What is George Balanchine?
{{Infobox person | name = George Balanchine | image = G. Balanchine (young).jpg | birth_name = Giorgi Balanchivadze | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|1|22}} | birth_place = [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], Russia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|4|30|1904|1|22}} | death_place = [[New York City]] | occupation = [[choreographer]], actor, director | years_active = 1929–1983 | spouse = Tamara Geva (1921–1926)<br>Vera Zorina (1938–1946)<br>Maria Tallchief (1946–1952)<br>Tanaquil LeClercq (1952–1969) | awards = [[Légion d'honneur]] (1975) [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (1983) }} [[Image:New York State Theater by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|230px|Architect [[Philip Johnson]] designed the [[David H. Koch Theater|New York State Theater]] to Balanchine's specifications.]] '''George Balanchine''' ([[Saint Petersburg]], January 22, 1904 – [[New York City|New York]], April 30, 1983) was a ballet dancer and choreographer. His father was [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] and his mother [[Russians|Russian]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05EEDB1438F93AA15755C0A9629C8B63|title=Georgia troupe joins tribute to Balanchine|publisher=NY Times|author=Anna Kisselgoff|date=June 29, 2004|accessdate=July 17, 2012}}</ref> He was one of the 20th century's most famous [[choreographer]]s. He developed over 200 ballets,<ref name=Crane>Crane, Debra and Mackrell, Judith 2000. ''The Oxford dictionary of dance''. Oxford University Press. p39</ref> mostly in the United States. He was the co-founder and balletmaster of the [[New York City Ballet]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Horowitz|date=2008|url=http://josephhorowitz.com/content.asp?elemento_id=58|title=''Artists in exile: how refugees from twentieth-century war and revolution transformed the American performing arts''|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-074846-3|access-date=2011-08-15|archive-date=2015-05-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505132351/http://josephhorowitz.com/content.asp?elemento_id=58|url-status=dead}}</ref