How dream of a play became ballet

NEWBURGH —George Balanchine translated Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” into another art form, when in 1962 he made the play into a full-length ballet. A free lecture on the ballet — “Shakespeare Without Words: Balanchine’s Most Rare Dream” — will be offered at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, in the Villa Library, located on the campus of Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. Jay Rogoff, Ph.D., lecturer in English and liberal studies at Skidmore College, will explore how the work of one genius was translated into the work of another. He will analyze Balanchine’s simplification of Shakespeare’s plot and his translation of verbal wit into witty choreography. Video clips from the play shown alongside parallel moments from the ballet will demonstrate how the action, character, and emotion created by Shakespeare’s language find their counterparts in Balanchine’s choreography. Rogoff is a poet and critic who has written two books of poetry, “The Cutoff” and “How We Came to Stand on that Shore.” Refreshments will be served. For more information, call Nicole Shea, director of the Mount’s Cultural Center, at 569-3179.