Afternoon of a Faun
Music
Claude Debussy
(Prelude a l’Après-midi d’un Faune, 1892-94)
Choreography
Jerome Robbins
Staging
Bart Cook (2011, 2025)
Scenic and Lighting Design
Jean Rosenthal
Costume Design
Irene Sharaff
Duration
10 minutes
Cast
1 pointe, 1 flat
Premiere
May 14, 1953; New York City Ballet
PNB Premiere
May 11, 1978, performed by guest artists from New York City Ballet; November 4, 2011, staged for Pacific Northwest Ballet
The 2011 addition of Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun to the Pacific Northwest Ballet repertory was made possible by H. David Kaplan.
Program Notes
Debussy’s music, Prelude a l′Après-midi d′un Faune, was composed between 1892 and 1894. It was inspired by a poem of Mallarme’s which was begun in 1876. The poem describes the reveries of a faun around a real or imagined encounter with nymphs. In 1912, Vaslav Nijinsky presented his famous ballet, drawing his ideas from many sources, including Greek sculpture and painting. This pas de deux, choreographed by Jerome Robbins, is a variation on these themes. It was first performed in 1953 by New York City Ballet and is dedicated to Tanaquil Le Clercq, for whom the ballet was choreographed.
Notes courtesy of the Robbins Rights Trust.
Bart Cook
Stager (2011, 2025)
Originally from Utah, Bart Cook began his dance education with Willem Christensen and at the School of American Ballet. Bart was invited to join New York City Ballet in 1971 by George Balanchine and became a principal in 1979. Dancing with the company until 1993, Bart originated and performed soloist roles in Jerome Robbins’ The Cage, Glass Pieces, I’m Old Fashioned, Dances at a Gathering, The Concert, and Opus 19. In 1981 he became assistant ballet master to Robbins, and following his retirement from the stage, he began working for The Balanchine Trust, staging Balanchine’s ballets.
He reached broad film audiences when he played the mysterious, magical Herr Drosselmeier in the film version of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, released in 1993. Bart has also appeared professionally on television in PBS’ Dance in America and Live from Lincoln Center as well as in the 2010 episode of PBS’s American Masters series on Jerome Robbins.