Suzanne Farrell Revives Balanchine's Rare "Pithoprakta" for NYCB

Suzanne Farrell has brought back "Pithoprakta," a rarely seen Balanchine ballet, for New York City Ballet — and the company's dancers say the work has taken them somewhere entirely new. "It was like nothing we had ever done before," the dancers said of the piece.

The revival, staged under Farrell's direction, returns one of George Balanchine's seldom-performed works to the repertory. Its title, drawn from Greek, refers to "actions by chance," and its score — described as extraterrestrial in character — sets it apart from almost anything else in the company's active repertoire.

Why has "Pithoprakta" rarely been seen?

The ballet occupies a peripheral place in the Balanchine catalog. Unlike the perennially staged serenades and symphonies that anchor New York City Ballet's seasons, "Pithoprakta" has remained largely outside regular rotation. Its rarity is precisely what drew attention to the current revival: audiences have few chances to see the work live, and many of the dancers now performing it had never encountered its choreography before.

Farrell, Balanchine's celebrated muse and one of the leading custodians of his legacy, has made the recovery of such rarely seen works a defining part of her career. Her reconstructions and stagings have returned neglected Balanchine ballets to the stage, drawing on her direct work with the choreographer during his lifetime.

What makes the movement new for the dancers?

The New York City Ballet dancers' own words carry the story. "It was like nothing we had ever done before," they said of rehearsing and performing "Pithoprakta."

That verdict matters coming from this company. New York City Ballet performs Balanchine constantly; its dancers inhabit his style daily. For a work by that same choreographer to feel categorically unfamiliar to them signals how far "Pithoprakta" sits from the familiar Balanchine canon — a different realm of movement, as the dancers described it.

What role does the score play?

The music is central to the ballet's strangeness. "Pithoprakta" is set to what has been described as an extraterrestrial score — a soundscape unlike the Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky scores that dominate the Balanchine repertoire.

That score shapes the choreography's character. The dancers enter what the source describes as a new realm, moving to music that resists conventional ballet phrasing. The pairing of Balanchine's choreographic mind with this unusual material is a key reason the work stands apart.

What does Farrell's staging mean for the repertory?

Farrell's return to New City Ballet's orbit with this revival underscores her continuing role as a bridge between Balanchine's lifetime and today's company. Her authority rests on direct knowledge: she danced his works under his direction and has spent decades staging them for companies worldwide.

For the current generation of New York City Ballet dancers, her staging of "Pithoprakta" is an encounter with a side of Balanchine the repertory rarely shows.

The revival also raises a practical question for audiences and programmers alike: how many other rarely seen Balanchine works could follow. Farrell's track record suggests that "Pithoprakta" may not be the last forgotten ballet she returns to the stage.