Le Tombeau de Couperin is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Ravel's eponymous orchestral music.
"[1]: 290 Author Nancy Reynolds found that the ballet "did not observe the overtones of lament" in the score, but "retained the aura of formal dances" through the use of couples and geometric formations.
[4]: 319 However, he stated he always enjoyed his music and decided "it would be a good idea to celebrate this wonderful composer’s life and work by arranging new dances to as many scores as we could.
Source:[4]: 324 Le Tombeau de Couperin premiered on May 29, 1975, at the New York State Theater, on the third program of the Ravel Festival,[5] conducted by Robert Irving.
[6] Reviewing a performance months after the premiere, Clive Barnes of the New York Times wrote, "In Le Tombeau de Couperin he just uses the ensemble, but he uses it with such grace and sensibility that it is itself a star.