He then reused the concerto for New York City Ballet's Stravinsky Festival in 1972, a tribute to the composer following his death.
Balanchine first choreographed a work to Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in 1941 for the Wassily de Basil's company Original Ballet Russe, titled Balustrade, with costumes and sets designed by Pavel Tchelitchew.
[2] The ballet premiered on January 22, 1941 at Fifty-first Street Theatre, New York, with a cast led by Tamara Toumanova, Paul Petroff and Roman Jasinski.
Balanchine then planned to have his company, the New York City Ballet, to hold a week-long Stravinsky Festival in June 1972, as a tribute to the composer.
[7] Karin von Aroldingen, a member of the original cast who had danced with the New York City Ballet for ten years, said in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, "Balanchine used everything I had for the first time."
Dance critic Richard Buckle commented, "The opening chord on the strings warns that the relationship between this man and woman will not be a placid one.
Her dance with her partner contains strange confrontations, tangles, stalking, catching, trapping; but she somersaults away from his last embrace, and he suddenly lies flat, as if he had enough.
"[7] The ballet ends with a Capriccio featuring the cast of twenty dancers,[1]: 276 entering the stage in groups of ten,[9] dancing what Anderson called "lively, folk-flavoured steps, skipping on their heels and hopping to Stravinsky's intricate rhythms".
[18][19] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Ballet released a 2018 video recording of the finale of Stravinsky Violin Concerto, featuring Sterling Hyltin, Ask la Cour, Sara Mearns and Taylor Stanley, in his New York City debut of the role.