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George Balanchine (January 22, 1904 – April 30, 1983), born Giorgi Melitonis dze Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Georgian
Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
 parents, was one of the 20th century's foremost choreographers, a pioneer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins....
: his work created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques. He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, considered by many to be the most influential composer of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially Cosmopolitanism Russian who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the century....
, his contemporary.

Georgia and Russia
Balanchine's father, noted Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze
Meliton Balanchivadze

Meliton Balanchivadze was a Georgia composer and one of the founders of Georgian classical music. His two sons, George Balanchine and Andria Balanchivadze, had illustrious careers, the former as a leading choreographer in the United States, and the latter as Georgian SSR?s foremost classical composer....
 (1862–1937), was one of the founders of the Georgian Opera.






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George Balanchine (January 22, 1904 – April 30, 1983), born Giorgi Melitonis dze Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Georgian
Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
 parents, was one of the 20th century's foremost choreographers, a pioneer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins....
: his work created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques. He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, considered by many to be the most influential composer of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially Cosmopolitanism Russian who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the century....
, his contemporary.

Georgia and Russia


Balanchine's father, noted Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze
Meliton Balanchivadze

Meliton Balanchivadze was a Georgia composer and one of the founders of Georgian classical music. His two sons, George Balanchine and Andria Balanchivadze, had illustrious careers, the former as a leading choreographer in the United States, and the latter as Georgian SSR?s foremost classical composer....
 (1862–1937), was one of the founders of the Georgian Opera. George's brother, Andria Balanchivadze
Andria Balanchivadze

Andria Balanachivadze was a Georgia composer. He was the son of Meliton Balanchivadze, the composer, and brother of George Balanchine, the famous :Category:Georgian Americans choreographer....
 (1906–1992), became a well-known Georgian composer. As a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet. However, his mother possessed a deep love for the art and had the young Giorgi audition with his sister, who shared her mother's passion for ballet. Since his family was mostly comprised of composers and soldiers, it was said that Balanchine could always follow family tradition and enroll in the military if it turned out he wasn't talented at dancing.

In 1913 (at age nine) Balanchine moved from rural Finland to Saint Petersburg and was enrolled in the Imperial Ballet School, principal school of the Imperial Ballet, where he studied under Pavel Gerdt
Pavel Gerdt

Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt, also known as Paul Gerdt , was the Premier Danseur Noble of the Imperial Ballet, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and the Mariinsky Theatre for 56 years, making his debut in 1860, and retiring in 1916....
 and Samuil Andrianov (Pavel's son-in-law). With the victory of the Bolsheviks in the revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution is the series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union....
, the school was disbanded as an offensive symbol of the Tsarist regime. To survive the privation and martial law
Martial law

Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupied territory in the absence of any other civil government....
 of this period, Balanchine played the piano — for food, not for money — at cabarets and silent movie theatres. Eventually the Imperial Ballet School reopened with greatly reduced funding. After graduating with honours in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory

The N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students....
 in tandem with his corps de ballet
Corps de ballet

In ballet, the corps de ballet is the group of dancers who are not soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers....
 duties at The State Academic Theatre for Opera and Ballet (formerly the State Theater of Opera and Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet, is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 19th Century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies....
). In 1922 when Balanchine was eighteen, he married Tamara Geva
Tamara Geva

Tamara Geva was a Russian actress, ballet dancer and choreographer. She was married for several years to George Balanchine....
, a fifteen year old dancer. His studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory in 1923, and he was a member of the corps until 1924.

While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux
Pas de deux

In ballet, a pas de deux is a duet in which ballet steps are performed together. It usually consists of an Entr?e , Adagio , two Variation s , and a coda ....
 called La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein

Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, composer and Conducting. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos....
). 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. On a trip to East Prussia with the Soviet State Dancers, Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova

Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen.Born in Peterhof, Russia, she was trained at the two major schools in Leningrad , the Soviet State Ballet and Russian Imperial Ballet School....
, and Nicholas Efimov defected to the west and fled to Paris in 1924. Serge Diaghilev, another Russian exile, asked Balanchine to join his Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes

The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company which performed under the directorship of Sergei Diaghilev between 1909 and 1929. Some of their places of residence included the Th??tre Mogador and the Th??tre du Ch?telet, though they worked in many countries, including England, the U.S.A., and Spain....
 as a choreographer.

Ballets Russes


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 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
Alexandra Danilova

Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen.Born in Peterhof, Russia, she was trained at the two major schools in Leningrad , the Soviet State Ballet and Russian Imperial Ballet School....
 which lasted a few years. Danilova is considered his second wife.

After Diaghilev's death the Ballets Russes fell into disarray. Balanchine began to stage dances for the Cochran Revues in London, and was retained by the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet

The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet troupes in Europe. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of France and Italy styles of dance....
 in Copenhagen
Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,153,615 . Copenhagen is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager....
 as guest ballet master. He returned to the Ballets Russes when it settled in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is one of Monaco's various administrative areas, sometimes erroneously believed to be a town or the country's capital. The official capital is Monaco-Ville and covers all quarters of the territory....
, resuming his post as ballet master for the new Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was an influential ballet ballet company founded by Ren? Blum and Colonel Vassily de Basil in 1933. The company followed Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which had stopped operating when Diaghilev died in 1929....
, and choreographed three ballets: Cotillon, La Concurrence, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ballet)

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to the Concert Suite of Richard Strauss with a libretto after Moli?re....
. His muse in Monte Carlo was the young Tamara Toumanova
Tamara Toumanova

Tamara Toumanova was a ballerina and actor.She was born Tamara Tumanishvili to Georgian parents in Tyumen, Siberia, while her mother was fleeing Georgia in search of her husband....
, one of the original "Baby Ballerinas
Baby Ballerinas

The Baby Ballerinas were 3 young leading principal dancers of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the 1930's. They were Tamara Toumanova, Irina Baronova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska....
".

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
Edward James

Edward William Frank James was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealism art movement....
 and Diaghilev's former secretary and companion Boris Kochno
Boris Kochno

Boris Kochno was a Russian poet, dancer and librettist. He was a lover of Karol Szymanowski while a schoolboy of fifteen in Elisavetgrad in 1919, and he received as a gift a Russian translation of the chapter The Symposium from Efebos, the composer's unpublished novel on pederasty....
 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
Bertolt Brecht

was a Germany poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the Twentieth-century theatre, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and Theatre, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble?the post-war theatre company operated by Brec...
, Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill , was a Germany, and in his later years American, composer active from the 1920s until his death. He was a leading composer for the theatre....
, Pavel Tchelitchew
Pavel Tchelitchew

Pavel Tchelitchew was a Russian-born surrealism painter. He left Russia in 1920, lived in Berlin from 1921 to 1923, and moved to Paris in 1923....
, Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six - also known as the Groupe des Six - and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century....
, and Henri Sauget.

It was after a performance by Les Ballets 1933 that Lincoln Kirstein
Lincoln Kirstein

Lincoln Edward Kirstein was an United States writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City, famous less for his own artistic achievement than for his social influence....
, 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.

United States


Upon arriving in the United States, Balanchine insisted that his first project would be to establish a ballet school. With the support of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward M.M. Warburg, the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet

The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City....
 opened its doors to students on January 2, 1934, less than 3 months after Balanchine arrived in the U.S. The students premiered Serenade
Serenade (ballet)

Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine, subsequently co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings , Op....
 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
Richard Rodgers

Richard Charles Rodgers was an United States Musical compositionr of the music for more than 900 songs and 40 Broadway theatre musicals. He also composed music for films and television....
, Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart

Lorenz "Larry" Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway theatre songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include, "Blue Moon ", "Isn't It Romantic?", "Mountain Greenery", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Where or When", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", "Falling in Love with Love", "I%27ll_Tell_the_M...
 and Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke

Vernon Duke was a Russian-United States composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John La Touche, "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, "April in Paris" with lyrics by Yip Harburg , and "What Is There To Say" f...
). He greatly admired Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an United States Academy Award-winning film and Broadway theatre dance, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one musical films....
, 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."

In 1935, Balanchine formed a professional company called the American Ballet
American Ballet

American Ballet was the first professional ballet company George Balanchine created in the United States. The company was founded with the help of Lincoln Kirstein, and was populated by students of Kirstein and Balanchine's School of American Ballet....
. After failing to mount a tour, the company began performing at the Metropolitan Opera House. In 1936 Balanchine was able to stage only Orfeo and Eurydice
Orfeo ed Euridice

Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing....
 and in 1937 an evening of dance choreographed to the music of Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, considered by many to be the most influential composer of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially Cosmopolitanism Russian who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the century....
.

He moved the company to Hollywood in 1938. He rented a white two-story house with Kopeikine on North Fairfax Avenue not far from Hollywood Boulevard. The company reconvened as the American Ballet Caravan and toured North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. It folded after several years. From 1944 to 1946, Balanchine served as resident choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Soon he formed a new dance company, the Ballet Society
New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins....
, again with the generous help of Lincoln Kirstein. After it had several successful performances, and unsuccessful ones, the New York City Center for Music and Drama
New York City Center

New York City Center, historically known as City Center of Music and Drama, and also known as New York City Center 55th Street Theater, is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival concert hall located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City....
 offered the company the position of resident company at the center. With that arrangement, in 1948 Ballet Society became the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins....
. Balanchine's 1954 staging of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891?92. Alexandre Dumas, p?re's adaptation of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E....
, performed every year in New York City during the Christmas season
Christmas season

Christmastide is one of the seasons of the liturgical year of most Christianity churches. It tends to be defined as the period from Christmas Day to the evening of 5 January, the day before Epiphany ....
, has made the ballet a Christmas tradition in the United States, and a money-making tradition for most of the companies that perform it.

In the 1960s, Balanchine fell deeply in love with the young dancer Suzanne Farrell
Suzanne Farrell

Suzanne Farrell one of the most noted ballerinas of the 20th century, and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C....
. He created many ballets for her, including Don Quixote
Don Quixote (ballet)

Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes....
 (in which he played the Don and Farrell danced Dulcinea), and the Diamonds section of the ballet Jewels
Jewels (ballet)

Jewels is a ballet in three parts, choreographed by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine in 1967. It premi?red on the 13th of April of the same year at the New York State Theater....
. Some ballerinas, including his former wife Maria Tallchief
Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchief was the first American Prima Ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965....
, quit, citing Farrell as the reason. Balanchine obtained a Mexican divorce
Mexican divorce

In the 1960s, many United States traveled south to obtain a "Mexican divorce." A Mexican divorce was easier, quicker, and less expensive than a divorce in most U.S....
 from then-wife Tanaquil Le Clercq, only to discover Farrell had married NYCB dancer Paul Meija. In 1970 both Farrell and her husband quit the company. They moved to Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
 and joined Maurice Bejart
Maurice Béjart

Maurice B?jart was a France and Switzerland choreographer who ran the B?jart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He was the son of the French philosopher Gaston Berger....
's dance company. In 1975, Farrell returned to dance with the NYCB.

In 1978, the first year of the new national award, George Balanchine received the Kennedy Center Honors Award.

In 1983 after years of illness, Balanchine died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease is a very rare and incurable degeneration neurology that is fatal. Among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans, it is the most common....
, 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. He died the following year at the age of 79 in New York City, NY, USA. In his last years, Balanchine also suffered from angina and underwent heart bypass surgery.

After his divorce from Tamara Geva, Balanchine married and divorced three more times. All his wives were dancers, women who were his muses: Vera Zorina
Vera Zorina

Vera Zorina was a ballerina, musical theatre actress and choreographer in both Europe and the United States.Born as Eva Brigitta Hartwig in Berlin of Norway descent, Zorina was George Balanchine's second wife; they were married from 1938 to 1946....
 (December 1938–1946), Maria Tallchief
Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchief was the first American Prima Ballerina. From 1942 to 1947 she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965....
 (1946–1952), and Tanaquil LeClerq
Tanaquil LeClerq

Tanaquil Le Clercq was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, but her dancing career was ended when she was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the waist down....
 (1952–1969), as was his common-law wife, Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova

Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen.Born in Peterhof, Russia, she was trained at the two major schools in Leningrad , the Soviet State Ballet and Russian Imperial Ballet School....
 (1926–1933). He had no children.

Choreographed work


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
    Apollo (ballet)

    Apollo is a ballet in two Tableau vivant composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto....
     (1928)
  • The Prodigal Son (1929)
  • Le Bal (1929)
  • Balustrade (1941)


for the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo


  • Cotillon (1932)
  • Concurrence (1932)
  • Danses Concertantes (1944 and 1972)
  • La Sonnambula
    La Sonnambula (ballet)

    'La Sonnambula' is a ballet by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster, George Balanchine, made to Vittorio Rieti's music using themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini including La Sonnambula, Norma , I Puritani, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi and costumes by Barbara Karinska....
     (1946)
  • (Not a talented dancer)


for Les Ballets 1933


  • 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
    Serenade (ballet)

    Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine, subsequently co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings , Op....
     (1935)
  • Errante (1935)
  • Reminiscence (1935)
  • Jeu de cartes
    Jeu de cartes (ballet)

    Jeu de cartes is a ballet in three Card_game#The_deals by Igor Stravinsky, composed in 1936-1937, with the story by the composer and choreography by George Balanchine....
     (variously, Card Game or The Card Party) (1937)
  • Le Baiser de la Fée (originally titled The Fairy's Kiss) (1937)


for Broadway:


  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
    Ziegfeld Follies

    The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
    • Island in the West Indies
    • Maharanee
  • On Your Toes
    On Your Toes

    On Your Toes is a musical theatre with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart.While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Donal III tries to persuade Sergei Alexandrovich, the director of the Russian Ballet, to stage the jazz ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"...
     by Rodgers
    Richard Rodgers

    Richard Charles Rodgers was an United States Musical compositionr of the music for more than 900 songs and 40 Broadway theatre musicals. He also composed music for films and television....
     and Hart
    Lorenz Hart

    Lorenz "Larry" Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway theatre songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include, "Blue Moon ", "Isn't It Romantic?", "Mountain Greenery", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Where or When", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", "Falling in Love with Love", "I%27ll_Tell_the_M...
    • Princess Zenobia Ballet (1936)
    • Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
      Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

      Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is a ballet with music by Richard Rodgers and choreography by George Balanchine. It occurs near the end of Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway theatre musical comedy On Your Toes....
       (1936)
This dramatic ballet served as the climax of this musical production and has subsequently been presented as a stand-alone piece; however, several of the sung numbers in the show featured dance routines as well, notably the title number.

for American Ballet Caravan:


  • Encounter (1936)
  • Ballet Imperial (later referred to as the Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2) (1941)
  • Concerto Barocco (1941)


for the Ballet del Teatro de Colón:


  • Mozart Violin Concerto (1942)


for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo:


  • Song of Norway (1944)
  • Danses Concertantes (1944)
  • Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1944)
  • Pas de Deux (Grand adagio) (1945)
  • The Night Shadow (1946)
  • Raymonda
    Raymonda

    Raymonda is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an Apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus number 57....
     (1946)


for the Ballet Theatre:


  • Waltz Academy (1944)
  • Theme and Variations
    Theme and Variations (ballet)

    Theme and Variations is a ballet by George Balanchine to the final movement of Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G major, Op. 55 by Peter Tchaikovsky....
     (1947)


for the Ballet Society:


  • The Four Temperaments (ballet)|The Four Temperaments (1946)
  • L'enfant et Les Sortilèges (The Spellbound Child) (1946)
  • Haieff Divertimento (1947)
  • Symphonie Concertante (1947)
  • Orpheus
    Orpheus (ballet)

    Orpheus is a ballet made by George Balanchine on Ballet Society, which he founded together with Lincoln Kirstein and of which he was ballet master, to Orpheus from 1947 by Igor Stravinsky, his frequent collaborator, with sets and costumes by Isamu Noguchi....
     (1948)


for the Paris Opera Ballet:


  • Palais de Cristal (later called Symphony in C
    Symphony in C (ballet)

    Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Georges Bizet's Symphony in C , which he wrote at the age of 17 while studying with Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory....
    ) (1947)


for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas:


  • Minkus Pas De Trois (1948)


for New York City Ballet:


  • La Sonnambula
    La Sonnambula (ballet)

    'La Sonnambula' is a ballet by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster, George Balanchine, made to Vittorio Rieti's music using themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini including La Sonnambula, Norma , I Puritani, and I Capuleti e i Montecchi and costumes by Barbara Karinska....
     (1946)
  • Bourrée Fantasque (1949)
  • The Firebird
    The Firebird

    The Firebird is a 1910 ballet by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the Firebird that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
     (with Jerome Robbins
    Jerome Robbins

    Jerome Robbins was an United States film director and choreographer whose work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater....
    ) (1949)
  • Sylvia Pas De Deux (1950)
  • Swan Lake
    Swan Lake

    Swan Lake is a ballet, Opus number 20, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed 1875-1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, by Vladimir Begichev and Vasiliy Geltser was fashioned from Russian folk tales as well as an ancient German legend, which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse....
     (after Lev Ivanov
    Lev Ivanov

    Lev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet. Historically he is credited with choreographing the entirety of premiere of The Nutcracker due to the ill health of the venerable Ballet Master Marius Petipa, though contemporary and modern accounts dispute...
    )]]     (1951)
  • La Valse (ballet)|La Valse (1951)
  • Harlequinade (1952)
  • Harlequinade Pas De Deux (1952)
  • Scotch Symphony (1952)
  • Valse Fantaisie (1953/1967)
  • The Nutcracker
    The Nutcracker

    The Nutcracker Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891?92. Alexandre Dumas, p?re's adaptation of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E....
     (1954)
  • Ivesiana (1954)
  • Western Symphony
    Western Symphony

    Western Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to music arranged by Hershy Kay. The premiere September 7, 1954, at New York City Center, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin and presented in practice clothes without scenery....
     (1954)
  • Glinka Pas De Trois (1955)
  • Pas De Dix (1955)
  • Divertimento No. 15 (1956)
  • Allegro Brillante (1956)
  • Agon
    Agon (ballet)

    Agon is a ballet for a twelve dancers, with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by George Balanchine. Composition began in December 1953 and concluded in April 1957; the music was first performed on June 17, 1957 in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft, while the first stage performance was given by the New York City Ballet on Decembe...
     (1957)
  • Square Dance
    Square Dance (ballet)

    Square Dance is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmasterGeorge Balanchine to Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso in B minor and the first movement of his Concerto Grosso in E major, Op....
     (1957)
  • Gounod Symphony (1958)
  • Stars and Stripes
    Stars and Stripes (ballet)

    Stars and Stripes is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine in 1958, using original music from "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa and performed in 5 acts ....
     (a ballet in 5 "campaigns")' (1958)
  • Episodes
    Episodes (ballet)

    Episodes is a two-part ballet ballet made by Martha Graham and George Balanchine to Anton von Webern's Symphony , Op. 21; Five Pieces , Op....
     (1959)
  • Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
    Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux

    The Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to an excerpt from Swan Lake, Op....
     (1960)
  • Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960)
  • Donizetti Variations (1960)
  • Liebeslieder Walzer (1960)
  • Raymonda Variations (1961)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet)

    A Midsummer Night's Dream is a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream....
     (1962)
  • Bugaku
    Bugaku (ballet)

    Bugaku is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to eponymous music by Toshiro Mayuzumi commissioned by City Ballet in 1962....
     (1963)
  • Meditation (ballet)|Meditation (1963)
  • Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1963)
  • Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1966)
  • Jewels
    Jewels (ballet)

    Jewels is a ballet in three parts, choreographed by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine in 1967. It premi?red on the 13th of April of the same year at the New York State Theater....
     (1967)
    • Emeralds
      Jewels (ballet)

      Jewels is a ballet in three parts, choreographed by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine in 1967. It premi?red on the 13th of April of the same year at the New York State Theater....
    • Rubies
      Jewels (ballet)

      Jewels is a ballet in three parts, choreographed by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine in 1967. It premi?red on the 13th of April of the same year at the New York State Theater....
    • Diamonds
      Jewels (ballet)

      Jewels is a ballet in three parts, choreographed by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine in 1967. It premi?red on the 13th of April of the same year at the New York State Theater....
  • La Source
    La Source

    La Source is a ballet in three Act s/four scenes with a musical score collaborated on by L?o Delibes and Ludwig Minkus . In Vienna it was called Na?la, die Quellenfee ....
     (1968)
  • Who Cares (1970)
  • Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (1970)
  • Stravinsky Festival (1972)
    • Pulcinella
      Pulcinella (ballet)

      Pulcinella is a ballet by Igor Stravinsky based on an 18th-century play ? Pulcinella is a character originating from Commedia dell'arte. The ballet premiered in Paris on 15 May, 1920 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet....
       (with Jerome Robbins
      Jerome Robbins

      Jerome Robbins was an United States film director and choreographer whose work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater....
      )
    • Violin Concerto
    • Symphony in Three Movements
      Symphony in Three Movements

      Symphony in Three Movements is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine for opening night of its New York City Ballet Stravinsky Festival to the Igor Stravinsky eponymous symphony from 1942?45, and lighting by Mark Stanley ....
    • 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
    Coppélia

    Copp?lia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-L?on to a ballet libretto by Saint-L?on and Charles Nuitter and music by L?o Delibes....
     (1974)
  • Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir (1974)
  • Ravel Festival (1975)
    • Sonatine (ballet)|Sonatine
    • Tzigane (ballet)|Tzigane
    • Le Tombeau de Couperin
      Le Tombeau de Couperin (ballet)

      Le Tombeau de Couperin is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Maurice Ravel's 1919 Le Tombeau de Couperin of the same title and orchestrated by the composer 1920....
    • Pavane (ballet)|Pavane
    • Shéhérazade (ballet)|Shéhérazade
    • Gaspard de la Nuit (ballet)|Gaspard de la Nuit
    • Rapsodie Espagnole
  • The Steadfast Tin Soldier (ballet)|The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1975)
  • Tzigane (ballet)|Tzigane (1975)
  • Chaconne (ballet)|Chaconne (1976)
  • Union Jack (ballet)|Union Jack (1976)
  • Vienna Waltzes (1977)
  • Ballo della Regina (1978)
  • Kammermusik No. 2 (1978)
  • Robert Schuman's Davidsbündlertänze (1980)
  • Walpurgisnacht Ballet (1980)
  • Tschaikovsky Festival (1981)
    • Garland Dance
    • Mozartiana
  • Stravinsky Centennial Celebration (1982)
    • Élégie


for New York City Opera
New York City Opera

The New York City Opera was founded in 1943 with the aim of an opera company that would be financially accessible to a wide audience, innovative in its choice of repertory, and a home for United States singers and composers....
:

  • Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
    Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ballet)

    Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to the Concert Suite of Richard Strauss with a libretto after Moli?re....
     (1979)


Further reading


External links

  • article on Balanchine by Robert Gottlieb
    Robert Gottlieb

    Robert Gottlieb is an United States writer and renowned editor in the book publishing business.Gottlieb is a graduate of Columbia University....
     from The New York Review of Books
    The New York Review of Books

    The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs published in New York City....
    , volume 55, number 15, October 9, 2008


Listening


  • A recording of George Antheil's score for the Balanchine ballet