Research Paper On George Balanchine

George Balanchine

Angela Dang

Mrs. Brown

Language Arts

24 April 2023 “Put sixteen girls on a stage and it’s everybody’s world. Put sixteen boys (on a stage), and it’s nobody.” (Tracy, 10). George Balanchine, regarded as the world’s greatest choreographer from his time with the Ballet Russes in Russia to the New York City Ballet, forever changed twentieth-century American dance schemes through his extensive work with his prima ballerinas (encyclopedia.com). American dance, as we know it today, would merely be a weaker duplication of traditional European dance without the important lyrical foundations that he established through his work (Encyclopedia of World Biography). George Balanchine became the most prosperous ballet

According to his own dancers, Balanchine was quiet but demanding, and confident but soft (Tracy, 11) (Anderson, 118). Like many other choreographers of that time, Balanchine made up combinations on the whim, but unlike other choreographers, never demonstrated the steps, as he believed that steps were meant to be a dancer's own interpretation (Anderson, 59-60). The utility of this tactic, along with his determination to break the ballet ideals, eventually molded into Balanchine's invention of the neoclassic Russian-European style ballet most twentieth-century ballet is associated with (Biography.com Editors) (New York City Ballet). His style became the core of American ballet, as in the past, American “ballet” was a weaker and sloppier duplication of European ballet (Encyclopedia of World Biography). His style spread worldwide, surpassing American land and would “link” Russian dance to American and Canadian dances (Anderson, 275). Balanchine ended up creating about 465 recorded works, over 150 works being for the New York City Ballet (Walker) (New York City Ballet). Under his administration, Balanchine led the New York City Ballet to the leading ballet company in the country, and arguably, the world (Encyclopedia of World