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3 unusual facts about George Balanchine


Gold and Fizdale

In 1984 they published "The Gold and Fizdale Cookbook" (Random House 1984), which is dedicated to their friend George Balanchine, "In whose kitchen we spent many happy hours..."

They were fixtures in New York's artistic community, being friends with literary and cultural figures such as Truman Capote, James Schuyler, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, among others.

Ruth Sobotka

After studying at the School of American Ballet, Sobotka became a member of George Balanchine's Ballet Society (1946–1948) and its successor the New York City Ballet from 1949 to 1961.


Altin Kaftira

He danced with the Ballet from 1995 on, and from 2000 to 2007 was the Ballet's principal dancer (working with choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Rudi van Dantzig, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and Ted Brandsen), and has danced in almost a dozen George Balanchine ballets.

Anna Grabka

She danced solo and principal roles in ballets by Friderick Ashton, George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, August Bournonville, Jean Coralli/Jules Perrot, John Cranko, Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Kevin Haigen, Leonid Jacobson, Jiri Kilian, Serge Lifar, José Limón, Asaf Messerer, John Neumeier and Marius Petipa.

Annabelle Lyon

Lyon was a member of George Balanchine’s American Ballet, founded by Lincoln Kirstein in 1936, and danced in the original casts of Le baiser de la fée, Jeu de cartes and Serenade.

Carolyn George

She started her professional dance career in 1952 in Broadway musicals and joined New York City Ballet (NYCB) on its European tour that year in George Balanchine's Swan Lake.

Dance Notation Bureau

The DNB has released an online catalog of its Notated Theatrical Dances Collection, including works by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, Bill T. Jones, Doris Humphrey, William Forsythe, José Limón and Laura Dean.

Gloria Contreras Roeniger

She studied dancing under Nelsy Dambré in Mexico from 1946 to 1954, and visited School of American Ballet in New York from 1956 to 1964, where she was taught by Pierre Vladimirov, Felia Doubrovska, Anatole Oboukhoff, Muriel Stuart and George Balanchine.

Irina Golub

In June 2012, Ms. Golub appeared as Hermia in the premiere of the Mariinsky Ballet production of George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, a ballet based on Shakespeare's play with music by Felix Mendelssohn.

Jock Soto

Soto danced the role of a parent in the 1993 film version of The Nutcracker, a version based on the New York City Ballet production choreographed by George Balanchine.

Kim Weild

Among her many collaborators and associates are Anne Bogart (SITI Co.), Diane Paulus, Tina Kronis and Richard Algers, George Balanchine, Caryl Churchill, Max Stafford-Clark, Simon Curtis, André Gregory, Antoinette LaFarge, Judith Malina, Larry Moss, Mike Nichols, George Morrison, Sabrina Peck, Abraham Pulido, Richard Schechner, Paul Sills, Tadashi Suzuki and Robert Wilson.

Les ballet 1933

Les Ballets 1933 was a ballet company started by Boris Kochno and George Balanchine, which Balanchine used to create new works that were completely his own, set to music that no one had yet choreographed.

Louisville Ballet

The Ballet has more than 60 world premieres to its credit with a repertoire of about 150 pieces choreographed by the likes of Sir Frederick Ashton, Erik Bruhn, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, John Cranko, Jack Carter, Kurt Jooss, Choo San Goh, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Eugene Loring, Saeko Ichinohe and Domy Reiter-Soffer, along with Fokine and Bournonville ballets.

Michele Jimenez

She danced main roles in many ballets like:Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Coppelia, Cinderella, Carmen, Don Giovanni, The Nutcracker and in many contemporary pieces from choreographers such as George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Krzysztof Pastor, Septime Webre, Wayne Eagling, Ted Brandsen, Alexei Ratmansky, Mark Morris and Christopher Wheeldon.

New York Theatre Ballet

The roster of New York Theatre Ballet includes choreographers Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Michel Fokine, John Taras, Antony Tudor, Richard Alston and other legendary artists.

Nicholas Magallanes

Along with Jerome Robbins, Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed the New York City Ballet (formerly Ballet Society) in 1948.

Pittsburgh Youth Ballet

The company was honored to receive the licenses and permission from the George Balanchine Trust to perform Serenade, Who Cares?, Tarantella, Dance of the Hours, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, and Valse Fantasie.

Roman Jasinski

In 1933 Jasinski joined the Ballets Russe de Monte-Carlo, where he danced works by the leading choreographers of the time, such as George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine and Bronislava Nijinska.

Rubinald Pronk

Rubinald performed works by choreographers including Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jacopo Godani and Martha Graham.

Sallie Wilson

Sallie Wilson (1932–2008) was a noted ballerina who appeared with New York City Ballet where she danced opposite Martha Graham in the premiere of Graham and George Balanchine's collaboration at NYCB, Episodes in May, 1959, and subsequently with American Ballet Theatre, where she was associated with several ballets created by Antony Tudor.

Simone Orlando

She completed her training at the National Ballet School in Toronto and subsequently joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1989 under the direction of Reid Anderson where she danced a wide range of repertoire from the ballets of John Cranko and Kenneth MacMillan to those of George Balanchine and Glenn Tetley.

Sonia Rodriguez

Rodriguez became a principal dancer in 2000 and in 2005, Suzanne Farrell chose her to dance the lead role of Dulcinea in the world premiere of her re-staging of George Balanchine's Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Walpurgisnacht Ballet

Walpurgisnacht Ballet is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine for a 1975 production of Gounod's 1859 Faust at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra including the additional ballet music from 1869.


see also

Heather Watts

During Ms. Watts's tenure with the company, she had numerous principal roles created for her by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins among others.

Jock Soto

The program featured ballets by five different choreographers: “Dance at the Gym” from Jerome RobbinsWest Side Story Suite, Peter MartinsBarber Violin Concerto, Christopher Wheeldon’s Liturgy, Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Chiaroscuro, and the Royal Navy section of George Balanchine’s Union Jack.