George Balanchine Essay - 821 Words

George Balanchine Ballet is one of the worlds oldest and newest forms of dance. One man that created new audiences for ballet and mastered the dance to its fullest was none other than George Balanchine. He brought the standard ballet to levels no one has ever seen before. In the world of dance, there have been many wonderful and talented choreographers but Balanchines work affected the dance world so much that he was a legend long before his death. Not only was he legendary worldwide but also his influenced American Ballet. George Balanchines unique style of dance created the American style of Ballet. Georgi Melitonovich Balnchivadze, George Balanchine, was born on January 22, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He was born into a highly†¦show more content†¦About three years later, Balanchine formed a group of four dancers, Soviet State Dancers, that toured outside of the Soviet Union. His choreography for his dancers upset the traditional minded audiences during his tour, so his tour was not of the greatest success. On the tour, he met a man named Diaghilev, who immediately offered him a job that gave him a great deal of exposure. After three years of amazing experience, Diaghilev promoted Balanchine as a choreographer and made him master for his company. Balanchine was only at the age of 25. His unique style of dance was too advanced for the Soviets to handle. So Balanchine moved to Europe to start his own ballet company. He was not there long, Lincoln Kirstein, one of his fans who encouraged Balanchine to go to the United States to help establish a school of Ballet equivalent to those found in Europe and Russia. Little did Lincoln know that those words of wisdom were the start to a whole in Ballet world in the U.S. When Balanchine first arrived in the U.S. in 1932, he made a name for himself by choreographing for musical comedies. Just a few years later in 1934 Balanchine helped found the School of American Ballet. It opened on January 1, 1934, with a class size of 25. Balanchines training was very technical yet traditional. He wanted his students to perform at his level. This school was the start to Balanchines American success.Show MoreRelatedEssay on George Balanchine1558 Words   |  7 PagesGeorge Balanchine One of the most important and influential people in the world of ballet is George Balanchine. He became a legend long before he died. He brought the standards of dance up to a level that had never been seen before, and he created a new audience for ballet. Balanchine was one of the greatest and most prolific choreographers in ballet history, choreographing at least 300 ballets; he was rivaled in quantity only by Jules Perrot and MariusRead More George Balanchine Essay6674 Words   |  27 PagesGeorge Balanchine If composers are the masters of time, then the choreographer George Balanchine is the master of visual realization of that time in human terms. 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He used flexed hands and feet, turn-in legs, off centered positions, and non classical costumes; such as leotards, unitards, and/or tunics. One dancer who trained with Balanchine was Mekhair Baryshnikov. He was an artistic director of the American Ballet Theater. In 1980 he began workingRead MoreSearching For Nijinsky s Sacre By Millicent Hodson1611 Words   |  7 Pagesarticle’s main point. The Balanchine Woman: Of Hummingbirds and Channel Swimmers â€Å"The Balanchine Women: Of Hummingbirds and Channel Swimmers† was written by Ann Daly. Daly is an essayist who specializes in writing on women and women’s history. Many of her writings have appeared in journals such as The New York Times, Village Voice, and Texas Observer. The excerpt is a journal article from The Drama Review, which was published in 1987. In â€Å"The Balanchine Woman: Of Hummingbirds and ChannelRead More Eating Disorders and Ballet - Anorexia Nervosa is Eating the Soul of Young Dancers3494 Words   |  14 Pagesâ€Å"weigh-in† to come would defeat the purpose. â€Å"A fore-warned dancer is a fore-starved dancer† (S. Gordon 43). Not only are the dancer’s weights recorded and compared but many times they are read aloud to the entire class. Famous choreographer George Balanchine was known to comment to his dancers, â€Å"Eat nothing!† and â€Å"I must see bones!† as he poked them in the ribs and turned them by their bony shoulders to look in the mirror (Kirkland 56, R. Gordon 124). The pressure to be physically