17-19 Oct. 2003. Midsummer Nights Dream, choreography by George Balanchine. A ballet about the transforming power of love based on Shakespeares comedy, Balanchines work premiered in 1962 and was the first wholly original full-length ballet he choreographed in America. Balanchine loved Mendelssohns overture and incidental music for the play and it was this score that inspired his choreography. Mendelssohn had written only about an hours worth of music, so for 20 years Balanchine studied the rest of the composers oeuvre, selecting a number of additional overtures, a nocturne, an intermezzo and a portion of Symphony number 9 to weave together the ballet score.