2 and 3 Part Inventions (1994)
2 and 3 Part Inventions is a plotless ballet made by Jerome Robbins on students of the School of American Ballet, the affiliated school of New York City Ballet, set to Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801 (1720–23). It premiered on 4 June 1994 at the Juilliard Theater, Lincoln Center, entered the New York City Ballet repertory on 19 January 1995, and was later revived by SAB students for the company's 90th-anniversary celebration of Robbins.
What is danced
The article gives no synopsis, cast-by-role breakdown, or description of steps, holds, or technique, so nothing about the actual movement vocabulary can be verified from it. What can be established is structural rather than choreographic: the ballet was made on students rather than principal company dancers, first for a school stage (Juilliard Theater) before moving to the main NYCB house, and it uses Bach's contrapuntal keyboard Inventions and Sinfonias as its score. That pairing of a training-company cast with a strict two- and three-voice contrapuntal score is itself informative for a dancer approaching the piece — it points to ensemble writing built to expose clean musicality and unison/counterpoint work among young dancers rather than to a vehicle for virtuoso solo display — but this is inference from the piece's known context, not something the source text states about steps or shapes.
Context
The article does not describe the surrounding dance landscape of 1994, so no context beyond the bare production facts can be drawn from it.
Staging history
The work premiered with SAB students on 4 June 1994 at the Juilliard Theater, Lincoln Center, then received its New York City Ballet company premiere on 19 January 1995. It was later revived, again danced by School of American Ballet students, as part of City Ballet's 90th-anniversary celebration of the choreographer.
How to watch it
Because the score is built from two- and three-voice Bach inventions, watch for how the choreography maps dancers onto separate musical voices — where groups or individuals trade, overlap, or answer each other in imitation of the counterpoint. As a piece made on students, expect an emphasis on clarity of line and ensemble coordination over overt bravura.
Credits
- composer: Johann Sebastian Bach