Oh they're stunning!
Aren't they?
I love the arabesque one here.
You know, they're all beautiful to me.
I just enjoy the colours as well.
And what do you think about the attitude? The pose?
Do you think that they're close to reality? Or..?
They are, they are. Well this is like a fifth position and that's an arabesque.
That's the perfection, you see, with the jeweller. That, often, is the hardest thing to produce...
...That realistic move.
We started to create these ballerinas in the beginning of the 40s
We only keep 20 ballerinas in a private collection, so they are very very rare.
So, one of the oldest is this Spanish ballerina clip from 1941.
It is made of faceted diamonds, weighing 23 carats...
My lord!
I think that's fantastic.
It's like they've really studied a costume.
And Louis Arpels was the funder of the company, at the beginning of 1906,
and he loved ballet, and opera.
So he inspired, to Van Cleef and Arpels, these ballerinas, at the beginning of the 40s.
It's lovely, where people get their inspirations from,
because the detail that goes into cutting these gems,
also the detail that goes into choreographing the moves.
I think this kind of cut brings a movement in the shape of the dress, the tutu.
He would have probably used that, Balanchine, as part of his own choreography,
how he would make each dancer in the corps de ballet, reflect that sort of cut.
I know Pat will probably say this as well,
but the choreography that has been inspired, also by the jewellery,
is how the necklace lays, and how the corps de ballet resemble the jewels,
because the corps de ballet, in a way, would I say,
it was probably one of the most important parts of George Balanchine's work.
And you can see at the beginning of each of the pieces, of Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds,
that he has done a beautiful kind of sculpture work like a necklace,
you know what I mean? And you're absolutely right.
Yes, and then the main jewel comes into the centre, and gets placed…
It is a piece of magic.
All these ballerinas are not only beautiful feminine figures set with beautiful stones.
I think they really encapsulate the essence of dance.
In the tradition of Gems, diamonds symbolise purity, eternity, and of course love.
Its funny because Balanchine used diamonds as the imperial,
the Russian imperial side, the real classic Tchaikovsky, that history.
And can I ask you, the red that is used in that?
The red is rubies,
and the ruby epitomises the passion...
vitality...
fire.
Its that true American jazz passion,
that comes through that dynamic choreography.
Yeah rubies is phenomenal to me.
It’s very powerful very strong, but very feminine and sexy.
That’s right
And then, we have the emeralds..
Emerald in the tradition of gems is the symbol of nature...
of renewal...
I don’t know whether its because of the colour, would it be that?
Because of the colour yeah, spring…
the green is associated with spring.
Balanchine sort of used that as the French style, didn’t he?
Yes he did, he did, with the Fauré music and everything,
but its interesting to hear her speak about the stones like that because in a way its similar to the ballet
This is the 50th anniversary of this incredible work,
and to be able to be here im sure hes smiling somewhere up in heaven at us right now.
Catherine, thank you so much, its been such a pleasure, a real treat,
I have to say I wouldn’t mind taking that one home, OK? if that’s alright?
I'm sure you wont miss it, ill wear it out as much as I can...
...it will look really good on my jacket!
That's right.