Choreography: Anthony Tudor
Music: Ernest Chausson
Costume Design: Hugh Stevenson
Anthony Tudor, the English choreographer, established himself permanently
in the realm of great choreographers when, in 1940 during the first season
of Ballet Theater (now known as American Ballet Theater), he recreated
his ballet Lilac Garden for that fledgling company. The bittersweet theme
is set in the gracious Eduardian era. The plot-a young woman betrothed
to a man she does not want to marry-mirrors the society in which power
and position are uppermost. The ballet is so musically constructed
that it would seem Ernest Chausson had written it specially for the ballet.
Caroline, about to enter upon a marriage of convenience, attends a farewell
party to precede the ceremony. Among the guests are the man she
really loves and the women who, unknown to her, has been her fiancé's
mistress. Quick meetings and interrupted confidences culminate with
Caroline leaving on the arm of her betrothed, never having satisfied the
desperate longing for the final kiss.
The late Dame Marie Rambert, for whose ballet company Lilac Garden was
originally created said of the ballet: "The interplay of feelings
between these characters was revealed in beautiful dance movements and
groupings, with subtle changes of expression, which made each situation
clear without any recourse to mime or gesture."
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