George Balanchine (; born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; January 22, 1904 [O.S. January 9] – April 30, 1983) was a Russian-American ballet choreographer of Georgian descent, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Balanchine took the standards and technique from his time at the Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure on Broadway and in Hollywood, creating his signature "neoclassical style". He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine was invited to America in 1933 by Lincoln Kirstein, a young arts patron; together they founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 as well as the New York City Ballet in 1948.
Early life and family
Balanchine was born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, son of Georgian opera singer and composer Meliton Balanchivadze, one of the founders of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre. His father was later the Minister of Culture of the Georgian Democratic Republic, which became independent in 1918 but was later forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union. The rest of the Georgian side of Balanchine's family consisted largely of artists and soldiers. Little is known of Balanchine's Russian, maternal side. His mother, Meliton's second wife, Maria Nikolayevna Vasilyeva, is said to be the daughter of Nikolai von Almedingen, a German. He later left Russia and abandoned his family, causing Maria to take her mother's name. Maria was fond of ballet and viewed it as a form of social advancement from the lower reaches of Saint Petersburg society. She was eleven years younger than Meliton and rumored to have been his former housekeeper, although "she had at least some culture in her background" as she could play piano well. Maria also worked at a bank. Although she loved ballet, she wanted her son to join the military. This was a difficult topic to enforce in the family because not only was the mother artistic, George's father was also very talented at playing the piano. Many believe that because his father was very invested in the arts, Balanchine's career of being a businessman failed. Balanchine had three other siblings. His brother Andrei Balanchivadze became a well-known Georgian composer like their father. Even after immigrating to the United States, Balanchine tried to stay connected to his Georgian roots. He engaged across the Iron Curtain with Georgian artists, who admired him.
Career
Early auditions and training As a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet, but his mother insisted that he audition with his sister Tamara, who shared her mother's interest in the art. Balanchine's brother Andria Balanchivadze followed their father's love for music and became a composer in Soviet Georgia. Tamara's life as a dancer, however, would be cut short by her death in unknown circumstances as she was trying to escape to Georgia on a train from the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Based on his audition, during 1913 (at age nine), Balanchine relocated from rural Finland to Saint Petersburg and was accepted into the Imperial Ballet School, principal school of the Imperial Ballet, where he was a student of Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov (Gerdt's son-in-law). Balanchine studied dance at the Mariinsky School & Theater until it closed down in 1917 due to government decree. His taking ballet here could have been viewed as a convenience to the Balanchivadze family, because this is where his father composed music. After the Revolution, this theater was transferred to the People's Enlightenment Commissariat and became property of the state. The Theater reopened in 1918; two years later it was renamed as the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. Balanchine had begun to choreograph and mounted some new and experimental ballets for the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Petrograd (as the city was renamed. It later was renamed again as Leningrad.) Among them were Le Boeuf sur le toit (1920), by Jean Cocteau and music by Darius Milhaud. He also created a piece for Caesar and Cleopatra by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. After graduating in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory while working in the corps de ballet at the State Academic Theater for Opera and Ballet. (This was formerly the State Theater of Opera and Ballet and known as the Mariinsky Ballet). His studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory in 1923, and danced as a member of the corps until 1924. While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux named La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein). a piece which The school of directors did not approve of or like this work. Balanchine worked at his choreography in an experimental way during his evenings. He and his colleagues eventually performed this piece at the State School of Ballet. This was followed by another duet, Enigma, with the dancers in bare feet rather than ballet shoes. While teaching at the Mariinsky Ballet, he met Tamara Geva, his future wife. In 1923, with Geva and fellow dancers, Balanchine formed a small ensemble that presented Evenings of the Young Ballet. The group's first evening was a three-part performance that included homages to Marius Petipa and Mikhail Fokine and a final section devoted to Balanchine's own choreographed dances.
Ballets Russes
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