My friend was listening to several Bartok pieces last night and when he noticed how "danceable" they sounded, wondered if Balanchine had ever choreographed to Bartok.

He noted that there are many similarities between Bartok and Stravinsky -- use of folk elements, complex rhythms, beautiful melodies all done in a modern setting.

I said I didn't know of any pieces in the surviving repertory. Does anyone know if Balanchine used Bartok at all, and if not, was there any stated reason -- or subtext?

Thanks!

In a review of Wheeldon's Evenfall in June, 2006, Robert Gottlieb said
yet the same score had been used by John Clifford during Balanchine's era (1974) in his Bartok #3. Before that, in 1951 Todd Bolender's Miraculous Mandarin was in City Ballet's rep. In the post Balanchine era at NYCB there have also been Trey McIntyre's Steel and Rain (1994), Chris d'Amboise's Triptych (2000), as well as Evenfall. Any others?
There are no ballets to Bartok listed in the Balanchine Trust's Active Rep. Searching is tricky, as one needs to also check for the spelling Bartók.

This is very interesting. Thanks.

Ben Stevenson's "Bartok Concerto" (to the Piano Concerto #3) was choreographed for Houston. Ballet Florida danced it as recently as November 2006.

It is a wonderfully danceable score, and my favorite of all the Stevenson ballets I've seen. Wheeldon's "Evenfall" also uses this score. There's definitely something not-Stravinsky about this particular piece, despite all the elements the two composers shared. A quality of lightness, springiness, rushing ahead, despite the intensity?

I can't imagine what Balanchine had against Bartok in general or in particular, but it would be interesting to learn.