Prodigal Son is told, since it is about good and evil, in two kinds of pantomime: the dry, insect-like, insect-quick, elegance and filth of atheism, and the fleshy biblical vehemence -- so Near Eastern and juicy -- of sin and forgiveness, the bitter sin and sweet forgiveness. Still bolder as an image seems to me the leisure in the pacing of the scenes, which transports the action into a spacious patriarchal world, like a lifetime of faith.
--Edwin Denby, Ballet (August 1952)
Prodigal Son, done for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1929, is the second oldest of surviving Balanchine ballets -- only Apollo from 1928 is older; Choreography by George Balanchine A Catalogue of Works, lists Prodigal Son as the 94th of the total of 425 ballets by Balanchine. This ballet is included in NYC Ballet's current digital season, that runs from Feb. through June, and is danced by Daniel Ulbricht and Teresa Reichlen, who are terrific in their roles as the prodigal son and the siren, The original prodigal son was Serge Lifar and I have seen it danced by a number of others since it was revived in 1950 for NYC Ballet, including Edward Villella and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and my favorite of the sirens I have seen is Suzanne Farrell, usually an austere and somewhat distant dancer who as the siren was a passionate temptress.
Like many of Balanchine's ballets Prodigal Son is obviously from a particular time and place while simultaneously being timeless. The narrative style, which Balanchine never completely abandoned, even has a book by Boris Kochno, a rarity in Balanchine's work, and scenery and costumes by Georges Rouault. The impressive and powerful music is by Prokoviev, who conducted the original performance.
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