George Balanchine

George Balanchine ( native Georgian გიორგი ბალანჩივაძე / Giorgi Balantschiwadse; * 9 Januarjul / January 22 1904greg in Saint Petersburg, .. † April 30, 1983 in New York City ) was a choreographer and representatives of neoclassical ballet. Balanchine brought the tradition of classical Russian ballet to the USA and founded with Lincoln Kirstein, the New York City Ballet, which achieved international recognition.

Career

At the age of nine years, Balanchine began his education at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg. Already during his studies he started to work as a choreographer: His first play was La Nuit ( 1920 ), a pas de deux for himself and a classmate to the music of Anton Rubinstein. In 1921 he graduated with honors and became a member of the corps de ballet of the then renamed the State Opera and Ballet Theatre earlier Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre. With a few colleagues, he founded in 1923 a small dance ensemble, with whom he performed experimental pieces, but they were seen by the authorities with suspicion. The dancers were threatened with dismissal if they did not dissolve their group.

As Balanchine together with the dancer Tamara Geva colleagues, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov in 1924 for a tour of Western Europe was given permission to leave the Soviet Union just established, none returned to their homeland. At a performance in London they fell on the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who all committed for his Ballets Russes. This was the beginning of Balanchine's international career.

He worked for the Ballets Russes until its dissolution after Diaghilev's death in 1929, first as a dancer, then Bronislava Nijinska retirement as ballet master and choreographer. In time with the Ballets Russes created several groundbreaking choreography, including musagète the masterpiece Apollo and The Prodigal Son. A knee injury that he suffered during this time, curtailed his dancing skills and contributed may mean that he was choreographing for emphasis.

After the dissolution of the company and hard work for the connection establishment Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in 1933, he founded the company Les Ballets. During the short life of these troops he met in London the young American patron Lincoln Kirstein know who wanted to build in the U.S. was independent of Europe with American Ballet Company dancers own choreography and own topics. Balanchine insisted first to start a ballet school, the School of American Ballet ( founded 1934 ), emerged from the then American Ballet Theatre. The school exists to this day, there dancer for the New York City Ballet and other major companies are formed.

The American Ballet found a shelter at the New York Metropolitan Opera. While Balanchine's work there from 1933 to 1938 created groundbreaking ballets to the music of Igor Stravinsky. The American Ballet remained three years as a ballet troupe of the Metropolitan Opera made ​​, which led to tensions, since the focus was on the opera and full-length ballets were rarely included in the program. 1938, separated Balanchine and his dancers from the Met and the troupe broke up after a few short tours. Balanchine worked on several smaller projects, including back together with Stravinsky at the Circus Polka, a choreography for the Ringling Brothers Circus.

This was followed by a brief episode of renewed work for the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and 1946 then the creation of the Ballet Society, which presented Balanchine's new works on a small scale, which meant that the company was allowed to join the cultural institution of New York City Center, as New York City Ballet. Here Balanchine worked until his death in 1983 and was able to present his works to a large audience. His extensive work and its importance for the development of dance are recognized worldwide. The grave of Balanchine is located in the Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor on Long Iceland.

Influence

He created a total of 425 Einzelchoreografien, the vast majority of the ballet theater, but in the thirties and forties, he had also choreographed for musicals, revues and movies. To put his choreography for The Boys from Syracuse (1938 ) and the dance sequence in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue in the musical On Your Toes (1936 ) standards. Dance was from since become an integral part of musical act. He also took advantage from the sixties, the possibilities of television, taught choreography for the camera and brought his work as a million audience.

Style

Balanchine presented the classical ballet training in the service of free form and arrived at new ways of expression. There are ballets from him, but many important works are abstract and explore movement patterns and shapes of the body in space to the music. Dance is an art form in itself, which must be subordinate to any other medium, not a linear story: the visual sense outweighs everything. However, not that was his opinion that if it was dancing to the music: "Music is the ground on which we dance. " Changes in tempo were not wanted, and there was no adjustment to the skills and stamina of the dancers instead, as is often the case.

Balanchine created many choreographies to the music of contemporary composers such as Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Prokofiev. He was extremely musical and came through his father, a composer, very early with music and music-making in contact. During his studies he also studied dance for 3 years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, piano, music theory and composition. For choreographing he made from the orchestral scores to his own piano scores. With Stravinsky whom he had a 50-year friendship and creative congenial relationship that was also based on Balanchine's deep understanding of music. As a choreographer he was known for his calm and focused way of working.

Honors

Works (selection)

  • Apollon musagète (1928 ) new version of Apollo (1957 )
  • The Prodigal Son (1929 )
  • The Seven Deadly Sins (1933 )
  • Le Baiser de la Fée (1937 )
  • Card Games (1937 )
  • Danses Concert Antes (1944 )
  • The Four Temperaments (1946 )
  • La Valse (1951 )
  • Scotch Symphony (1952)
  • The Nutcracker (1954 ) new version ( 1964)
  • Western Symphony (1954 )
  • Ivesiana (1954)
  • Opus 34 (1954 )
  • Allegro Brillante (1956 )
  • Agon (1957 )
  • Stars and Stripes (1958 )
  • Episodes (1959, with Martha Graham)
  • Liebesliederwalzer (1960 )
  • Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960 )
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream ( 1962)
  • Bugaku (1963 )
  • Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1963 )
  • Don Quixote (1965 )
  • Harlequinade (1965 )
  • Jewels ( 1967)
  • Who Cares? (1970)
  • Stravinsky Violin Concerto ( 1972)
  • Union Jack (1976 )
  • Vienna Waltzes (1977 )
  • Ballo della Regina (1978 )
  • No chamber music. 2 (1978)
  • Ballad (1978 )
  • Robert Schumann Davidsbündlertänze (1980 )
  • Walpurgisnacht Ballet ( 1980)
  • Variations for Orchestra (1982 )
Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) John Taras Integrated Authority File
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