George Balanchine

Balanchine¿s life story is a fascinating journey -- from his near-accidental enrollment, at the age of 9, in St. Petersburg¿s Imperial School of Ballet, through the deprivation of Bolshevik Russia, to Diaghilev¿s Ballets Russes, & finally, in 1933, to the U.S. & to the N.Y. City Ballet, to which his reputation is forever tied. His ideas revolutionized ballet, extending the vocabulary of classical dance both through his teaching & through a series of great works, from his collaboration...
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Balanchine¿s life story is a fascinating journey -- from his near-accidental enrollment, at the age of 9, in St. Petersburg¿s Imperial School of Ballet, through the deprivation of Bolshevik Russia, to Diaghilev¿s Ballets Russes, & finally, in 1933, to the U.S. & to the N.Y. City Ballet, to which his reputation is forever tied. His ideas revolutionized ballet, extending the vocabulary of classical dance both through his teaching & through a series of great works, from his collaboration with Stravinsky, to his re-stagings of 19th-cent. classics, incl. the popular ¿Nutcracker.¿ He also choreographed a series of major musicals on Broadway; & in Hollywood, he explored the possibilities of filmed dance. ¿Chronicles the life & achievements of ballet¿s foremost choreographer.¿ Photos.