Movements for Piano and Orchestra is a neoclassical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Stravinsky's score of the same name.
[5] New York Times critic Allen Hughes noted the two leads "are generally engaged in the kind of Balanchine duets that explores the variety of poses for two.
"[5] Author Richard Buckle noted the corps "alone moves during the terse intermediate sections connecting the five movements and which backs up the principals in the remainder of the ballet."
The choreography emphasizes relationships of which I had hardly been aware – in the same way – and the performance was like a tour of a building for which I had drawn the plans but never explored the result.
Balanchine approached the music by identifying some of the more familiar marks of my style, and as I heard him fastening on my tiniest repeated rhythm or sustaining group, I knew he had joined the work to the corpus of my music, at the same time probably reducing the time lag of its general acceptability by as much as a decade.
[6]: 258–259 Balanchine conceived the idea of Movements for Piano and Orchestra for Diana Adams, one of his muses at the time, and Jacques d'Amboise as the two leads.
"[2] Stravinsky attended some rehearsals, and he later wrote that when Balanchine requested the dancers to repeat some steps without the music, "To my amazement they were able to count it by themselves, which is rather better than many orchestras.
Farrell thought black leotards might be more suitable, as she believed they are "more slimming and flattering to the body," and Balanchine approved of this change.
[4] Balanchine explained, "Both have music by Stravinsky, both are short works, and it has been convenient for our audiences, and for us in the New York City Ballet, to see them combined.
"[3] According to Farrell, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy invited the company to perform Movements at the White House.
[8] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Ballet released a 2015 video recording of Movements online, featuring Maria Kowroski and Ask la Cour.