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RussiaBalanchine was born Giorgi Melitonis dze Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His father, noted Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze (1862-1937), was 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.
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. In 1923, with fellow dancers, he formed a small ensemble, the Young Ballet. The choreography proved too experimental for the new authorities, who strongly encouraged the group to disband. Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov were granted permission to tour Western Europe in 1924. While performing in London, England, Serge Diaghilev asked the group to join his Ballets Russes, prompting the four to defect. Ballets RussesDiaghilev 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 ballets, as well as smaller choreographies. Unfortunately, he also suffered a serious knee injury at this time, which limited his dancing and effectively ended his performance career. In 1926, Balanchine and Tamara Geva divorced. Shortly after, Balanchine commenced a relationship with dancer Alexandra Danilova which lasted a few years and was a "common law" marriage. Danilova is considered his second wife.
When René Blum passed control of the company to Colonel W. de Basil, Balanchine again left the Ballets Russes. This time he formed his own company, Les Ballets 1933, with the financial backing of Edward James and Diaghilev's former secretary and companion 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 1933 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. AmericaUpon arriving in the United States, 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 2, 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. During the 1930s and 1940s, in between his ballet activities, Balanchine worked as a choreographer for musical theater (with such notables as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Vernon Duke). He greatly admired Fred Astaire, describing him as "the most interesting, the most inventive, the most elegant dancer of our times... you see a little bit of Astaire in everybody's dancing--a pause here, a move there. It was all Astaire originally."[1] In 1935, 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 two dance performances (Orfeo and Eurydice in 1936, and an evening of dance choreographed to the music of Igor Stravinsky in 1937), Balanchine moved the company to Hollywood in 1938. The company reconvened as the American Ballet Caravan and toured North and South America, although it too folded after several years. Image:New York State Theater by David Shankbone.jpg Architecht Philip Johnson designed the New York State Theater to the specifications of Balanchine Balanchine served as resident choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1944 to 1946, but soon formed 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 at New York City Center for Music and Drama as the resident company. With that arrangement in place, Ballet Society became the New York City Ballet in 1948. Balanchine's 1954 staging of The Nutcracker, performed every year in New York City during the Christmas season, is largely responsible for making the ballet a Christmas tradition in the United States. Image:Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine NYWTS.jpg Balanchine and Farrell in Don Quixote In the 1960s, 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 Roman Catholic, refused to consummate the romance. Farrell's position in the company was the cause of consternation -- some ballerinas, like his former wife, Maria Tallchief, quit, citing Farrell as the reason. Balanchine obtained a Mexican divorce from LeClerq, only to discover Farrell had married a NYCB dancer Paul Meija. 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 the NYCB. George Balanchine received the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1978, the first year the awards were given. 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. In his last years he also suffered from angina and underwent heart bypass surgery. After his divorce from Tamara Geva, Balanchine married and divorced three more times. All were dancers: Vera Zorina (December 1938 - 1946), Maria Tallchief (1946 - 1952), and Tanaquil LeClerq (1952 - 1969), as well as his common law wife, Alexandra Danilova (1926 - 1933). He had no children. Choreographed worksfor the Ballets Russes:
for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo:
for Les Ballets:
for the American Ballet:
for On Your Toes (a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers - Lorenz Hart):
for the American Ballet Caravan:
for the Ballet del Teatro de Colón:
for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo:
for the Ballet Theatre:
for the Ballet Society:
for the Paris Opera Ballet:
for the Ballet Theatre:
for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas:
for the New York City Ballet:
for the New York City Opera:
Referencesde:George Balanchine et:George Balanchine es:George Balanchine fr:George Balanchine gl:George Balanchine it:George Balanchine ka:ბალანჩინი, ჯორჯ nl:George Balanchine ja:ジョージ・バランシン pt:George Balanchine fi:George Balanchine sv:George Balanchine uk:Баланчин Джордж
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