“Dance,” George Balanchine defines, “is music made visible.” Having studied piano since the age of five and ballet since nine, he was able to create and understand the profound relationship between dance and music. Having studied at the Conservatory of Music he was able to create choreography that visualized the music, rather than the story. He strongly believed that music should be the primary influence of choreography not the story.
Balanchine’s approach to dance was minimalistic. Dancers performing in practice clothes, a tradition originating from a small budget, became the epitome of Balanchine's style. The reason for his minimalist approach to dance is that he wanted “dance to be the star of the show” (Kisselgoff). So much so that he often choreographed plotless ballets, solely
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Petersburg, Russia. He was the son of a composer Balanchine studied music since he was five years old. His dual education in music and dance began in him a lifelong appreciation for both. When he graduate from the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg he began is education at the Conservatory of Music where he studied piano and musical theory.
Having been a dancer for many years, Balanchine began his career as a choreographer at the Ballets Russes, after impressing Sergei Diaghilev with a staging of Le Chant de Rossignol. After continuing his career throughout Europe in 1933 Balanchine came to America upon the request of Lincoln Kirstein who wanted to open an American ballet school.
They founded a touring ballet company named the American Ballet in 1934. After gaining notoriety for their work the American Ballet was asked to become the Metropolitans Opera’s resident ballet company. From this the New York City Ballet was eventually founded 1948, after years of collaboration between Kirstein and Balanchine. The New York City Ballet became the epicenter of Balanchine’s revolution. He began choreographing in the Neoclassical