George Balanchine(Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze) Birthplace:
St. Petersburg, Russia Creative and experimental choreographer
and dancer considered the most influential figure in 20th-
century dance. Balanchine's career began in Russia, where he was
a student at the Imperial Ballet School. He danced with and
choreographed Diaghilev's Ballets Russes before coming to the
United States, where he became ballet director of the
Metropolitan Opera (1934–37), co-founder with Lincoln Kirstein
of the School of American Ballet (1934) and principal
choreographer of the New York City Ballet. He created more than
200 dances for the NYCB, including Serenade and Don
Quixote.Died: 4/30/1983 Information Please® Database, © 2007
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