Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Act Curtain for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
The Ballet Russe Collection
Ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, after the
comedy-ballet by Moliere.
Music by Richard Strauss.
Scenery by Eugene Berman.
First production by the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo, New York,
1944.
"The action, adapted from the play, shows Monsieur Jourdain
preening himself, proud to have come into a great deal of wealth,
and vowing that his daughter will marry no one but a nobleman. But
daughter gets her way when her lover disguises himself as a Moslem
prince and asks for, and receives, her hand in marriage"
Jack Anderson, The One and Only: The Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo
An earlier (1932) version of this ballet, choreographed while
Balanchine, then with the rival Original Ballets Russes of
Colonel de Basil's company, was still in France, was set to scenery
by Alexander Benois.
This ballet is represented in our collection by the act curtain
above, a backdrop, and a swag, which are all pictured below.
Backdrop for Le Bourgeois
Gentilhomme
Detail of swag