George Balanchine
(This blog offers a deep dive into the life of Balanchine, but also has three supplemental videos about topics related to his story. Enjoy!)
Introduction
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| George Balachine during a ballet rehearsal. (n.d.). Photographer: Martha Swope. |
This blog follows the life and work of George Balanchine, a prolific Russian dancer and choreographer whose journey in ballet commenced in St. Petersburg, Russia, and left impactful trails throughout multiple continents. These include North America, South America, and, of course, Europe. His contributions to the world of ballet span most of the twentieth century. As a researcher, I initially made the decision to research Balanchine because I was vaguely familiar with a somewhat cryptic quote of his: “See the music, hear the dance” (Horlacher). (I had heard this quote from a fictional drama movie entitled “High Strung,” which followed the education of a burgeoning female dancer). Beyond this quote of Balanchine’s, I had no prior knowledge about the experiences and contributions of this artist. Research taught me that George Balanchine’s legacy is much more than just a mysterious quote. As this blog will demonstrate, the following are true of Balanchine’s life: his beginnings in St. Petersburg, Russia were especially fertile for his eventual ascendance to the role of international artistic revolutionary; his passionate career furthered balletic neoclassicism primarily because of the wise collaborations he pursued within that career; and, his lasting legacy touches the style, performers, and audiences of ballet today.
Biographical Information
George Balanchine was born January 22, 1904 in St. Petersburg, Russia. His original name assigned at birth was Giorgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze (Snodgrass 14). This choreographer-to-be was born into a family with a keen focus on the arts. His mother and father were deeply involved in piano, opera, and dance practices. Meanwhile, his siblings were students in music. In regards to the social and political atmosphere of Balanchine’s upbringing, he was born during the latter years of Russia's Romanov regime. The Romanov dynasty proceeded to end in 1917. This occurred when Balanchine was thirteen years old, and marked the beginning of an aggressive force of communism that would grow in Russia. His entrance into the arts began with the Imperial Ballet School in Russia (Snodgrass 14)). He began ballet training at nine years old, in the year 1913. He auditioned for admission into the school upon the request of his arts-devoted mother. His teachers included Pavel and Samuil Gerdt. Balanchine’s first dance appearance was conducted in the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet Company
a year later in 1914, when he was of ten years of age. He graduated from the Imperial academy when he was seventeen (1921) and transitioned to Russia’s state Conservatory of Music. At this Conversatory, he spent three years immersed in intensive music theory studies. Now a prodigy in both dance and music, he returned to the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet Company to perform in its corps. His first choreographic work – “Enigmas” – was created during his time with the Company. These early years ended when he left Russia because of climactic Communism. Such an overview of his maturation in the arts clearly conveys that Balanchine’s beginnings were fertile for success as an international artist. Birth into an artistic family facilitated his immersion into the arts, and Communist oppression prompted his emigration beyond the borders of Russia, and into other nations.
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| Mariinsky Theatre. St. Petersburg, Russia. August 2022. Provider: Nikolai Bulykin |
The Mariinsky Theatre Ballet Company is still purveyor of balletic excellence in the world today. See the Mariinsky's preparation for a production of Paquita, a ballet by choreographer Petipa. Enjoy!
Career Highlights
Balanchine’s chosen means of escaping Russian Communism was to join Diaghilev’s Parisian Ballets Russes. He worked for Sergei Diaghilev, who was known for his unprecedented embrace of modernist ballet. He sought modern influence from “avant-garde composers, artists, and fashion designers of the day” (“Neoclassical Ballet”). While in the Parisian Ballet Russes, Balanchine was trained by notable dancers Enrico Cecchetti and Nikolai Legat. In regards to colleagues, Balanchine worked in close collaboration with Serge Lifar – a fellow Ballet Russes dancer who went on to become an influential choreographer like Balanchine (“Neoclassical Ballet”). Following the closure of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in 1929, Balanchine joined on with various other European companies. These include the Danish Royal Ballet and the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo (1932). Balanchine even founded his own company – Les Ballet – in 1933. His career began an even sharper upward trajectory when he transitioned to the United States. Here, he forged a groundbreaking collaboration with Lincoln Kirstein.
Borne from this alliance was the School of American Ballet in New York (1934). It must be noted that Balanchine’s neoclassical edge genuinely blossomed here. As a choreographer, he embraced complete simplicity in costumes, set designs and narrative; thus, he showcased dancers’ bodily movement as the prime focus of his ballets. He experimented with a “speedier, more angular” dance style (“Neoclassical Ballet”), atypical movements, and “non-virtuosic choreography” (Horlacher). Most notably, he strove to “integrate physical and musical movement.” His extensive dance and music theory background made him apt to this task. The ballet Serenade (1935) is worth mentioning as the epitome of Balanchine’s neoclassical choreography. Balanchine and Kirstein continued working jointly and cofounded the American Ballet touring company in 1935. This company danced for New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where Balanchine briefly worked as balletmaster. Balanchine and Kirstein established the travelling American Ballet Caravan in 1941, and the Ballet Society in 1946. The Society’s performances so impressed officials of the New York City Center that they commissioned Balanchine to oversee the newly formed New York City Ballet. Balanchine assumed leadership of the NYCB in 1948 as its balletmaster; his choreographic works filled the Ballet’s programs. In later years, Balanchine choreographed dozens of ballets for NYCB programs from 1949 to 1970; he also choreographed for theatre, opera, movies, and television. Specific television broadcasts "broadly applauded by critics and audiences all over the country” (NYCBballet.com) include his Emmy-nominated PBS series “Great Performances” and “Live from Lincoln Center” (1977-78). His last work was produced in 1982. By then, Balanchine had unfortunately suffered heart disease and audiovisual impairments. He reduced his work but, in keeping with his passion for choreography, never fully retired. In fact, he was the artistic director and chief choreographer of the NYCB until his death. He died on April 30, 1983 of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. His far-reaching triumphs in ballet illustrate the fact that his career – and the wise collaborations in it – furthered neoclassicism. Balanchine’s tenure with Diaghilev was his introduction to balletic modernism; this modernism was the foundation of his neoclassical inclinations. Likewise, his collaboration with Kirstein allowed for the creation of several American dance institutions, which all culminated into the NYCB – Balanchine’s greatest platform for producing neoclassical works.
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| Lincoln Kirstein. 1948. Photographer: George Platt Lynes |
Lincoln Kirstein receives plenty of attention as a collaborator with Balanchine, but Sergei Diaghilev was instrumental as well. Learn more about Diaghilev in this brief video. Enjoy!
Three Interesting Facts
Research has yielded several intriguing facts from the life and work of Balanchine. For instance, Balanchine began an education in dance because he was urged by his mother; he did not step into ballet training out of his own interest or passionate motive. Rather, “his mother insisted that he audition [for the Imperial Ballet School] with his sister…who shared her mother’s interest in the art” (Wikipedia.com). Equally interesting, Balanchine pursued dance performance and choreography with equal intensity until a knee injury hindered his capability to dance. This injury “bolstered his commitment to full-time choreography” (NYCBballet.com). Two profound observations arise from these two interesting facts about Balanchine. First, Balanchine may not have ever practiced dance or choreography if not for his mother’s insistence. (Whether or not his mother meant to nudge Balanchine in the direction of a constructive discipline, or simply live vicariously through him, his introduction to dance was a pivotal moment for the world of ballet). Second, Balanchine’s contributions to European and American ballet would never have happened with such explosive creativity if not for his knee injury.
He may have kept on dancing, never fully actualizing his evident choreographic potential. A third fascinating fact from Balanchine’s life is that his famous work Serenade (aforementioned as an example of his neoclassical style) was not just a ballet; Balanchine also intended for Serenade to be a training template, a “workshop for students at the School” for the NYCB (NYCBballet.com). This piece of information shows that Balanchine cared about choreography, but placed equal importance on the skill and technical maturation of the dancers who executed his choreography. Beyond these details, there exists a plethora of more compelling facts about George Balanchine.
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A scene from Balanchine's Serenade. David H. Koch Theatre. New York. 2010. Photographer: Paul Kolnik. |
Still curious about Serenade? Watch this video to learn more about the experiences of dancers and showrunners who mount productions of Serenade at the New York City Ballet. Enjoy!
Conclusion
I initially elected to research Balanchine simply because of a famous quote of his. Beyond his words, “See the music, hear the dance,” I knew little of him. This research process has produced several insights about his origins and career. He was born into the arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, and fostered his skills in music, dance, and choreography before leaving Communistic hardships. His career was marked by work in an array of European dance companies, as well as the establishment of neoclassical ideals in influential American institutions cofounded with Lincoln Kirstein. The more I researched, my motive for learning about Balanchine’s life developed and expanded. Before, I was slightly interested by his quote. As research continued, I became impressed by the footprints of his passionate career. Indeed, Balanchine has a potent legacy – one that touches the style, performers, and audience of ballet. Within his American projects (School of American Ballet, American Ballet company, and
American Ballet Caravan), he pioneered a movement of simple, beautiful neoclassicism and propelled dancers to fame – “Peter Martins, Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride, Jacques d’Amboise, Jerome Robbins, and Edward Villella,” to name a few (Snodgrass 14). Within the NYCB, he created a training ground for dancers from New York and around the world, and enabled wider national audiences to appreciate the art of ballet through televised NYCB programs. Few choreographers have left such gifts to the world as he has. Though Balanchine does not live on today, his neoclassical genius and choreographic influence do, and these have engraved the ever-dynamic art of ballet with vibrant color.
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| NYCB Logo. Designed by Paula Scher and Lisa Kitchenberg of Pentagram in 2008. Provider: New York City Ballet |
Bibliography
“George Balanchine.” New York City Ballet, n.d., www.nycballet.com/discover/our-history/george-balanchine
“George Balanchine.” Wikipedia, 14 Sept. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Balanchine. Accessed 24 October, 2025.
Horlacher, Gretchen. “Stepping Out: Hearing Balanchine.” Music Theory Online, vol. 24, no. 2, 2018, https://doi.org/10.30535/MTO.24.1.5
“Neoclassical Ballet: Definition, History, and Contemporary Evolution.” The Russian Ballet, 26 June 2025, www.therussianballet.com/blog/neoclassical-ballet-definition-history-and-contemporary-evolution
Snodgrass, Mary E. "Encyclopedia of World Ballet." Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015. Alexander Street, search-alexanderstreet-com.csulb.idm.oclc.org/view/work/bibliographic_entity|bibliographic_details|3910835.
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