The romantic adventures–and comic misadventures–of Cléonte, Molière’s 17th century dancing master, provide the impetus for this elaborately costumed ballet set in a fashionable Parisian mansion. The current production is Balanchine’s third rendition of this ballet which has been revived for performance during the Balanchine Celebration.

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Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems and for operas composed to librettos by Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal.