. The central camera position keeps strictly on the level, and consequently looks a bit flat. However, alternate cameras were used to capture emotionally intimate medium shots, unseen in Balanchine's own studio work of the Seventies.
Emeralds seems to be intact -- with a pas de trois, solos and a finale with the corps. You can spot the youthful Ashley and Watts amid the group. Stravinsky Violin Concerto was shot on such a postmodern set, it looks like everyone's doing floor work at the bottom of an empty Olympic-sized swimming pool!
The Balanchine Celebration Part One was unrepresented, except by the lovely box cover, a moment from Vienna Waltzes (above) frozen by photographer Paul Kolnik. It promises to be jam-packed, with selections from six ballets plus the complete Scherzo a la Russe.
Two segments will be added to The Balanchine Essays: Port de Bras and Epaulement and Passe and Attitude. The cover of Passe... is adorned with an archival photo of the big B coaching Tanaquil LeClercq and Francisco Moncion in 1948 (top). Both of these tapes were directed by Merrill Brockaway, who also directed many of the "Dance in America" segments collected in this Library series. Merrill Ashley and Suki Schorer again head the classes.
Two cutaways shown here (right and left) were taken during a 1993 performance of Agon.
Estelle Souche has arranged a bilingual page for balletomanes and others, with charming illustrations.
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