Circus Polka

About the show

Circus Polka: For a Young Elephant was written by Igor Stravinsky in 1942, and scored for wind band and Hammond organ by David Raksin. Stravinsky wrote it for a ballet production that the choreographer George Balanchine did for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The ballet was performed by fifty elephants and fifty ballerinas. Stravinsky's own orchestration was prepared later, and was premiered on 14 January 1944 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky conducting.