George Balanchine
If composers are the masters of time, then the choreographer George Balanchine is the master of visual realization of that time in human terms. A master in both the kinesthetic and musical frames of creativity, he did not devote his energies to music visualization by assigning a certain number of dancers to represent strings, others the brass, and still others woodwinds or percussion but by creating a visual analogy in space that restates the musical structure with the trained dancer's body. He claimed that "Ballet... should not be an illustrator of even...the most substantive of literary sources. It will speak for itself. The ballet is flowers, beauty, poetry...I am, if you please, an advocate of pure art." Balanchine's most intense desire was "to make audiences see music and hear dancing."
Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze was born the second of three children to Meliton Balanchivadze and his wife Marie on January 22,1904 in the village of Banodzha in western Georgia. His older sister was named Tamara and his younger brother, Andrei. Georgi was a very reserved child and never showed his emotions. When he was punished he would hide, afraid someone would see him crying.
When translated, balanchivadze means "jester's son", which always amused Balanchine because his father was a singer and composer, and his mother was a pianist who encouraged the musical development of her children. When Meliton was home from his many tours and study trips he would teach the children to sing, and all three of them took piano lessons. At parties Andrei and Tamara would often dance for the guests but Georgi refused because he hated anything to do with dance and performance.
When she reached the official age for admitt...
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... companies perform at least one Balanchine work. Upon his death, it was written in the New York Review of Books that "George Balanchine liked to say, quoting Mayakovsky, 'I am not a man, but a cloud in trousers.' And now that luminous cloud has floated off, leaving us with a loss far deeper than the grave."
Works Cited:
A Ballet Society Book. Portraits of Mr. B: Photographs of George Balanchine. New York: The Viking Press, 1984.
Buckle, Richard. George Balanchine: Ballet Master. New York: Random House, 1988.
Flatow, Sheryl. "The Balanchine Trust: Guardian of the Legacy". Dance Magazine. December 1990, p 58-61.
McDonagh, Don. George Balanchine. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983.
Reynolds, Nancy. "Balanchine in the USSR: Cultural Revelation". Dance Magazine. January 1994, p 88-90.
Taper, Bernard. Balanchine: A Biography. New York: Times Books, 1984.
Another feature in his works was simplicity. For example, in 1977, in one of his productions called ‘Curious Schools of Theatrical Dancing: Part 1.’ This is reflected in costume, props and choice of music. He did not use any props but the production was effective in the choice of costume being a simple black and white unitard with big stripes going diagonally over his body. In this p...
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Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
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