A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first completely original full-length ballet created by Balanchine, is a masterful combination of lucid storytelling and exquisite choreography. The ballet premiered at New York City Ballet in 1962, with Edward Villella as Oberon, Melissa Hayden as Titania, and Arthur Mitchell as Puck. It is a lavish production with a large cast, including lots of children.In addition to using Mendelssohn's overture and incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Balanchine supplemented the score with other pieces by the composer in order to build a two-act ballet. He chose to tell the story in the first act, and create a second act without a narrative – or so it appears. Act I is a meticulous interpretation of Shakespeare's play about love and illusion involving Titania and Oberon, the Queen and King of the Fairies; the sprite, Puck; and two pairs of mismatched lovers. The first act ends with all the principal players united with their proper partners, and the second act begins with a wedding procession and ceremony. The highlight of Act II is a long, lyrical pas de deux that could stand alone, quite apart from the story. But Balanchine knew Midsummer intimately – he had even played a bug in a Russian production of the play as a boy – and it's very possible that the pas de deux is the equivalent of Bottom's dream in the play. For Act II does not end here: it concludes with a return to the forest and the fairies, as Pucks sweeps "the dust behind the door."