Compañía Nacional de Danza

In 1937, George Gershwin asked Balanchine to come to Hollywood to work with him on Samuel Goldwyn’s Follies. Tragically, Gershwin was felled by a brain tumor before he completed the ballet music for the film. Thirty-three years later, Balanchine choreographed Who Cares? to 16 songs Gershwin composed between 1924 and 1931 including Strike Up the Band, Sweet and Low Down, Somebody Loves Me, Bidin’ My Time, ‘S Wonderful, That Certain Feeling, Do Do Do, Lady Be Good, The Man I Love, Build a Stairway to Paradise, Embraceable You, Fascinatin’ Rhythm, Who Cares?, My One and Only, Liza, and I Got Rhythm. Kay's orchestration includes Gershwin's own piano arrangements for these songs. Balanchine used the songs, not to evoke a particular era, but as a basis for a dynamic that was genuinely American and more specifically evocative of New York City. Balanchine's choreography recalls the exuberance of city life.