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george balanchine

george balanchine Ballet is one of the world’s oldest and newest forms of dance. One man that created new audiences for ballet and mastered the dance to its fullest was none other than George Balanchine. He brought the standard ballet to levels no one has ever seen before. In the world of dance, there have been many wonderful and talented choreographers but Balanchine’s work affected the dance world so much that he was a legend long before his death. Not only was he legendary worldwide but also his influenced American Ballet. George Balanchine’s unique style of dance created the “American style” of Ballet. Georgi Melitonovich Balnchivadze, George Balanchine, was born on January 22, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He was born into a highly musical family. His father, Meliton, was a singer and composer and his mother Marie, was a pianist. His mother encouraged her children to have musical education. He began to take piano lesson at age 5. He also received a classical education with his sister, Tamara and his younger brother, Andrei. Ironically, Balanchine had no desire to dance at all. His sister and brother were dancers. Music was young Balanchine’s passion he hated anything to do with performing. Balanchine’s mother took himself and Andrei along with her to Tamara’s audition to Maryinksky School of Ballet. His mother thought it would be a great opportunity if he auditioned as well. The results of the audition changed Balanchine’s life forever. He was accepted and Tamara was not. That audition proved he had a natural gift for the art of dance. At this school, he fell in love with dance and performance. He thrived in its atmosphere. At the age of 17, Balanchine entered the Conservatory of Music. He studied piano, composition and theory. He became a skilled conductor and pianist. Around the same time he joined the Kirov Ballet company, this is where he was first established a professional dancer. About three years later, Balanchine formed a group of four dancers, “Soviet State Dancers,” that toured outside of the Soviet Union. His choreography for his dancers upset the traditional minded audiences during his tour, so his tour was not of the greatest success. On the tour, he met a man named Diaghilev, who immediately offered him a job that gave him a great deal of exposure. After three years of amazing experience, Diaghilev promoted Balanchine as a choreographer and made him master for his company. Balanchine was only at the age of 25. His unique style of dance was too advanced for the Soviets to handle. So Balanchine moved to Europe to start his own ballet company. He was not there long, Lincoln Kirstein, one of his fans who encouraged Balanchine to go to the United States to help establish a school of Ballet equivalent to those found in Europe and Russia. Little did Lincoln know that those words of wisdom were the start to a whole in Ballet world in the U.S. When Balanchine first arrived in the U.S. in 1932, he made a name for himself by choreographing for musical comedies. Just a few years later in 1934 Balanchine helped found the School of American Ballet. It opened on January 1, 1934, with a class size of 25. Balanchine’s training was very technical yet traditional. He wanted his students to perform at his level. This school was the start to Balanchine’s American success. Balanchine finally opened the New York City Ballet, in 1948. This was his first company in the U.S. He did all of the choreography and Lincoln Kirstein was the director. They were persuaded to put on a few shows to the public. The performances were given at the New York City Center. The chairman Morton Baum told Balanchine, “I am in the presence of a genius.” After the first performance, City Center was the New York City Ballet’s new home. What made George Balanchine’s style of dance different from the rest was that he preferred a certain look and he added his own “twist” to the classical dance. The women of Balanchine's company were known to be tall and thin and possess long necks and legs and speed, agility and grace. One thing that Balanchine stressed to his dancers that they needed to be more outgoing on stage. Therefore, he created unexpected change of weights and energy. Those steps distinguished Balanchine from the rest of choreographers of the time. His technique trademarks were speed and balance. Many Balanchine’s spectators said that you needed a certain state of mind to dance a Balanchine piece. His technique was American Ballet. Balanchine’s ballets usually included glamorous costumes and large amounts of props. What was well known about his ballets were the non-plotted or abstract stories he created with the dance. His steps did not explain the music, they intertwined with the music. His infinite imagination added newly invented dance movements that helped establish his legendary name. Balanchine continued to work through the early 1970’s. His health was slowly deteriorating but he stilled continued to work hard. In June of 1979,he suffered minor heart attack, which resulted in triple bypass surgery. He put his passion over his pain because right after surgery he went right back to work. Soon after his health declined again. He pain was intolerable and his was bedridden until his last day. On April 30, 1983, he died from pneumonia. During the time of his death almost 100 ballet troupes were performing his work. His work still lives onto today and his legend will live on forever. In conclusion, Balanchine affected the world of dance by creating the “American style” of ballet. His unique style of technique was the foundation of the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet. Without Balanchine, American Ballet would be strictly traditional European style. Balanchine gave America the “kick” it needed. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Buckle, Richard. George Balanchine, Ballet Master.: A Biography; New York. 1988. Haggin B.H.. Discovering Balanchine. New York, 1981. Kristy, Davida. George Balanchine: American Ballet Master. Lerner Publications, 1996. “George Balanchine, choreographer” BalletNotes Homepage, February 1998 http://balletmet.org/Notes/Balanchine.html Taper, Bernard. Balanchine: A Biography. New York: Times Books, 1984.

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