Allegro Brillante

Allegro Brillante is a plotless, one-act showcase for a principal ballerina and danseur with a supporting corps of four couples, set to the single completed movement of Tchaikovsky's final work, his Piano Concerto No. 3. Balanchine said he had no narrative in mind, aiming only to have the dancers "complement the music" - the ballerina in particular is meant to mirror the soloist piano line, most directly in the closing cadenza, where she dances essentially alone against the piano's virtuosic passage. The corps frames and echoes the principal couple's dancing rather than advancing any story, building toward what Balanchine called a "concentrated essay" in classical technique. It is often described as embodying an "expansive Russian romanticism," per Maria Tallchief, who created the lead role.