George Balanchine is a Russian choreographer reknowned for dozens of productions but none as enjoyed by jewelry loves as the ballet called Jewels. The Royal Opera House in London opened its current season a few weeks ago by presenting Balanchine's famous Ballet to an enthusiastic crowd. The ballet is unusual in that it doesn't have a romantic theme as many do, but it is a story of three different jewels meant to signify different parts of Balanchine's life.

The Ballet is a triptych. Normally the word refers to a work of art which has three panels, which make one complete scene when hung, but it also aptly fits this production of three separate parts with different composers which make a cohesive whole production.

It has been called the first abstract ballet and each part could actually be performed on its own. It was originally created for the New York City Ballet in 1967 but has been shown at the Royal Opera House for the last few years too.

The first ballet is Emeralds, followed by Rubies and then Diamonds. The three parts feature music by Fauré, Stravinsky. and Tchaikovsky. The costumes are just fabulous, with lots of velvet, lace, and glass stones which do a great job of imitating the gemstones.

The Royal Opera House has a fabulous video which features the costumes of the ballet and is just fascinating to watch to get a feel of the richness of the production. You can view the video at this link: Royal Opera House Jewels Costumes.

Even though the ballet really has nothing to do with jewels and the dancers only wear costumes enhanced by jewels, but I am still moved by the look of the jewels and their relation to the costumes.

Carol Speake
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