SEE YOU & VIOLIN CONCERTO

Created in October 2025, See You is a creation by Paul Lightfoot for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo that deeply moved the audience. The ballet is inspired by the life and work of a dancer. Using the performance as a metaphor, Paul Lightfoot poses the question: "where and when does our show begin or end? Dancers careers are swift and vulnerable as a butterflies wings. The intense environment of the studio, an emotional microcosmos often where love and relationships develop. Theatres are our temples of living art. The stage retaining umpteen untold stories and energies… The title “See You”, is an everyday form of saying goodbye, yet also holds a promise to find one another again at some point. At this juncture of my life, I find myself contemplating all the years. Feeling small and insignificant within our mighty cosmos. Yet also aware of how the power of love, and compassionate actions towards one another can still positively affect our world." George Balanchine said on several occasions that Stravinsky Violin Concertowas his favorite ballet. In an earlier version in 1941, Balanchine choreographed Balustrade (named for the balustrade in Pavel Tchelitchew’s scenery) for the Ballet Russe to Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D. When he returned to the score three decades later, he could no longer remember his original choreography. Balanchine was not at all disturbed by the loss. “What I did then was for then, he said, and what I wanted to do to this music for our Stravinsky Festival represented more than 30 years’ difference. The dancers were different and I liked the music even more.”

SEE YOU : Choreography: Paul Lightfoot | Assistant choreographer: Mikaela Kelly | Musics: Max Richter, Kate Bush | Sets & Costumes: Paul Lightfoot | Supervision of the costume design: Joke Visser, in collaboration with the Costume Department of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo | Lighting: Paul Lightfoot, realization: Samuel Thery | Premiere: 23 October 2025, Salle Garnier, Opéra de Monte-Carlo | Duration: 50 min. VIOLIN CONCERTO : Choregraphy: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust | Music: Igor Stravinsky, Violin Concerto in D Major| Premiere by the New York City Ballet, on June 18th 1972, New-York State Theater, Premiere by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, on December 28th 1986, Salle Garnier Opéra de Monte-Carlo | Duration: 23 min