A one-act ballet in three parts (`deals`), based on the logic of card games, where dancers dressed as cards play out an entire game, and the main `character` is the cunning Joker.
It was written at the request of the choreographer George Balanchine, who staged it, and Stravinsky himself conducted the premiere in 1937.
The Joker (from the English word `joker`) is a suitless, numberless playing card found in a standard 54-card French deck as an addition to the standard four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades). It has no standard image; most often, this card is depicted as a jester.
The Joker originated in the United States during the Civil War and was created as a trump card in the game of euchre. It can generally serve as a substitute for any card.
