The ballet depicts dancers waltzing in a ballroom, during which a woman becomes attracted to a figure of death, and ultimately dies.
Balanchine described, "Their dance is slow at first; the ballerina's movements are retarded and she seeks to move more freely as the waltz attempts to resume its previous intensity."
The ballerina's partner carries her dead body, before she is lifted by a group of men, who turn around and around at the centre of the stage.
[4] At the time, the New York City Ballet Orchestra was incapable of performing a score this large in scale.
However, after being pressured by conductor Léon Barzin, the City Center of Music and Drama, managing director Morton Baum allowed the company to add a dozen more musicians.
[4] The costumes, ball gowns for women and evening suit for men, took inspiration from France, and were designed by Karinska, who had lived in Paris prior to moving to the United States.
[3] La Valse premiered on February 20, 1951, at the City Center of Music and Drama,[5]: 427 with Barzin conducting.
[3][7] La Valse was then not performed until 1962, after Le Clercq, who had avoided ballet for some years, taught her role to Patricia McBride.
[13][14] New York Times critic John Martin commented, "There was a challenge in the music for Balanchine is not to be denied; in accepting it he has been forced to extend himself in new directions, and the result is a ballet which, though still characteristically Balanchinian, has many exciting variations from that norm.
"[15] In June 1953, La Valse was featured in Premiere, the first commercially sponsored television program to be broadcast in color that was aired by CBS, staged by Sol Hurok.
[16] In 2015, La Valse was filmed during the New York City Ballet's appearances at Théâtre du Châtelet.