George Balanchine
George Balanchine (–
April 30,
1983) was one of the 20th century's foremost
choreographers, and one of the founders of
American ballet. His work formed a bridge between classical and modern ballet.
Born
Giorgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia, his father was the famous
Georgian composer
Meliton Balanchivadze (
1862-
1937), a public benefactor and one of the founders of the Georgian Opera. George's brother,
Andria Balanchivadze (
1906-
1992), also went on to become a well-known Georgian composer.
Young George Balanchine took to dancing readily, and was enrolled in the
Imperial Ballet School, principle school of the
Imperial Ballet) where he studied under
Pavel Gerdt and
Samuil Andrianov (Pavel's
son-in-law). During the
revolution he played the piano at cabarets and silent movies in exchange for bread; in
1921 he graduated from the academy with honors; that same year he married a dancer named
Tamara Geva, only 14 years old at the time. Balanchine continued his studies of music at the
Petrograd Conservatory (graduated in
1923), learning advanced piano and music theory, as well as composition, harmony, and counterpoint. From
1921-
1924, Balanchine was employed at the
State Theater of Opera and Ballet as a member of the
corps de ballet''.
While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a
pas de deux called La Nuit (
1920, music by
Anton Rubinstein). This was followed by another duet, Enigma, danced in bare feet. Then in 1923, he formed a small ensemble, the
Young Ballet, with some fellow dancers. The choreogrpahy proved too experimental for the new authorities, who strongly encouraged the group to disband.
As luck would have it, George Balanchine, Tamara Geva,
Alexandra Danilova, and
Nicholas Efimov were granted permission to tour Western
Europe in 1924. While performing in
London,
England,
Serge Diaghilev approached the group to join his famous
Ballets Russes, prompting the four to defect.
Diaghilev soon promoted Balanchine to
balletmaster of the company, and allowed him to develop his own choreography. Between 1924 and Diaghilev's death in
1929, Balanchine created nine more ballets, and numerous smaller choreographies. Unfortunately, he also suffered a serious knee injury at this time, which limited his dancing and effectively ended his performance career. George Balanchine and Tamara Geva also divorced in
1926.
After Diaghilev's death, the Ballet Russe fell into disarray. Balanchine began to stage dances for the
Cochran Revues in London, was retained by the
Royal Danish Ballet in
Copenhagen a guest ballet master. He returned to the Ballets Russes when it settled in
Monte Carlo, resuming his post as ballet master for the new
Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, and choreographed three ballets: Cotillon, La Concurrence, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. His new muse in Monte Carlo was the young
Tamara Toumanova.
When
René Blum passed control of the company to
Colonel W. de Basil, Balanchine again left the Ballet Russes. This time he formed his own company,
Les Ballets, with the financial baching of
Edward James and Diaghilev's former secretary
Boris Kochno as an advisor. The company lasted only a couple of months in
1933, but in that time several new choreographies were conceived by Balanchine, including artistic collaborations with
Bertolt Brecht,
Kurt Weill,
Pavel Tchelitchew,
Darius Milhaud, and
Henri Sauget.
It was after a performance by Les Ballets that
Lincoln Kirstein, an American arts patron with a dream of establishing a ballet company in the U.S., met and quickly persuaded Balanchine to move to the United States. By October of that year, Balanchine had landed overseas for the first time and launched his influence on the character of American dance.
Upon arriving in the United States, George Balanchine insisted that his first project would be to establish a ballet school, and with the support of Lincoln Kirstein and
Edward M.M. Warburg, the
School of American Ballet opened its doors to students on
January 2nd,
1934, less than 3 months after Balanchine arrived in the U.S. The students premiered
Serenade at the Warburg's summer estate later that year.
The following year, a professional company was formed - the
American Ballet. After failing to mount a tour, the company began performing at the
Metropolitan Opera House. After being allowed to stage only 2 dance perfomances (
Orfeo and Eurydice in
1936, and an evening of dances choreographed to the music of
Igor Stravinsky in
1937), Balanchine moved the company to
Hollywood in
1938. The company was restarted as the
American Ballet Caravan and toured
North and
South America, although it too folded after several years.
George Balanchine returned to Monte Carlo in
1944 to again work with the Ballet Russes, but soon returned to New York to form a new dance company - the
Ballet Society - again with the help of Lincoln Kirstein. With the success of several performances, the company was offered the opportunity to work out of
New York City Center for Music and Drama as the resident company. With that arrangement in place, the Ballet Society became the
New York City Ballet in
1948.
The
1954 staging of
The Nutcracker is largely responsible for making the ballet a Christmas tradition in the United States.
Balanchine would go on to marry the following dancers, but none of his marriages produced children:
Vera Zorina (December 1938 - 1946) (divorced)
Maria Tallchief (1946 - 1952) (annulment)
Tanaquil LeClerq (1952 - 1969) (divorced)
One of his most famous romances did not end in marriage: in the 1960's, Balanchine fell deeply in love with the young and talented
Suzanne Farrell. He created many ballets for her, including
Don Quixote (with him playing the
Don, and Farrell,
Dulcinea), and the
Diamonds section of the full-length ballet
Jewels. The romance suffered however, because Balanchine was still married to LeClerq, and Farrell, a
Catholic, refused to consummate the romance. Farrell's position in the company caused a lot of jealousy -- some ballerinas, like his former wife Maria Tallchief, quit, citing Farrell as the reason. But Farrell steadfastly refused to consummate the romance, and instead married a NYCB dancer Paul Meija. Balanchine had obtained a
Mexican divorce from LeClerq before he found out about Farrell's marriage. Heartbroken and enraged, Balanchine and Farrell became increasingly estranged, and in 1970 both Farrell and her husband quit the company. They then moved to Brussels and joined
Maurice Bejart's dance company. In 1975, Farrell returned to Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, but the relationship between Balanchine and Farrell remained close but professional. Balanchine created new ballets for Farrell after her return.
He also worked as a choreographer for musical theater (with such notables as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz hart, Vernon Duke), movies, and television. He had a long personal relationship with dancer
Alexandra Danilova.
In 1983, Balanchine died of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, diagnosed only after his death. He first showed symptoms in 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing. As the disease progressed his equilibrium, eyesight and hearing deteriorated. By 1982 he was incapacitated, and he died the following year at the age of 79.
Medical tests showed no cause but Balanchine would not permit a brain biopsy. The cause of death was determined by
autopsy.
In his last years he also suffered from
angina and underwent
heart bypass surgery.
for the Ballets Russes:* Le Chant du Rossignol (
The Song of the Nightingale) (1925)
* Jack in the Box (1926)
* Pastorale (1926)
* Barabau (1926)
* La Chatte (1927)
* Le Triomphe de Neptune (1927)
* Apollo (1928)
* The Prodigal son (1929)
* Le Bal (1929)
* Balustrade (1941)
for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo:* Cotillon (1932)
* Concurrence (1932)
* Danses Concertantes (1944/1972)
* La Sonnambula (1946)
for Les Ballets:* The Seven Deadly Sins (1933)
* Errante (1933)
* Les Songes (1933)
* Fastes (1933)
for the American Ballet:* Alma Mater (1934)
* Les Songes (
Dreams) (1934)
* Mozartiana (1934)
* Serenade (1935)
* Errante (1935)
* Reminiscence (1935)
* Jeu de Cartes (
Card Game or
The Card Party) (1937)
* Le Baiser de la Fée (
The Fairy's Kiss)(1937)
for On Your Toes (a musical revue by Richard Rodgers - Lorenz Hart):* Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1936) - (
this dramatic ballet served as the climax of this musical production and has subsequently been presented as a stand-alone piece).
for the American Ballet Caravan:* Encounter (1936)
* Ballet Imperial (later referred to as the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2)(1941)
* Concerto Barocco (1941)
for the Ballet del Teatro de Colón:* Mozart Violin Concerto (1942)
for the Ballet Society:* The Four Temperaments (1946)
* L'enfant et Les Sortilèges (
The Spellbound Child) (1946)
* Haieff Divertimento (1947)
* Symphonie Concertante (1947)
* Orpheus (1948)
for the Paris Opera Ballet:* Palais de Cristal (later called
Symphony in C) (1947)
for the Ballet Theatre:* Theme and Variations (1947)
for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas:* Minkus Pas De Trois (1948)
for the New York City Ballet:* La Sonnambula (1946)
* Bourrée Fantasque (1949)
* Firebird (with Jerome Robbins) (1949)
* Sylvia Pas De Deux (1950)
* Swan Lake (after
Lev Ivanov) (1951)
* La Valse (1951)
* Harlequinade (1952)
* Harlequinade Pas De Deux (1952)
* Scotch Symphony (1952)
* Valse Fantaisie (1953/1967)
* George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (1954)
* Ivesiana (1954)
* Western Symphony (1954)
* Glinka Pas De Trois (1955)
* Pas De Dix (1955)
* Divertimento No. 15 (1956)
* Allegro Brillante (1956)
* Agon (1957)
* Square Dance (1957)
* Gounod Symphony (1958)
* Stars and Stripes (a ballet in 5 "campaigns") (1958)
* Episodes (1959)
* Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960)
* Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960)
* Donizetti Variations (1960)
* Liebeslieder Walzer (1960)
* Raymonda Variations (1961)
* A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962)
* Bugaku (1963)
* Meditation (1963)
* Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1963)
* Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1966)
* Jewels (1967)
** Emeralds
** Rubies
** Diamonds
* La Source (1968)
* Who Cares (1970)
* Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 (1970)
* Stravinsky Festival (1972):
** Pulcinella (with Jerome Robbins)
** Stravinsky Violin Concerto
** Symphony in 3 movements
** Duo Concertant
** Lost Sonata
** Divertimento from "Le Baiser de la Fée"
** Choral Variations on Bach's "Vom Himmel Hoch"
** Danses Concertantes
** Scherzo Á La Russe
* Cortège Hongrois (1973)
* Coppélia (1974)
* Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir (1974)
* Ravel Festival (1975):
** Sonatine
** Tzigane
** Le Tombeau de Couperin
** Pavane
** Shéhérazade
** Gaspard de la Nuit
** Rapsodie Espagnole
* The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1975)
* Tzigane (1975)
* Chaconne (1976)
* Union Jack (1976)
* Vienna Waltzes (1977)
* Ballo della Regina (1978)
* Kammermusik No. 2 (1978)
* Robert Schuman's Davidsbündlertänze (1980)
* Walpurgisnacht Ballet (1980)
* Tchaikovsky Festival (1981)
** Garland Dance
** Mozartiana
for the New York City Opera:* Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1979)
*
The Balanchine Foundation*
School of American Ballet*
New York City Ballet
