Among the stories about Russian emigrants, Sergei Dovlatov also has an anecdote about how Balanchine did not want to write a will, and when he did write it, he left a couple of gold watches to his brother in Georgia, and gave away all his ballets to eighteen beloved women. All ballets are 425 works.
Georgy Balanchivadze was born in St. Petersburg on January 22, 1904 in the family of the famous Georgian composer, founder of Georgian opera and romance, Meliton Balanchivadze (1862-1937), who was then called the “Georgian Glinka”. His brother Andrei Balanchivadze is also a talented composer.
In 1914, Georgy entered the Petrograd Theater School. He first appeared on stage in “Sleeping Beauty” - he played the role of little cupid. He later recalled about school:
« We had real classical technology, pure. In Moscow they didn’t teach that way... In Moscow, they increasingly ran around the stage naked, like a candy-bobber, showing their muscles. There was more acrobatics in Moscow. This is not imperial style at all»
Then, at school, he became acquainted with Tchaikovsky's music and fell in love with it for the rest of his life.He was a diligent student and, after graduating from school, in 1921 he was accepted into the troupe of the Petrograd State Theater Opera and Ballet (formerly Mariinsky). Having become one of the organizers of the Young Ballet group in the early 1920s, Balanchivadze staged his numbers there, which he performed together with other young artists. Life was not easy - we often went hungry.
In 1924, with the assistance of singer V.P. Dmitriev's group of dancers received permission to go on a European tour. Balanchivadze firmly decided that he would not return back. There were four of them - Tamara Dzhiva, Alexandra Danilova, Georgy Balanchine and Nikolai Efimov, they desperately wanted to see the world, they drove all over Europe.
Diaghilev saw them in London.Georgy Balanchivadze was lucky: Diaghilev himself, the famous avant-garde entrepreneur, paid attention to him. He became the next, after Bronislava Nijinska, choreographer of the Sergei Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe. Diaghilev changed his name - this is how the choreographer Balanchine appeared.
He staged ten ballets for Diaghilev, including Apollo Musagete to the music of Igor Stravinsky (1928), which, along with The Prodigal Son to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, is considered a masterpiece of neoclassical choreographyand today. A long-term creative collaboration between Balanchine and Stravinsky began and Balanchine’s creative credo was voiced: “See the music, hear the dance.”
During one of the performances, Balanchine injured his knee. This circumstance limited his capabilities as a dancer, but gave him free time to practice choreography. He developed a taste for teaching and realized that this was his true calling. Returning to Paris in 1933, he founded his own company. Artistic directors there were Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In collaboration with them, Balanchine created a ballet of the 20th century.
Balanchine once found his graduation symphony in a Paris library. young Georges Bizet and casually, filling the forced gap, putin 1935a simple, unpretentious ballet “Symphony C”, which, as it turned out later, became one of his masterpieces. When Balanchine was invited to the Paris Grand Opera in 1947, he chose this piece for his debut entitled “The Crystal Palace”. The success was enormous. After this, in 1948, Balanchine moved the production to New York, and since then it has not left the stage of the New York City Ballet.
After Diaghilev's death in 1929, the Russian Ballet began to disintegrate, and Balanchine left it. He worked first in London, thenguest choreographerin Copenhagen. Returning for some time to the New Russian Ballet, which settled in Monte Carlo, he choreographed several numbers for Tamara Tumanova. SoonBalanchineleft, deciding to organize his own troupe - “Les Ballets 1933”. Over the several months of the troupe's existence, several successful productions were staged to the music of Darius Milhaud, Kurt Weill, and Henri Sauguet. Seeing them, the famous American philanthropist Lincoln Kirstein suggested that Balanchine move to the United States to create the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet troupe, and Balanchine agreed.
Boston multimillionaire Kirstein was obsessed with ballet. He had a dream - to create an American ballet school, and on its basis - an American ballet company. In the person of the young, searching, talented, ambitious Balanchine, Kirstein found a person capable of making his dream come true.
In 1933, Balanchine moved to the United States. Here began the longest and most brilliant period of his activity. The choreographer literally started from scratch. George Balanchine's first project at the new location was the opening ballet school. With financial support from Kirstein and Edward Warberg, the School of American Ballet admitted its first students on January 2, 1934. Balanchine's first ballet was Serenade to music by Tchaikovsky.
Then the professional troupe “American Ballet” was created. They danced first at the Metropolitan Opera from 1935 to 1938, then toured as an independent group. In 1936, Balanchine staged the ballet Murder on Tenth Avenue. The first reviews were scathing. Balanchine remained unperturbed; he believed in the success that came after a decade of hard work: constant admiration from the press, a multimillion-dollar grant from the Ford Foundation, and a portrait of Balanchine on the cover of Time magazine. And most importantly - crowded halls at the performances. George Balanchine became the recognized head of American ballet, a tastemaker, and one of the leaders of neoclassicism in art.
In 1940, Balanchine became a US citizen. In 1941, he created two of his most famous performances for the Latin American tour of the American troupe “American Balle Caravan” - “Balle Imperial” to the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky and “Concerto Baroque” to the music of I.S. Bach. In 1944 and 1946, Balanchine collaborated with the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo.
George Balanchine and Arthur Mitchell
In 1946, Balanchine and Kirstein founded the Ballet Society. In 1948, Balanchine was offered to lead this troupe as part of the New York Center for Music and Drama. The Ballet Society became the New York City Ballet.
It would seem that Balanchine, who was brought up on the classical ballet repertoire and received a classical musical education, should be closer to Tchaikovsky than, say, Paul Hindemith. However, the circle of his favorite composers was wide. It included Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Bach, Mozart and Gluck, Ravel and Bizet, Bernstein and Gold, Gershwin and Hindemith, the author of the music “The Four Temperaments” for the opening of the “Ballet Society”.
Music meant more to Balanchine than a framework for choreography. Music gave impetus. Until he “saw” the music, he did not start working. He did not accept any pre-ordered plots: music decided everything. Balanchine read the clavier from the sheet and immediately saw whether it was his music. Music education George Balanchine allowed him to find contact with composers and make his own adjustments to the orchestrations. The speed with which he staged his ballets largely depended on his ability to quickly read the clavier.
In the 1950s and 1960s, a number of successful productionsBalanchine, including Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, which is shown annually at Christmas.
As Maurice Bejart aptly put it, Balanchine “carried into the era of interplanetary travel the aroma of courtly dances that decorated the courts of Louis XIV and Nicholas II with their garlands.” He returned to ballet stage pure dance, pushed into the background by plot ballets.
Balanchine died in New York on April 30, 1983. Five months after his death, the George Balanchine Foundation was founded in New York. Presenters American newspapers, who rarely agree with each other on anything, unanimously ranked Balanchine among the three greatest creative geniuses twentieth century; the other two are Picasso and Stravinsky...
http://www.belcanto.ru/
(divorce), Vera Zorina (divorce), Maria Tallchief (divorce), Tanakil LeClerc (divorce)
Biography
George Balanchine (born George Balanchine; born Georgy Melitonovich Balanchivadze, Georgian ; 1904 -1983) - an outstanding choreographer of Russian-Georgian origin, who laid the foundation for American ballet and modern neoclassical ballet art in general.
Early years
Georgy Balanchivadze was born into the family of the Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze (1862-1937), one of the founders of modern Georgian musical culture. Georgy Balanchivadze's mother is Russian. George's younger brother, Andria, also later became famous composer. George's mother instilled in him a love of art, and in particular, ballet.
In 1913, Balanchivadze was enrolled in the ballet school at the Mariinsky Theater, where he studied with Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov. After October Revolution the school was disbanded, and he had to earn a living as a pianist. Soon the school was reopened (its funding, however, was significantly cut), and in 1921, after graduating from it, Balanchivadze entered the ballet class of the Petrograd Conservatory, where he also studied piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony and composition, and was accepted into the corps de ballet of the State Opera and Ballet Theater.
In 1922, he married fifteen-year-old dancer Tamara Geverzheeva (Geva), daughter of the famous theater figure Levkiy Zheverzheev.
In 1923 he graduated from the conservatory.
Emigration. Paris
While on tour in Germany in 1924, Balanchivadze, along with several other Soviet dancers, decided to stay in Europe and soon found himself in Paris, where he received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev to become a choreographer at the Russian Ballet. On the advice of Diaghilev, the dancer adapted his name to the Western style - George Balanchine.
Balanchine soon became the choreographer of the Russian Ballet, and during 1924-1929 (before Diaghilev's death) he staged nine major ballets and a number of small individual numbers. A serious knee injury prevented him from continuing his career as a dancer, and he completely switched to choreography.
After Diaghilev's death, the Russian Ballet began to disintegrate, and Balanchine left it. He worked first in London, then in Copenhagen, where he was a guest choreographer. Having returned for some time to the New Russian Ballet, which settled in Monte Carlo, and choreographed several numbers for Tamara Tumanova, Balanchine soon left it again, deciding to organize his own troupe - “Ballet 1933” (Les Ballets 1933). The troupe existed for only a few months, but during this time it held a festival in Paris with the same name and carried out several successful productions to the music of Darius Milhaud, Kurt Weill (“The Seven Deadly Sins of the Tradesman” to a libretto by B. Brecht), and Henri Sauguet.
After one of these performances, the famous American philanthropist Lincoln Kirstein invited Balanchine to move to the USA and found a ballet troupe there. The choreographer agreed and in October 1933 moved to the USA.
Balanchine's first project in the new location was the opening of a ballet school. With financial support from Kirstein and Edward Warberg, the School of American Ballet accepted its first students on January 2, 1934. A year later, Balanchine founded a professional troupe, the American Ballet, which first performed at the Metropolitan Opera, then toured as an independent group, and disbanded in the mid-1940s.
Balanchine's new troupe, the Ballet Society, was re-established with the generous support of Kirstein. In 1948, Balanchine received an invitation to lead this troupe as part of the New York Center for Music and Drama. The Ballet Society becomes the New York City Ballet.
In the 1950s - 1960s, Balanchine staged a number of successful productions, including Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the performance of which became a Christmas tradition in the United States.
Personal life
In 1921, Balanchine married 16-year-old ballerina Tamara Geverzheeva. However, after 5 years he divorced her. He then had close relationships with ballerinas Alexandra Danilova (1926-1933) and then Tamara Tumanova.
He also married and divorced 3 times, always to ballerinas and dancers. His wives were: Vera Zorina (1938-1946), Maria Tallchief (1946-1952) and Tanaquil LeClerc (1952-1969). He had no children from any of his marriages, nor from extramarital affairs, of which he also had many.
Demise
Since the late 1970s, the choreographer began to show signs of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which was diagnosed only after his death. He began to lose his balance while dancing, then progressively lost his vision and hearing. In 1982, he finally fell ill. IN recent years Balanchine also suffered from frequent sore throats and underwent bypass surgery.
Balanchine died in 1983 and was buried in Oakland Cemetery in New York according to Orthodox rites. One of his wives, Alexandra Danilova, was subsequently buried there.
Balanchine's innovation
Balanchine's repertoire as a choreographer includes productions of various genres. He created the two-act ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (music by F. Mendelssohn, 1962) and the three-act “Don Quixote” by N. D. Nabokov (1965), new editions of old ballets or individual ensembles from them: one-act version “ Swan Lake"(1951) and "The Nutcracker" (1954) by Tchaikovsky, variations from "Raymonda" by A.K. Glazunov (1961), "Coppelia" by L. Delibes (1974). However, the greatest development in his work was given to plotless ballets, which used music that was often not intended for dance: suites, concerts, instrumental ensembles, and less often symphonies. The content of the new type of ballet created by Balanchine is not a presentation of events, not the experiences of the characters, and not a stage spectacle (the scenery and costumes play a role subordinate to the choreography), but a dance image, stylistically corresponding to the music, growing from musical image and interacting with it. Constantly relying on the classical school, Balanchine discovered new possibilities contained in this system, developed and enriched it.
About 30 productions were carried out by Balanchine to the music of Stravinsky, with whom he was in close friendship since the 1920s throughout his life (“Orpheus”, 1948; “Firebird”, 1949; “Agon”, 1957; “Capriccio”, included under the title “Rubies” in the ballet “Jewels”, 1967; “Concerto for Violin”, 1972, etc.). He repeatedly turned to the work of Tchaikovsky, whose music was used for the ballets “Third Suite” (1970), “Sixth Symphony” (1981), etc. At the same time, he was also close to the music of modern composers, for which it was necessary to look for a new style of dance : “The Four Temperaments” (music by P. Hindemith, 1946), “Ivesiana” (music by C. Ives, 1954), “Episodes” (music by A. Webern, 1959).
Balanchine retained the form of a plotless ballet based on classical dance even when he was looking for national or everyday character in the ballet, creating, for example, the image of cowboys in the “Symphony of the Far West” (music by H. Kay, 1954) or a large American city in the ballet “ Who cares? (music by J. Gershwin, 1970). Here classical dance appeared enriched by everyday, jazz, sports vocabulary and rhythmic patterns.
Along with ballets, Balanchine staged many dances in musicals and films, especially in the 1930-1950s (the musical “On Pointe!”, 1936, etc.), opera performances: “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by M. I. Glinka, 1962 and 1969).
Balanchine's ballets are performed in all countries of the world. He had a decisive influence on the development of 20th century choreography, not breaking with traditions, but boldly updating them. The influence of his work on Russian ballet intensified after his troupe’s tours in the USSR in 1962 and 1972.
Did you know that
Balanchine loved to do his own laundry (there was a small washing machine in the apartment) and iron his shirts. By his own admission, he did most of the work while ironing.
In 1988, Balanchine was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Balanchine believed that in ballet the plot is not at all important, the main thing is only the music and the movement itself: “You need to discard the plot, do without scenery and lush costumes. The dancer's body is his main instrument, it should be visible. Instead of scenery, there is a change of light... That is, dance expresses everything with the help of music alone.”
Director
Filmography
Works in the theater
Ballets staged by Balanchine as a choreographer (incomplete list):
Ballets choreographed for the New York City Ballet:
1982 Elegy / Élégie
1981 Mozartiana (P. Tchaikovsky) / Mozartiana
1981 Hungarian Gypsy Airs
1981 Garland Dance from The Sleeping Beauty (P. Tchaikovsky)
1980 Walpurgisnacht / Walpurgisnacht Ballet
1980 Dances of the Davidsbündlertänze (R. Schumann) / Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze
1980 Ballade
1979 The tradesman in vdoranism / Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
1978 Kammermusik No. 2
1978 Ballo della Regina
1977 Viennese waltzes/ Vienna Waltzes
1977 Etude for Piano
1976 Union Jack
1976 Chaconne
1975 Gypsies (Ravel) / Tzigane
1975 The Steadfast Tin Soldier
1975 Sonatine (Ravel)
1975 Pavane (Ravel)
1975 Le tombeau de Couperin (Ravel)
1974 Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir
1974 Coppélia
1973 Cortege Hongrois
1972 Symphony in Three Movements (I. Stravinsky)
1972 Stravinsky Violin Concerto (I. Stravinsky)
1972 Scherzo à la Russe (I. Stravinsky)
1972 Pulcinella (I. Stravinsky) / Pulcinella
1972 Duo Concertant (I. Stravinsky)
1972 Divertimento from “Le Baiser De La Fée” (I. Stravinsky)
1970 Who cares? (J. Gershwin) / Who Cares?
1970 Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
1968 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
1968 La Source
1967 Valse-Fantaisie
1967 Jewels: Rubies, Emeralds, Diamonds
1967 Divertimento Brillante
1966 Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet
1965 Harlequinade
1965 Don Quixote
1964 Tarantella
1964 Clarinade
1963 Movements for Piano and Orchestra
1963 Bugaku 1963 Meditation
1962 A Midsummer Night's Dream
1961 Raymonda Variations
1960 Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
1960 Monumentum pro Gesualdo
1960 Liebeslieder Walzer
1960 Donizetti Variations
1959 Episodes
1958 Stars and Stripes
1958 Gounod Symphony
1957 Square Dance
1957 Agon
1956 Divertimento No. 15
1956 Allegro Brillante
1955 Pas de Trois (Glinka)
1955 Pas de Dix
1954 Symphony of the Far West (H. Kay) / Western Symphony
1954 The Nutcracker (P. Tchaikovsky) / The Nutcracker
1954 Ivesiana
1952 Scotch Symphony
1952 Metamorphoses
1952 Harlequinade Pas de Deux
1952 Concertino
1951 Swan Lake (P. Tchaikovsky) / Swan Lake act II
1951 La Valse
1951 A La Françaix
1950 Sylvia Pas de Deux
1949 The Firebird (I. Stravinsky) / The Firebird
1949 Bourrée fantasque
1948 Pas de Trois (Minkus)
1948 Orpheus
1947 Theme and Variations (P. Tchaikovsky) / Theme and Variations
1947 Symphony in C
1947 Symphonie Concertante
1947 Haieff Divertimento
1946 4 temperaments (P. Hindemith) / The Four Temperaments
1946 La Sonnambula
1941 Concerto Barocco
1941 Ballet Imperial
1937 Jeu de cartes
1935 Serenade (P. Tchaikovsky) / Serenade
1929 Prodigal Son
1929 Le Bal
1928 Apollo
For the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo
1946 The Night Shadow
1946 Raymonda / Raymonda
1946 Night shadow/La Sonnambula
1945 Pas de deux (Grand Adagio)
1944 Song of Norway
1944 Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
1944 and 1972 Danses concertantes
1941 Balustrade
1932 Cotillon
1932 Concurrence
For the Diaghilev Russian Ballet, Paris
1929 Prodigal son(S. Prokofiev) / Le Fils prodigue
1929 Ball (V. Rietti) / Le Bal
1928 Beggar Gods (Handel) / Les Dieux mendiants
1928 Apollon Musagete (I. Stravinsky) / Apollon musagète
1927 The Triumph of Neptune (Lord Bernes) / Le Triomphe de Neptune
1927 Koshcheka (A.Soge) / La Chatte
1926 Pastorale (J. Auric) / Pastorale
1926 Jack in the Box (E. Satie)
1926 Barabau (V. Rietti) / Barabau
1925 Song of the Nightingale (I. Stravinsky)/ Le Chant du rossignol
Balanchine's anniversary was celebrated in Russia Mariinsky Theater, which presented Balanchine’s ballet “Jewels,” and the Moscow gallery “Nashchokin’s House,” which opened an exhibition of photographer Paul Kolnik, who photographed Balanchine’s performances at the New York City Ballett for 30 years.
The phrase “I will live to be a hundred years old” appears in Sergei Dovlatov’s book “Not Only Brodsky.” Among the stories about Russian emigrants, Dovlatov also has an anecdote about how Balanchine did not want to write a will, and when he did write it, he left a couple of gold watches to his brother in Georgia, and gave away all his ballets to eighteen beloved women. All ballets are 425 works. A number that defies comprehension. This is not even 150 ballets by Roland Petit, who likes to say that he is more prolific than Picasso. This is a colossal heritage, of which the average person knows two or three names ("Apollo", "Crystal Palace" and, perhaps, "The Prodigal Son"), and specialists know several dozen. Even his home theater, the New York City Ballett, which restored a hundred titles in 2004, will not be able to show everything that Balanchine composed during the anniversary year.
Georgy Melitonovich Balanchivadze, who received the name Balanchine thanks to Diaghilev, with whom he staged his first masterpieces after he left Russia on tour in 1924 and never returned, was prolific both by God’s will and because he was often forced to simply earn money for life. In difficult times, he staged in Hollywood, did revues, and catered for various shows and musicals. He even staged it at the circus. There is also a wonderful anecdote about this, but this time in Solomon Volkov’s book “The Tchaikovsky Passion. Conversations with George Balanchine.” The choreographer ordered a polka from Stravinsky. "And who is polka for?" - asked the composer. “For the elephant,” Balanchine replied. Having specified whether the “ballerina” was young or old, the composer wrote a polka with a dedication: “For the young ballerina of the elephant.”
Anecdotes that are no less about Balanchine than about Diaghilev and Nijinsky, Brodsky and Baryshnikov
e, is a sign that the great American choreographer, who adapted Russian classics for a great and naive nation regarding ballet, remained in our consciousness and our perception as a Russian emigrant. That is, “ours” - despite all the Americanisms of his ballet speech. This circumstance for a long time prevented his ballets from being staged in Soviet Russia, the same circumstance in the post-perestroika era created the cult of Balanchine - the great, incomprehensible, whose dance, due to its incredible complexity, is difficult, but necessary. In order not to be left behind, in order to join the heritage that was inherited not only by our beloved ballerinas, but also by the whole world.
The time for a sober attitude towards Balanchine has not yet come - it will come when his ballets become part of the repertoire of at least a dozen Russian theaters, and the public will learn five or six more titles. Then, perhaps, the sacred awe before the term “Balanchine’s neoclassicism” will be replaced by a calm attitude towards the greatest of the artisans of the 20th century, who, as Bejart aptly put it, “transferred into the era of interplanetary travel the aroma of courtly dances that decorated the courts of Louis XIV and Nicholas II with their garlands.”
If you look at the map of anniversary celebrations published by the New York City Ballett, you can see that from December to February alone, more than thirty theaters around the world perform his ballets. There are hundreds of titles. The January calendar also includes the Mariinsky Theater - the most reverent of the Russian contenders for the legacy of the choreographer, who began his career in St. Petersburg. Today, January 22, they are performing “Jewels” here: a ballet in which Balanchine thanks and glorifies three schools, three countries that nurtured him: France (“Emeralds”), America (“Rubies”) and Russia (“Diamonds”)
George Balanchine (real name Georgy Melitonovich Balanchivadze) (1904-1983) - American choreographer and choreographer. Zodiac sign - Aquarius.
Son of the Georgian composer Meliton Antonovich Balanchivadze. In 1921-1924 in Academic Theater opera and ballet in Petrograd. Since 1924 he lived and worked abroad. Organizer and director of the School of American Ballet (1934) and, based on it, the American Ballet troupe (since 1948 New York City Ballet). The creator of a new direction in classical ballet 20th century, which largely determined the development of US choreographic theater.
Family, study and first productions of D. Balanchine
George Balanchine was born on January 23 (January 10, old style) 1904 in St. Petersburg. The future choreographer and choreographer came from a family of musicians: his father, Meliton Antonovich Balanchivadze (1862/63-1937), was a Georgian composer, People's Artist Georgia (1933). One of the founders of the Georgian professional music. Opera “Tamara the Insidious” (1897; 3rd edition called “Darejan the Insidious”, 1936), the first Georgian romances, etc. Brother: Andrei Melitonovich Balanchivadze (1906-1992) - composer, People's Artist of the USSR (1968), Hero Socialist Labor (1986).
In 1914-1921, George Balanchine studied at the Petrograd Theater School, and in 1920-1923 also at the Conservatory. Already put it in school dance numbers and composed music. Upon graduation, he was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Petrograd Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1922-1924 he choreographed dances for artists united in the experimental group “Young Ballet” (“Valse Triste”, music by Jean Sibelius, “Orientalia” by Cesar Antonovich Cui, dances in a stage interpretation of Alexander Alexandrovich Blok’s poem “The Twelve” with the participation of students of the Living Institute Words). In 1923 he choreographed dances in the opera “The Golden Cockerel” by Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov in Maly opera house and in the plays “Eugen the Unfortunate” by Ernst Toller and “Caesar and Cleopatra” by Bernard Shaw.
In the troupe of S. P. Diaghilev
In 1924, D. Balanchine toured in Germany as part of a group of artists who in the same year were accepted into the troupe of Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev's Russian Ballet. Here Balanchine composed ten ballets and dances in many operas of the Monte Carlo Theater in 1925-1929. Among the works of this period are performances of different genres: the crude farce “Barabau” (music by V. Rieti, 1925), a performance stylized as the English pantomime “The Triumph of Neptune” [music by Lord Berners (J. H. Turwith-Wilson), 1926], constructive ballet "Cat" French composer Henri Sauguet (1927) and others.
In the ballet “Prodigal Son” by Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (1929), he staged the influence of Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold, choreographer and director N. M. Foregger, Kasyan Yaroslavovich Goleizovsky. For the first time, the features of the future “Balanchine style” emerged in the ballet “Apollo Musagete,” in which the choreographer turned to academic classical dance, updating and enriching it to adequately reveal the neoclassical score of Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky.
Balanchine's life in America
After the death of Diaghilev (1929) D.M. Balanchine worked for revue programs, at the Royal Danish Ballet, and at the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo, founded in 1932. In 1933, he headed the Balle 1933 troupe, whose productions included “The Seven Deadly Sins” (text by Bertolt Brecht, music by K. Weill) and “The Wanderer” (music by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert). In the same year, at the invitation of the American art lover and philanthropist L. Kerstein, he moved to America.
In 1934, George Balanchine, together with Kerstein, organized the School of American Ballet in New York and, on its basis, the American Ballet troupe, for which he created Serenade (music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; revised in 1940 - one of the most famous ballets choreographer), "The Fairy's Kiss" and "The Game of Cards" by Stravinsky (both 1937), as well as two of the most famous ballets from his repertoire - "Concerto Baroque" to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1940) and "Balle Imperiale" to the music of Tchaikovsky ( 1941). The troupe, which after a series of renamings received the name “New York City Balle” (since 1948), was led by Balanchine until the end of his days, and over the years it performed about 150 of his works.
By the 1960s, it became obvious that, thanks to Balanchine, the United States had its own national classical ballet troupe and a repertoire known throughout the world, and a national style of performance was formed at the School of American Ballet.
Innovation by George Balanchine
Balanchine's repertoire as a choreographer includes productions of various genres. He created the two-act ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (music by Felix Mendelssohn, 1962) and the three-act “Don Quixote” by N. D. Nabokov (1965), new editions of old ballets or individual ensembles from them: a one-act version of “Swan Lake” (1951 ) and “The Nutcracker” (1954) by Tchaikovsky, variations from “Raymonda” by the Russian composer Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1961), “Coppelia” by Leo Delibes (1974). However, the greatest development in his work was given to plotless ballets, which used music that was often not intended for dance: suites, concerts, instrumental ensembles, and less often symphonies. The content of the new type of ballet created by Balanchine is not a presentation of events, not the experiences of the characters, and not a stage spectacle (the scenery and costumes play a role subordinate to the choreography), but a dance image that stylistically corresponds to the music, growing out of the musical image and interacting with it. Constantly relying on the classical school, D. Balanchine discovered new possibilities contained in this system, developed and enriched it.
About 30 productions were performed by George Balanchine to the music of Stravinsky, with whom he had a close friendship from the 1920s throughout his life (Orpheus, 1948; Firebird, 1949; Agon, 1957; Capriccio ”, included under the title “Rubies” in the ballet “Jewels”, 1967; “Concerto for Violin”, 1972, etc.). He repeatedly turned to the work of Tchaikovsky, to whose music the ballets “Third Suite” (1970), “Sixth Symphony” (1981), etc. were staged. At the same time, music was also close to him contemporary composers, for which it was necessary to look for a new dance style: “The Four Temperaments” (music by the German composer Paul Hindemith, 1946), “Ivesiana” (music by Charles Ives, 1954), “Episodes” (music by the Austrian composer and conductor Anton von Webern, 1959) .
Balanchine retained the form of a plotless ballet based on classical dance even when he was looking for national or everyday character in the ballet, creating, for example, the image of cowboys in the “Symphony of the Far West” (music by H. Kay, 1954) or a large American city in the ballet “ Who cares? (music by George Gershwin, 1970). Here classical dance was enriched by everyday, jazz, sports vocabulary and rhythmic patterns.
Along with ballets, Balanchine staged many dances in musicals and films, especially in the 1930-1950s (the musical “On Pointe!”, 1936, etc.), opera performances: “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, 1962 and 1969).
Balanchine's ballets are performed in all countries of the world. He had a decisive influence on the development of 20th century choreography, not breaking with traditions, but boldly updating them. The influence of his work on Russian ballet intensified after his company's tours in the USSR in 1962 and 1972.
George Balanchine died on April 30, 1983 in New York. Buried in Oakland Cemetery, New York.
Source - Composition by Balanchine George, Mason Francis. One hundred and one stories about big ballet/ Translation from English - M.: KRON-PRESS, 2000. - 494 p. - 6000 copies. - ISBN 5-23201119-7.
, Ballet teacher
George Balanchine (real name Georgy Melitonovich Balanchivadze) (1904-1983) - American choreographer and choreographer. Son of the Georgian composer Meliton Antonovich Balanchivadze. In 1921-1924 at the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Petrograd. Since 1924 abroad. Organizer and director of the School of American Ballet (1934) and, based on it, the American Ballet troupe (since 1948 New York City Ballet). The creator of a new direction in classical ballet of the 20th century, which largely determined the development of US choreographic theater.
In my time, there was a joke in St. Petersburg: a student was asked how many symphonies Tchaikovsky wrote; the student answers: “Three - Fourth, Fifth and Sixth.”
Balanchine George
Family, study and first productions of D. Balanchine
George Balanchine was born on January 9 (January 22), 1904, in St. Petersburg. The future choreographer and choreographer came from a family of musicians: his father, Meliton Antonovich Balanchivadze (1862/63-1937), was a Georgian composer, People's Artist of Georgia (1933). One of the founders of Georgian professional music. Opera “Tamara the Insidious” (1897; 3rd edition called “Darejan the Insidious”, 1936), the first Georgian romances, etc. Brother: Andrei Melitonovich Balanchivadze (1906-1992) - composer, People's Artist of the USSR (1968), Hero of the Socialist Labor (1986).
In 1914-1921, George Balanchine studied at the Petrograd Theater School, and in 1920-1923 also at the Conservatory. Already at school he choreographed dance numbers and composed music. Upon graduation, he was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Petrograd Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1922-1924 he choreographed dances for artists united in the experimental group “Young Ballet” (“Valse Triste”, music by Jean Sibelius, “Orientalia” by Cesar Antonovich Cui, dances in a stage interpretation of Alexander Alexandrovich Blok’s poem “The Twelve” with the participation of students of the Living Institute Words). In 1923, he choreographed dances in the opera The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov at the Maly Opera Theater and in the plays Eugen the Unfortunate by Ernst Toller and Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw.
Stupid people love to laugh, that in the opera they sing: “we run, we run,” but no one runs away from the stage. If anyone wants to watch them run, he should go to the stadium, not to the opera.
Balanchine George
In the troupe of S. P. Diaghilev
In 1924, D. Balanchine toured in Germany as part of a group of artists who in the same year were accepted into the troupe of Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev's Russian Ballet. Here Balanchine composed ten ballets and dances in many operas of the Monte Carlo Theater in 1925-1929. Among the works of this period are performances of different genres: the crude farce “Barabau” (music by V. Rieti, 1925), a performance stylized as the English pantomime “The Triumph of Neptune” [music by Lord Berners (J. H. Turwith-Wilson), 1926], the constructive ballet “Cat” by the French composer Henri Sauguet (1927), etc. In the ballet “Prodigal Son” by Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (1929), he staged the influence of Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold, choreographer and director N. M. Foregger, Kasyan Yaroslavovich Goleizovsky. For the first time, the features of the future “Balanchine style” emerged in the ballet “Apollo Musagete,” in which the choreographer turned to academic classical dance, updating and enriching it to adequately reveal the neoclassical score of Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky.
A man in ballet is an accompaniment to women's dances.
Balanchine George
Balanchine's life in America
After the death of Diaghilev (1929) D.M. Balanchine worked for revue programs, at the Royal Danish Ballet, and at the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo, founded in 1932. In 1933, he headed the Balle 1933 troupe, whose productions included “The Seven Deadly Sins” (text by Bertolt Brecht, music by K. Weill) and “The Wanderer” (music by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert). In the same year, at the invitation of the American art lover and philanthropist L. Kerstein, he moved to America.
In 1934, George Balanchine, together with Kerstein, organized the School of American Ballet in New York and, on its basis, the American Ballet troupe, for which he created Serenade (music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; in the 1940 edition, one of the most famous ballets choreographer), "The Fairy's Kiss" and "The Game of Cards" by Stravinsky (both 1937), as well as two of the most famous ballets from his repertoire - "Concerto Baroque" to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1940) and "Balle Imperiale" to the music of Tchaikovsky ( 1941). The troupe, which after a series of renamings received the name “New York City Balle” (since 1948), was led by Balanchine until the end of his days, and over the years it performed about 150 of his works. By the 1960s, it became obvious that, thanks to Balanchine, the United States had its own national classical ballet troupe and a repertoire known throughout the world, and a national style of performance was formed at the School of American Ballet.
To make a good ballet, you need to love beautiful women. Ballet is women's world, in which the man is only the guest of honor.
Balanchine George
Innovation by George Balanchine
Balanchine's repertoire as a choreographer includes productions of various genres. He created the two-act ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (music by Felix Mendelssohn, 1962) and the three-act “Don Quixote” by N. D. Nabokov (1965), new editions of old ballets or individual ensembles from them: a one-act version of “Swan Lake” (1951 ) and “The Nutcracker” (1954) by Tchaikovsky, variations from “Raymonda” by the Russian composer Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1961), “Coppelia” by Leo Delibes (1974). However, the greatest development in his work was given to plotless ballets, which used music that was often not intended for dance: suites, concerts, instrumental ensembles, and less often symphonies. The content of the new type of ballet created by Balanchine is not a presentation of events, not the experiences of the characters, and not a stage spectacle (the scenery and costumes play a role subordinate to the choreography), but a dance image that stylistically corresponds to the music, growing out of the musical image and interacting with it. Constantly relying on the classical school, D. Balanchine discovered new possibilities contained in this system, developed and enriched it.
About 30 productions were performed by George Balanchine to the music of Stravinsky, with whom he had a close friendship from the 1920s throughout his life (Orpheus, 1948; Firebird, 1949; Agon, 1957; Capriccio ”, included under the title “Rubies” in the ballet “Jewels”, 1967; “Concerto for Violin”, 1972, etc.). He repeatedly turned to the work of Tchaikovsky, to whose music the ballets “Third Suite” (1970), “Sixth Symphony” (1981), etc. were staged. At the same time, he was also close to the music of modern composers, for which it was necessary to look for a new style dance: “The Four Temperaments” (music by the German composer Paul Hindemith, 1946), “Ivesiana” (music by Charles Ives, 1954), “Episodes” (music by the Austrian composer and conductor Anton von Webern, 1959). Balanchine retained the form of a plotless ballet based on classical dance even when he was looking for national or everyday character in the ballet, creating, for example, the image of cowboys in the “Symphony of the Far West” (music by H. Kay, 1954) or a large American city in the ballet “ Who cares? (music by George Gershwin, 1970). Here classical dance was enriched by everyday, jazz, sports vocabulary and rhythmic patterns.
