The ballet featured academic steps and alludes to Imperial Russia through the costumes and scenery.
In 1973, Balanchine, believing the audience no longer needed elaborate costumes and scenery to understand a ballet, removed all allusions to Imperial Russia and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No.
In 1941, impresario Lincoln Kirstein was invited by his friend Nelson Rockefeller to organize a dance tour across South America subsidized by the US government.
Rockefeller, who had been appointed Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was given a budget to build cultural and financial relations in South America amid World War II.
[2]: 128–129 [3] Balanchine and Kirstein decided to present a work to show that Americans are capable of the classical ballet traditions.
In 1973, Balanchine stripped all allusions to Imperial Russia in the ballet and renamed it Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No.
Our audiences these days don't require elaborate costumes and decoration [sic] in a ballet, and rightly so.
2, with no allusions to Imperial Russia,[5] is "a work that alludes only to its Romantic, evocative score through powerful kinetic expressiveness," as described in the International Encyclopedia of Dance by Reba Ann Adler.
The ballet then officially premiered on June 25, 1941, at Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, during the first performance of the tour.
[2]: 131 [8] American Ballet Caravan performed in nine countries, and the tour ended in October, after which the troupe disbanded.
[9] In 1942, Ballet Imperial was performed at the New Opera, with a cast led by Mary Ellen Moylan, Dollar and Caccialanza.
[6] New York City Ballet, founded by Balanchine and Kirstein, first danced Ballet Imperial in 1964, staged by Frederic Franklin, with Suzanne Farrell, Jacques d'Amboise, Patricia Neary, Frank Ohman and Earle Sieveling in the leading roles.
2 in 1973, also by the New York City Ballet featured a cast led by Patricia McBride, Peter Martins, Colleen Neary, Tracy Bennett and Victor Castelli.