Jewels (HD Presentation)

George Balanchine’s glittering ballet Jewels was inspired by the beauty of the gemstones he saw in the New York store of Van Cleef & Arpels. He went on to make history with this, the first abstract three-act ballet. Jewels was first performed in 1967 by the New York City Ballet and first performed in full by the Royal Ballet in 2007, with costume designs from the original NYCB production and new set designs by Jean-Marc Puissant.

Each of the three movements draws on a different stone for its inspiration and a different composer for its sound. The French Romantic music of Gabriel Fauré provides the impetus for the lyricism of “Emeralds.” The fire of “Rubies” comes from Igor Stravinsky and the jazz-age energy of New York. Grandeur and elegance complete the ballet in “Diamonds,” blazing with the splendor of imperial Russia and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s opulent Third Symphony. Each section salutes a different era in classical ballet’s history as well as a distinct period in Balanchine’s own life.