I am looking for a video of the ballet The Card Game. The composer is Stravinsky. Balanchine choreographed it in 1937.

I don't believe it was ever committed to film, even when revived for the young NYCB. rg? Any takes on this?

There is a small silent clip (music is played over it but it was not filmed with music) of the Card Game in the recently released Balanchine documentary. This might mean there is a longer silent film in archives. It's not listed directly in the NYPL Dance Collection holdings.

It's interesting Clarice that you ask for this. Are you doing research?

i have not heard of any films of this 'lost' balanchine ballet.
for that matter i can think of NO films of the ballet at all, other than the telecast of version by peter martins, shown on PBS as part of it's DIAMOND PROJECT anniversary telecast in 2002? or was it '03?

A search of Ann Barzel's films at the Newberry Library reveals only a very short and tantalizing sounding fragment:

Card party (Poker game) (Jue de cartes) (1940s) / choreography, George Balanchine ; music, Igor Stravinsky ; libretto, I. Stravinsky ; decor, Irene Sharaff ; performed by Alicia Markova (Queen of Hearts), Igor Youskevitch (Jack of Hearts) (38 sec.).

And there are stills of this work in several collections. One, showing Todd Bolender and Janet Reed as Joker and Queen of Hearts, respectively, was published in the first Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets.

I have this ballet in a version by czech choreographer Pavel Smok


jose manuel