The article covers not one but two separate Balanchine ballets sharing this title, both set to Richard Strauss's 1917 Concert Suite and both drawing their libretto from Molière's comédie-ballet of the same name. The first was made for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1932; the second was an entirely new choreographic conception premiered in 1979 by the New York City Opera, not Balanchine's usual company, City Ballet.
What is danced
The article gives production and casting history rather than a synopsis or scene breakdown, so it does not describe specific steps, holds or vocabulary in either version. What it does establish is that the 1979 version was a collaborative creation: Balanchine's choreography was supplemented by Jerome Robbins (who stepped in during Balanchine's illness) and by Peter Martins, who choreographed one scene near the end of the ballet on his own. The cast list names roles taken directly from Molière — Mr. Jourdain, Cléonte, Lucille — indicating a comic, character-driven ballet built around named dramatic parts rather than an abstract or purely classical structure, but the article gives no detail on how those roles were danced.
Context
The 1932 production sits within the post-Diaghilev Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo era, when Balanchine was working across émigré ballet companies with designers such as Alexandre Benois. The 1979 remake belongs to the later, established phase of Balanchine's career at New York City Ballet, but was notable for being staged outside NYCB — with the New York City Opera — specifically so that Rudolf Nureyev, who was not an NYCB dancer, could appear in a Balanchine ballet for the first time.
Staging history
The 1932 version featured David Lichine and Tamara Toumanova, and was revived in 1944 by the second Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo with Nicholas Magallanes (replacing an injured Frederic Franklin), Maria Tallchief and Nathalie Krassovska. The 1979 version premiered on 8 April 1979 at the New York State Theater as part of a double bill with Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Rudolf Nureyev, and Patricia McBride, plus students of the School of American Ballet; it was subsequently taken up by New York City Ballet itself on 22 May 1980, with a cast including Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins and Heather Watts.
How to watch it
Because the article does not describe the choreography itself, a viewer should watch for the comic, character-based casting (Mr. Jourdain, Cléonte, Lucille lifted straight from Molière) rather than expecting an abstract Balanchine plotless ballet. Attention to the staging context matters too: the 1979 version was performed by an opera company on a double bill with a Purcell opera, which frames it as a hybrid theatrical event rather than a standard ballet-company repertory piece.