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The Three-Cornered Hat (1919)

Choreography by Léonide Massine

The Three-Cornered Hat is a two-part ballet made by Léonide Massine to Manuel de Falla's score, commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes and premiered in 1919. It reworks the plot of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón's novella (via María Martínez Sierra's 1917 stage adaptation and de Falla's earlier pantomime El corregidor y la molinera) into a jealousy farce between a miller, his wife, and a lecherous provincial magistrate.

What it contains

Farruca · Act II
  • Farruca — Danza del molinero (Farruca) · Act II, the miller's solo entertainment dance — The miller performs a solo dance explicitly designated a Farruca to entertain wedding guests, cut short by his arrest — a named flamenco-derived form used as a character solo within the narrative. Source: "Danza del molinero (Dance of the Miller) (Farruca) — Escena (Allegretto) — Las coplas del cuco (The Cuckoo Couplets) (Nocturno)"

What is danced

The article states plainly that the ballet 'employs the techniques of Spanish dance (adapted and somewhat simplified) instead of classical ballet' — this is the single most important fact for a dancer approaching the role, since the vocabulary is not built from pointe work or classical port de bras but from stylized regional Spanish dance forms reshaped for the stage. De Falla's score is organized around named dance numbers rather than abstract symphonic movements: a Fandango for the miller's wife when she tries to seduce/trick the magistrate, a Seguidillas for the neighbours' evening dance, a Farruca for the miller's solo entertainment dance (interrupted mid-performance by his arrest), a satirical Minué for the magistrate, and a closing Jota for the final blanket-tossing scene.

Context

The ballet belongs to Diaghilev's post-1916 turn toward Spanish subject matter, following the Ballets Russes' first Spanish tour and Diaghilev's introduction to de Falla through Stravinsky. Massine and Diaghilev sent themselves on a research tour of Spain with the dancer Félix Fernández García specifically to absorb regional dance and performance before choreographing, which the article frames as deliberate ethnographic preparation rather than studio invention.

Staging history

The ballet premiered in London at the Alhambra Theatre on 22 July 1919, with Ernest Ansermet conducting in place of de Falla, who had been called away to his dying mother. The Paris Opera Ballet has released a DVD, Picasso and Dance, using Massine's original choreography together with reconstructions of Picasso's original sets and costumes, indicating the production's design elements have been actively preserved and revived rather than only the score.

How to watch it

Watch for the shift away from classical ballet placement and pointe-derived line toward grounded, rhythmically driven Spanish-dance stepwork, especially in the miller's Farruca and the wife's Fandango-based seduction dance. The comic plot mechanics (mistaken identity, clothes-swapping, the final blanket-tossing) are staged through mimed action interspersed with the named dance numbers, so the piece alternates pantomime narrative with set-piece dances rather than sustaining dance throughout.

Structure

  1. Act I
    The miller and his wife work at their mill; the passing magistrate becomes infatuated with the miller's wife, who dances for him and lures him into a trick before the miller drives him off.
  2. Act I · Danza de la molinera (Fandango)
    The miller's wife dances for the magistrate before offering him grapes and leading him into the miller's ambush.
  3. Act II
    The miller is arrested during an evening gathering; the magistrate's night-time pursuit of the miller's wife leads to a clothes-swap farce that resolves with the magistrate tossed in a blanket by the guests.
  4. Act II · Danza de los vecinos (Seguidillas)
    Guests dance at the miller's house that night before the miller himself performs.
  5. Act II · Danza del molinero (Farruca)
    The miller dances to entertain the guests; his dance is interrupted by the magistrate's bodyguard, who arrests him on trumped-up charges.
  6. Act II · Danza del corregidor (Minué)
    A dance associated with the magistrate, occurring amid the night's clothes-swapping confusion.
  7. Act II · Danza final (Jota)
    The closing dance accompanies the resolution of the farce and the guests' blanket-tossing of the magistrate.

Structure read from an encyclopaedia article, not from a libretto or score we hold. Confirm against a programme before treating the numbering as authoritative.

Credits

  • composer: Manuel de Falla

Questions

Is The Three-Cornered Hat danced in pointe shoes?
The article does not specify footwear, but it states the ballet uses Spanish dance technique 'instead of classical ballet,' which strongly implies the choreography departs from standard pointe-based classical vocabulary. This is worth confirming against a staging or reconstruction rather than assuming.
Who designed the original sets and costumes?
Pablo Picasso designed the sets and costumes for the 1919 premiere; his designs have since been reproduced for later revivals, including a Paris Opera Ballet DVD release.
Is this the same work as El corregidor y la molinera?
No — El corregidor y la molinera was de Falla's earlier 1917 two-scene pantomime on the same story, which the ballet was expanded and reworked from. The article lists recordings of both works separately.
What folk or Spanish dance forms appear in the score?
The named numbers include a Fandango, a Seguidillas, a Farruca, a Minué (for the magistrate) and a closing Jota, plus cante jondo-style vocal sections for the mezzo-soprano.
This entry was written from “The Three-Cornered Hat” on English Wikipedia (revision 1337476207), used under CC BY-SA 4.0. The link points at the exact revision this text was written from, so it shows the words we actually used rather than whatever the article says today. Credits and premiere data come from Wikidata (CC0), cited per field.
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