A Suite of Dances

Jerome Robbins had earlier attempted to choreograph Bach's Cello Suites with dancers Victor Castelli and Peter Boal, although the project was abandoned. He used the music for A Suite of Dances with Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was in his 40s, as the sole dancer instead.[2][3] As Baryshnikov was touring and Robbins was staging his works in Paris and St. Petersburg, A Suite of Dances was made over the course of two years, and according to Robbins, most of the choreography was made without Baryshnikov's presence,[2][3] before the ballet, a 16-minutes-long solo,[2] premiered at a performance of the White Oak Dance Project, Baryshnikov's company, with Wendy Sutter on the cello.[4]

In May 1994, at a New York City Ballet performance, Baryshnikov performed A Suite of Dances as a guest artist, with Sutter also returning.[5] The ballet then entered Paris Opera Ballet's repertory, and New York City Ballet's members danced it for the first time in 1997.[6] In subsequent revivals, the ballet is usually danced by an experienced dancer.[2] In March 1999, eight months after Robbins died, Nicolas Le Riche danced A Suite of Dances at a Robbins tribute gala organized by the Paris Opera Ballet.[7] In 2008, at New York City Ballet's Jerome Robbins Celebration program, Le Riche reprised the role.[8] The ballet has also been performed at Carlos Acosta's solo program in 2009 and the Vail Dance Festival in 2018, by American Ballet Theatre's Herman Cornejo.[9][10]

In light of the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts, Paris Opera Ballet released a recording of A Suite of Dances, as a part of the Tribute to Jerome Robbins program.[11] The Vail Dance Festival released a video of an excerpt danced by Cornejo online.[12]