A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
1896: Isadora Duncan as the first fairy in A Midsummer night's Dream.
QUICK F A C T S
- ✦ A Midsummer Night’s Dream premiered on January 17, 1962, at New York City Ballet.
✦ Choreographed by George Balanchine as his first completely original full-length ballet.
✦ Music by Felix Mendelssohn.
✦ The original cast included Edward Villella as Oberon, Melissa Hayden as Titania, Arthur Mitchell as Puck, and Francisco Moncion as Theseus, Duke of Athens.
Dancers Tempe Ostergren and Liang Fu. Photography: Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios. Choreography by Bruce Wells.
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S U M M A R Y
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a magical story about love, mischief, and forgiveness written by William Shakespeare. George Balanchine based his ballet on Shakespeare’s famous play, creating his first completely original full-length ballet. The work premiered in 1962 at New York City Ballet. The production featured a large children’s corps de ballet and became one of Balanchine’s most beloved story ballets.
Early theatrical photograph of Titania and her fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based on the celebrated Shakespeare productions of Charles Kean.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, October 7-16, 2016. Dancer: Yoshiya Sakurai. Photography: Kenny Johnson.
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Over the years, the ballet has been filmed and revived many times, including notable recordings from 1966, 1986, and 1999, as well as a special digital presentation during the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic. Its combination of comedy, fantasy, romance, and classical dance has helped it remain popular with audiences around the world.
In a magical forest, four young lovers become trapped in a chaotic mix of mistaken romance when Puck, a mischievous fairy, uses a magical flower to make them fall in love with the wrong people. At the same time, the fairy king Oberon casts a spell on his queen, Titania, causing her to fall in love with a man whose head has been transformed into a donkey. Meanwhile, a group of amateur actors rehearsing a play adds even more confusion and comedy to the forest. In the end, the magic is reversed, the lovers are reunited, and harmony is restored as the fairies bless the marriages.
Hermia and Lysander (c. 1870) by John Simmons, inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
E N C O R E
✦ On Today’s Stage — A Midsummer Night’s Dream remains one of the most frequently performed Shakespeare-inspired ballets and is especially popular with companies known for large-scale classical productions and family audiences.
✦ Iconic Interpreters — The mischievous role of Puck became closely associated with Arthur Mitchell in the original production, while dancers such as Edward Villella and Melissa Hayden helped define the ballet’s magical and theatrical atmosphere.
✦ Legacy — George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduced a new kind of full-length ballet to American audiences, blending Shakespearean fantasy, classical technique, comedy, and dreamlike stage spectacle into one of ballet’s most enduring fantasy works.