Leonard Bernstein's Dance Suite for Brass Quintet was written in 1989. It consists of five short movements, each of which is dedicated to a friend of Bernstein's.

Instrumentation

The Dance Suite is written for 2 trumpets, 1 French Horn, 1 Trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

, and 1 Tuba

Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...

.

Movements

The Suite is in five movements:

1. Dancisca for Anthony
   Antony Tudor
   Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
   
   
2. Waltz for Anges
   Agnes de Mille
   Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
   
   
3. Bi-Tango for Mischa
   Mikhail Baryshnikov
   Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
   
   
4. Two-Step for Mr. B
   George Balanchine
   George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
   
   
5. MTV for Jerry
   Jerome Robbins
   Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
   
   

Premiere

The Suite was premiered on January 14, 1990 at the Metropolitan Opera House

Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)

The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. It was performed by American Ballet Theater with the Empire Brass Quintet. The first movement was doubled by the ballet's orchestra in the pit.

Creation

The Suite was the last composition written by Bernstein. It was originally intended to be danced to, but the choreographer abandoned those plans.