Dance of the Hours

Violinist João Pedro Cunha, 2005

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Dance of the Hours (Italian: Danza delle ore) is a short ballet and is the act 3 finale of the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880. Later performed on its own, the Dance of the Hours was at one time one of the best known and most frequently performed ballets.^[1]^[2] It became even more widely known after its inclusion in the 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia where it is depicted as a comic ballet featuring ostriches, hippopotamuses, elephants and alligators.

^ Dance of the Hours Flutetunes.com, 2010-08-04. Accessed October 2010]
^ New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Program notes. January 2010.

[1] Dance of the Hours Flutetunes.com, 2010-08-04. Accessed October 2010]

[2] New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Program notes. January 2010.

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