The Work

Prelude is a Ballet BC dance work choreographed by Medhi Walerski to music by Lera Auerbach. The original version premiered in Vancouver in 2014 as part of Ballet BC’s Grace Symmetry program.

The work was later revisited by Ballet BC in an extended version that premiered in 2016. Contemporary coverage describes the later production as reworked from the earlier 2014 version and structured through a sequence of solos, duets, and ensemble tableaux.

The musical material is drawn from Auerbach’s prelude cycles, especially 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano and Preludes and Dreams. The catalogue should therefore classify the piece as choreography to preexisting concert music rather than as an independent original ballet score.

* In the catalogue, the asterisk indicates choreography to preexisting concert music by Lera Auerbach.

Underlying Musical Works

24 Preludes for Violin and Piano belongs to Auerbach’s cycle of twenty-four preludes across the full tonal spectrum. Preludes and Dreams belongs to her piano literature. In Prelude, these preexisting concert works form the musical basis for Walerski’s choreography.

Online Materials

Materials, Preview and References