The ballet was created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and premiered on March 3, 1994, at the New York State Theater.
[1] Jerome Robbins had earlier attempted to choreograph Bach's Cello Suites with dancers Victor Castelli and Peter Boal, although the project was abandoned.
[2][3] As Baryshnikov was touring and Robbins was staging his works in Paris and St. Petersburg, A Suite of Dances was made over the course of two years, and according to Robbins, most of the choreography was made without Baryshnikov's presence,[2][3] before the ballet, a 16-minutes-long solo,[2] premiered at a performance of the White Oak Dance Project, Baryshnikov's company, with Wendy Sutter on the cello.
[7] In 2008, at New York City Ballet's Jerome Robbins Celebration program, Le Riche reprised the role.
[9][10] In light of the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts, Paris Opera Ballet released a recording of A Suite of Dances, as a part of the Tribute to Jerome Robbins program.