Chaconne is a ballet made byNew York City Ballet co-founder and ballet masterGeorge Balanchine to ballet music fromGluck'sOrfeo ed Euridice (Vienna, 1762; Paris, 1774). The premiere took place Wednesday, 22 January 1976 at theNew York State Theater,Lincoln Center, with lighting byRonald Bates;Robert Irving conducted.Chaconne was danced in practice clothes at its premiere;Karinska's costumes were added in the spring season.

The finale toOrfeo ed Euridice is achaconne, a dance form built on a short bass phrase and often used by 17th and 18th century opera composers to achieve a festive mood at the end. The choreography was first performed at theHamburgische Staatsoper in their 1963 production ofOrpheus und Eurydike and somewhat altered inChaconne, especially that for the principal dancers. Balanchine added thepas de deux for Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins to the 1976 ballet and the opening ensemble (to the 1774Dance of the Blessed Spirits) for the Spring season.

Balanchine's firstOrpheus and Eurydice was made on theMetropolitan Opera in 1936; his approach, the singers remaining in the pit while the action was danced on stage, was not well received; the production had only two performances. He choreographedOrphée et Eurydice for theThéâtre National de l'Opéra, Paris in 1973 andOrfeo ed Euridice for theChicago Lyric Opera in 1975 as well.

• 1978 TFC,Peter Martins: A Dancer,pas de deux*

• NY Times review ofDance in America

• Chaconne on the website of the Balanchine Trust

• Ballets by George Balanchine
• Ballets to the music of Christoph Willibald Gluck
• 1976 ballets
• Ballets designed by Barbara Karinska
• Ballets designed by Ronald Bates
• New York City Ballet repertory

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata