George Balanchine (1904-1983)

Palais de cristal
(With Lycette Darsonval in 1947, at the premiere of Palais de cristal at the Paris Opera)


George Balanchine was invited to come to the United States by Lincoln Kirstein. He arrived in October, 1933. Almost his first act was to found the School of American Ballet, which opened on January 1, 1934, with a class of 25. Over the years Balanchine and Kirstein repeatedly tried to start a company, but the school has endured to this day. The school was responsible for the first ballet Balanchine made in America; he choreographed Serenade for his students. Balanchine was to abandon many ballets over the ensuing years, but he never let Serenade drop. If you know that it was written for students to perform, you can see signs of this in the ballet: the steps for the corps are generally simple, and much of the choreography relies on the use of the arms. He had few male dancers, and the ballet is cast mostly for women; the male parts in the ballet are not very demanding. The work is a remarkable _tour de force_, showing how much can be done with such limited means. The ballet was first performed in March, 1935, and the company danced under the name of the American Ballet.

In 1935, it appeared that Balanchine might form an advantageous alliance with the Metropolitan Opera. For various reasons, this did not work out, and 1938 the alliance broke up. In 1941, he choreographed Balustrade, to Stravinsky's violin concerto, for the Original Ballet Russe. He continued to work with the Original Ballet Russe until 1946. In 1941 also a revived American Ballet, under the name of Ballet Caravan, made a good-will tour of South America for the U. S. State Department.

In the 1930s and early 1940s, Balanchine made a name for himself choreographing for musical comedies. He was always a swift and imperturbable worker, and this made him especially valuable on Broadway. He revolutionized musical-comedy dancing, particularly by making the action of the dance carry the plot forward. (It is worth noting that Noverre, in 1761, urged choreographers for opera to do this.)

The New York City Ballet started out as Ballet Society, the last (and finally successful) effort by Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein to found an American company. Ballet Society gave subscription-only performances in 1947 and 1948. In 1948, they were persuaded to give a few performances that would be open to the public. These performances were given at the New York City Center. One evening during the season, Morton Baum, who was chairman of the City Center's finance committee, dropped by to see what was going on. That evening's performance included Orpheus. Baum came out afterward, asked just what Ballet Society was, and said, "I have been in the presence of genius." Baum persuaded the management of the City Center to offer Balanchine's company a permanent home. The company would be named the New York City Ballet, to match the New York City Opera, who already used the Center's facilities. This was the beginning of the New York City Ballet.

The City Center is a shallow auditorium, and very intimate for those of the audience who sit in the first balcony, but for the performers it is cramped and generally uncomfortable. In the early 1960s, it was proposed to include a theater for the New York City companies in the new complex then being built at Lincoln Center. Philip Johnson, the architect, designed the theater with the New York City Ballet in mind, and they were the company who opened the Theater in 1964. They have been the resident company ever since.

(text of Tom Parsons)

Among his ballets for the Ballets Russes : For the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo: For the American Ballet: Some other ballets (for the New York City Ballet when not precised):
Rep Notes for the NYCB repertory.