Balanchine, George (1904-1983 )

Russian-born American choreographer, one of the foremost choreographers in the history of ballet, particularly in the neoclassical style. Balanchine was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He was trained at the Imperial Ballet Academy and studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1925, while touring with his small company, he joined the Ballets Russes of Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, as a choreographer. In 1933 he organized his own group, Les Ballets At the invitation of American ballet patron Lincoln Kirstein, Balanchine moved to New York City in the 1930s, and together they founded the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Company. With Kirstein he also cofounded Ballet Society in 1946, which in 1948 became the New York City Ballet. Under Balanchine's direction, the company became one of the world's great performing groups. He is best known for his plotless ballets, such as The Four Temperaments (1946) and Jewels (1967), which explore pattern and the movement of the human body to music.