Balanchine

George Balanchine, born Georgy Balanchivadze (January 22, 1904 – April 30, 1983), was a Russian-born choreographer who helped redefine ballet in the 20th century. He is widely regarded as a founder of American ballet and as a leading architect of the neoclassical style, which emphasizes musicality, speed, and streamlined movement over ornate narrative storytelling.

Balanchine was born in Saint Petersburg to a family of Georgian origin and trained at the Imperial Ballet School. He emerged as a choreographer with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, creating works such as Apollo (1928) and The Prodigal Son (1929), often collaborating with composers including Stravinsky and Prokofiev and visual artist Picasso.

Fleeing Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Balanchine settled in the United States in 1933. He and impresario Lincoln Kirstein founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 to train American dancers and soon began staging ballets with a fresh, modern vocabulary. In 1948 Balanchine and Kirstein founded the New York City Ballet, appointing Balanchine as artistic director. The company became the primary vehicle for his choreographic output and for training generations of dancers.

Balanchine's works include Serenade (1934), Apollo, The Prodigal Son, and the three-part ballet Jewels (1967), set to music by Faure, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. His collaborations with Stravinsky defined much of his early American repertoire. His approach stressed the musical structure underpinning movement, often with minimal sets and costumes and a focus on the dancer’s line, speed, and clarity.

Balanchine continued to influence ballet well into the 1970s and early 1980s. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1980 and left a permanent imprint on the training of American ballet dancers and on the repertory of the New York City Ballet. He died in New York City in 1983.