The ballet premiered at the Festival of Two Worlds held in Spoleto, Italy, on July 3, 1959.
[2] Robbins wrote that without music, sets and costumes, the ballet "places the dancer's body under a magnifying glass.
[3] In 1959, Robbins's company Ballet: USA was set to tour sixteen countries under the auspices of the State Department.
He accepted the offer immediately, and provided his idea, "a non-story ballet tentatively entitled Theatre Waltzes or something like that,"[6] that wouldrepresent ... the style, youth, technical competence, theatrical qualities and personalities of the company in pure dance terms.
The technique is essentially classic ballet (in the way that Americans employ it) and to make the whole ballet a decorative statement – open, positive, inventive, joyous (rather than introspective) – a parade; a presentation; perhaps elegant, witty, tender and with a sure technique.
Some of the dancers noted Robbins using the 34 time signature and had the pianist play Copland's score in the beginning, but days later decided to rehearse in silence.
[7] In early June, just before the company was scheduled to leave for the tour, Copland provided a sketch of the score, with a note stating, "I couldn't stop to get help with playing [it], so have sent you a mere outline of the piece, will do another version for you later.
[6] American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), the sponsor of the ballet, and the State Department panel were outraged and attempted to get Robbins abandon Moves.
Though Robbins thought it needed some cutting, it was well-received, including by Copland, but was despised by the panel.
"[7] The original cast consisted of:[8] Moves premiered on July 3, 1959, at the Festival of Two Worlds, organized by Gian Carlo Menotti, held in Spoleto, Italy.