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Monotones I and II

Repertory Archive

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Monotones I and II

Choreography by Frederick Ashton
Music by Erik Satie
Orchestration by Claude Debussy, Roland-Manuel, and John Lanchbery
Designs by Frederick Ashton
Lighting by Brad Fields
Staged by Lynn Wallis

World Premiere

Monotones II
The Royal Ballet
March 24, 1965
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London, England

Cast:
Vyvyan Lorraine
Anthony Dowell
Robert Mead

World Premiere

Monotones I
The Royal Ballet
April 25, 1966
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London, England

Cast:
Antoinette Sibley
Georgina Parkinson
Brian Shaw

ABT Premiere

October 21, 2015
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York

Cast:
Stella Abrera
Isabella Boylston
Joseph Gorak

Veronika Part
Thomas Forster
Cory Stearns

Notes

Monotones II was created first as a gala piece for a gala performance in aid of The Royal Ballet Benevolent Fund  in 1965.  It is a pas de trois for two men and one woman and was given its World Premiere on March 24, 1965, danced by Vyvyan Lorraine, Anthony Dowell and Robert Mead.

Ashton enlarged the piece in 1966 in order that it would be long enough to be performed in the normal repertory by the addition of Monotones I.  Set to Satie’s Gnossiennes, Monotones I received its World Premiere on April 25, 1966 danced by Antoinette Sibley, Georgina Parkinson and Brian Shaw.  Monotones I and II were first performed together in 1967.