Balanchine Variations
By Nancy Goldner
Because 'Apollo' is not a literal narrative, it’s not wise to look for specific reasons why Terpsichore’s solo is the “best.” But it’s worth noting that hers is the most three-dimensional of the lot. If there is one salient characteristic of her solo, it’s that she keeps revolving around herself, showing her body to the audience from all possible angles. She offers full disclosure. Decades later, in other ballets, Balanchine was still presenting his choreography so that the ballerina would be presented to us as fully as possible. Indeed, self-revelation is the definition of a Balanchine ballerina – and if you wish to extend the physical realm into a disposition of courage and honesty, please feel free. Naturally, Apollo brings back Terpsichore for a pas de deux, after he does a variation of his own. What I particularly love about his solo is its encoded homage to ballet technique. Accompanied by grand chords from Stravinsky, Apollo thrusts his arms skyward, as if holding up the world in the raised palms of his hands. But it’s not his arms that give him Herculean strength; it’s his legs locked tightly in fifth position. Fifth position, of course, is the cornerstone of ballet; it’s the beginning and the end.
Nancy Goldner, Balanchine Variations, University Press of Florida, 2008back to Evolution