George Balanchine

Choreographer, father of American ballet

1904–1983

George Balanchine (Giorgi Balanchivadze, 1904–1983) was a choreographer of Georgian descent, a reformer of 20th-century ballet. Son of the Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze.

Trained in St Petersburg, he emigrated to the West and in the US, with Lincoln Kirstein, founded the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet. Creator of neoclassical «plotless» ballet, his «Apollo», «Serenade» and «Jewels» became the foundation of American choreography.