Fancy Free
Fancy Free is a one-act ballet by Jerome Robbins ( choreography and libretto ) based on music by Leonard Bernstein . It premiered on April 18, 1944 at the Ballet Theater in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York . The ballet lasts about half an hour.
people
- Three sailors
- Three girls
- A bartender
action
Three sailors spend a 24-hour shore leave in New York during World War II. It is evening. Heat is brooding over the city. The sailors want to have fun. Two girls come towards them. The sailors try to tie up with them by dancing around the ladies in court. However, none of the girls want to choose one of them. The sailors quarrel about this. The girls no longer want to watch the scuffle and turn away. A third girl enters the scene. The game starts all over again.
Remarks
The soloists at the premiere were John Kriza, Harold Lang, Jerome Robbins, Muriel Bentley, Janet Reed and Shirley Eckl. The composer stood at the podium.
Bernstein's music sounds fresh, imaginative and has jazzy elements. It is easy to understand for the listener. For the choreographer it was his first ballet. In it he uses jitterbug steps and movements from ballroom dances that were current at the time of the premiere. For Bernstein and Robbins, the ballet quickly became a global success. It was so successful that it inspired the two to expand it into a full-length musical that same year. This is how “ On the Town ” came about , premiered on December 28, 1944 at the Adelphi Theater in New York.
literature
Otto Friedrich Regner and Heinz-Ludwig Schneiders: Reclams Ballettführer , 8th edition, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-008042-8