Balanchine's Biggest Contributions to the World of Dance

Balanchine himself wrote,

"We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it is one of the great arts. . . . The important thing in ballet is the movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle . . . is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer must remember that they reach the audience through the eye. It's the illusion created which convinces the audience, much as it is with the work of a magician."

In 1970, U.S. News and World Report attempted to summarize Balanchine's achievements as: "The greatest choreographer of our time, George Balanchine is responsible for the successful fusion of modern concepts with older ideas of classical ballet and the free-flowing U.S. dance forms stimulated him to develop new techniques in dance design and presentation, which have altered the thinking of the world of dance."

Often George was known for working with modern music and the simplest of themes, he has created ballets that are celebrated for their imagination and originality. His company, the New York City Ballet, is the leading dance group of the United States and one of the great companies of the world. An essential part of the success of Balanchine's group has been the training of his dancers, which he has supervised since the founding of his School of American Ballet in 1934. Balanchine chose to shape talent locally, and he has said that the basic structure of the American dancer was responsible for inspiring some of the striking lines of his compositions. Balanchine is not only gifted in creating entirely new productions, his choreography for classical works has been equally fresh and inventive. He has made American dance the most advanced and richest in choreographic development in the world today.

**A fun quote posted by The Washington Post claims: "Balanchine is to ballet, what Tiger Woods is to golf: so far above the competition as to be playing a different game."

To creating a completely new style and form of ballet, to work in films, opera's, broadway, theater, founding a world-reknown Ballet company and school, George Balanchine is a legend and a true master of dance!