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George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-AmericanAnna Kisselgoff. "80 Guests From Balanchine Country", New York Times: 2 December 1974. Quote: "'They are my people,' said George Balanchine, explaining why he was giving a private dinner party for 80 dancers and singers from the Soviet Republic of Georgia. 'I am,' the New York City Ballet's artistic director declared. 'Georgian myself.' ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century." George Balanchine". Encyclopædia Britannica, December 9, 2018 Styled as the father of American ballet, Life Magazine. Volume 7. New York City: Time, Incorporated, 1984, p. 139. he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years.Joseph Horowitz (2008). Artists in Exile: How Refugees from 20th-century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts. HarperCollins. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music.John Julius Norwich9780198691297, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198691297
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Balanchine took the standards and technique from his time at the Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure on Broadway theatre and in Hollywood, creating his signature "neoclassical style".
He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like Igor Stravinsky."Balanchine", American Masters, PBS, available on DVD. Balanchine was invited to America in 1933 by Lincoln Kirstein, a young arts patron; together they founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 as well as the New York City Ballet in 1948.
The rest of the Georgian side of Balanchine's family consisted largely of artists and soldiers. Little is known of Balanchine's Russian, maternal side. His mother, Meliton's second wife, Maria Nikolayevna Vasilyeva, is said to be the daughter of Nikolai von Almedingen, a German. He later left Russia and abandoned his family, causing Maria to take her mother's name. Maria was fond of ballet and viewed it as a form of social advancement from the lower reaches of Saint Petersburg society. She was eleven years younger than Meliton and rumored to have been his former housekeeper, although "she had at least some culture in her background" as she could play piano well. Maria also worked at a bank.
Although she loved ballet, she wanted her son to join the military. This was a difficult topic to enforce in the family because not only was the mother artistic, George's father was also very talented at playing the piano. Many believe that because his father was very invested in the arts, Balanchine's career of being a businessman failed. Balanchine had three other siblings. His brother Andrei Balanchivadze became a well-known Georgian composer like their father.
Even after immigrating to the United States, Balanchine tried to stay connected to his Georgian roots. He engaged across the Iron Curtain with Georgian artists, who admired him.Anna Kisselgoff. "80 Guests From Balanchine Country", New York Times: 2 December 1974. Quote: "'They are my people,' said George Balanchine, explaining why he was giving a private dinner party for 80 dancers and singers from the Soviet Republic of Georgia. 'I am,' the New York City Ballet's artistic director declared. 'Georgian myself.'
Based on his audition, during 1913 (at age nine), Balanchine relocated from rural Finland to Saint Petersburg and was accepted into the Imperial Ballet School, principal school of the Mariinsky Ballet, where he was a student of Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov (Gerdt's son-in-law). Joseph Horowitz (2008). At the Mariinsky Theater Ballet, he made his debut as a cupid in Sleeping Beauty. Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts , New York: HarperCollins;
Balanchine studied dance at the Mariinsky School & Theater until it closed down in 1917 due to government decree. His taking ballet here could have been viewed as a convenience to the Balanchivadze family, because this is where his father composed music. After the Revolution, this theater was transferred to the People's Enlightenment Commissariat and became property of the state. The Theater reopened in 1918; two years later it was renamed as the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.
Balanchine had begun to choreograph and mounted some new and experimental ballets for the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Petrograd (as the city was renamed. It later was renamed again as Leningrad.) Among them were Le Boeuf sur le toit (1920), by Jean Cocteau and music by Darius Milhaud. He also created a piece for Caesar and Cleopatra by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.
After graduating in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory while working in the corps de ballet at the State Academic Theater for Opera and Ballet. (This was formerly the Mariinsky Ballet and known as the Mariinsky Ballet). His studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory in 1923, and danced as a member of the corps until 1924. While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux named La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein). a piece which The school of directors did not approve of or like this work.
Balanchine worked at his choreography in an experimental way during his evenings. He and his colleagues eventually performed this piece at the State School of Ballet. This was followed by another duet, Enigma, with the dancers in bare feet rather than ballet shoes. While teaching at the Mariinsky Ballet, he met Tamara Geva, his future wife. In 1923, with Geva and fellow dancers, Balanchine formed a small ensemble, The Young Ballet.
At this time, the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev invited Balanchine to join the Ballets Russes as a choreographer. Balanchine was 21 and became the main choreographer for the most famous ballet company in Europe. Sergei Diaghilev insisted that Balanchine change his name from Balanchivadze to Balanchine. Diaghilev soon promoted Balanchine to ballet master of the company and encouraged his choreography.
Between 1924 and Diaghilev's death in 1929, Balanchine created ten ballets, as well as lesser works. During these years, he worked with rising young composers such as Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Erik Satie, and Maurice Ravel, and artists who designed sets and costumes, such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, and Henri Matisse, creating new works that combined all the arts.
Among his new works, during 1928 in Paris, Balanchine premiered Apollon musagète (Apollo and the muses) in a collaboration with Stravinsky. This was one of his most innovative ballets, combining classical ballet and classical Greek myth and images with jazz movement. He described it as "the turning point in my life".Fisher (2006), p. 27 Apollo is regarded as the original neoclassical ballet. Apollo brought the male dancer to the forefront, giving him two solos within the ballet. Apollo is known for its minimalism, using simple costumes and sets. This allowed the audience not to be distracted from the movement. Balanchine considered music to be the primary influence on choreography, as opposed to the narrative.
Due to a serious knee injury, Balanchine had to limit his dancing, effectively ending his own performance career. So he decided to focus all his attention on choreography.
After Diaghilev's death, the Ballets Russes went bankrupt. To earn money, Balanchine began to stage dances for Charles B. Cochran's revues and Sir Oswald Stoll's variety shows in London. He was retained by the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen as a guest ballet master. Among his new works for the company were Danses Concertantes, a pure dance piece to music by Stravinsky, and Night Shadow, revived under the title La Sonnambula.
In 1931, with the help of financier Serge Denham, René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil formed the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo,Amanda. "Ballets Russes", The Age: July 17, 2005 a successor to Ballets Russes. The new company hired Leonide Massine and Balanchine as choreographers. Featured dancers included David Lichine and Tatiana Riabouchinska. In 1933, without consulting Blum, Col. de Basil dropped Balanchine after one year,Homans, Jennifer. "René Blum: Life of a Dance Master," The New York Times (July 8, 2011). – ostensibly because he thought that audiences preferred the works choreographed by Massine. Librettist Boris Kochno was also let go, while dancer Tamara Toumanova (a strong admirer of Balanchine) left the company when Balanchine was fired.
Balanchine and Kochno immediately founded Les Ballets 1933. Kochno, Diaghilev's former secretary and companion, served as artistic advisor. The company was financed by Edward James, a British poet and ballet patron. The company lasted only a couple of months during 1933, performing in Paris and London. The worldwide Great Depression made arts more difficult to fund. Balanchine created several new works, including collaborations with composers Kurt Weill, Darius Milhaud, Henri Sauguet and designer Pavel Tchelitchew.
Later that year, Balanchine had his students perform in a recital, where they premiered his new work Serenade to music by Tchaikovsky at Woodlands, the Warburg summer estate. It became part of the Canon of the company.
In 1948, Balanchine and Kirstein founded the New York City Ballet. The school of American Ballet became and is now a training ground for dancers of New York City Ballet and companies from all over the world.
Between his ballet activities in the 1930s and 1940s, Balanchine also choreographed Broadway musicals written by such notables as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Vernon Duke.For full details of Balanchine's work in musical theater in London, Paris, New York, and Hollywood, see the summary report of "Popular Balanchine", a research project of the George Balanchine Foundation, at http://balanchine.org/balanchine/03/popularbalanchine.html Among them, Balanchine choreographed Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes in 1936, where his program billing specified "Choreography by George Balanchine" as opposed to the usual billing of "Dances staged by". This marked the first time in Broadway history that a dance-maker received choreography billing for a Broadway musical. On Your Toes featured two ballets: La Princesse Zenobia and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, in which a tap dancer falls in love with a dance-hall girl. Balanchine's choreography in musicals was unique at the time because it furthered the plot of the story.Au, Susan. Ballet and Modern Dance. Third Edition. Thames & Hudson. 2012.
In 1954, Balanchine created his version of The Nutcracker, in which he played the mime role of Drosselmeyer. The company has since performed the ballet every year in New York City during the Christmas season. His other famous ballets created for New York companies include Firebird, Allegro Brilliante, Agon, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Episodes.
In 1967, Balanchine's ballet Jewels displayed specific characteristics of Balanchine's choreography. The corps de ballet dancers execute rapid footwork and precise movements. The choreography is difficult to execute and all dancers must do their jobs to hold the integrity of the piece. Balanchine's use of musicality can also be seen in this work. His other famous works with New York City Ballet are popular today and are performed in the Lincoln Center by New York City Ballet: Mozartiana, Apollo, Orpheus, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
After years of illness, Balanchine died on April 30, 1983, aged 79, in Manhattan from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. This was diagnosed only after his death. He first showed symptoms during 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing. As the disease progressed, his equilibrium, eyesight, and hearing deteriorated. By 1982, he was incapacitated.
The night of his death, the company went on with its scheduled performance, which included Divertimento No. 15 and Symphony in C at Lincoln Center. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
Clement Crisp, one of the many writers who eulogized Balanchine, assessed his contribution: "It is hard to think of the ballet world without the colossal presence of George Balanchine ..." In his lifetime he created 465 works. Balanchine extended the traditions of classical ballet. His choreography remains the same to the present day and the School of American Ballet still uses his teaching technique. As one of the 20th century's best-known choreographers, his style and vision of ballet is interesting to many generations of choreographers.
Having kept his faith, he had a Russian Orthodox funeral. He was interred at the Oakland Cemetery at Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York. Alexandra Danilova was also later interred here.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 2269). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Moving to the United States, Balanchine was close to African American artists such as Katherine Dunham. According to dancers who worked with Balanchine such as Arthur Mitchell who comes from an African background, Balanchine would send students to Dunham or have dancers with an African background demonstrate skills common in African dance.
The displacement of hips instead of vertical alignment, angular arms and flexed wrists, and the non-traditional timing of movements are the several key elements in Balanchine's works that scholars identify as developed under the African influence.
Incorporating of African elements and dancers from an African cultural background made Balanchine's works American. The phenomenon of cultural influences and combinations in his works represent the diversity in the American society.
Biographer and intellectual historian Clive James has argued that Balanchine, despite his creative genius and brilliance as a ballet choreographer, had his darker side. In his (2007), James writes that:
A monument at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre in Georgia was dedicated in Balanchine's memory. A crater on Mercury was named in his honor.
George Balanchine Way is a segment of West 63rd Street (located between Columbus Avenue and Broadway) in New York City that was renamed in his honor in June 1990.
Playwright Richard Nelson wrote Nikolai and the Others, produced at the Mitzi Newhouse theater at Lincoln Center in 2013 with Michael Cerveris as Balanchine.
Established in 1934, the School of American Ballet was taught based on the Russian ballet style Balanchine once received himself with his own alternations. Balanchine's pedagogues focused on clarity and breadth of motion, sharpness of nuance, and intensity of image.
Balanchine's lessons delivered were not set in stone, but instead an evolving glossary: he continuous tested his concepts on the stage, and renewed his teaching from time to time to reflect the most up-to-date ideal concepts.
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