George Balanchine was the Russian-American choreographer who revolutionized 20th-century ballet by fusing classical technique with modernist abstraction, creating a distinctly American neoclassical vocabulary that remains the foundation of contemporary dance.
Defining moments and milestones
Balanchine's artistic trajectory traced a path from Imperial Russian classicism through European modernism to American innovation. Beginning as a dancer and choreographer at the Mariinsky Theatre, he found his true voice during his thirteen-year association with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, where he absorbed the avant-garde ferment of 1920s Europe and created works of startling originality. His emigration to America in 1933 marked the beginning of his most fertile period: founding New York City Ballet in 1948, he spent the next three and a half decades constructing a body of work—from plotless symphonic ballets to witty, music-driven miniatures—that redefined what ballet could express and how dancers could move.
Founded New York City Ballet (1948) and served as its Ballet Master in Chief for 35 years, creating over 400 original choreographic works that established neoclassical ballet as the dominant aesthetic of the late 20th century
Imperial Ballet School, Saint Petersburg (graduated 1921)
A chronological journey through key moments
Recordings featuring George Balanchine, George Balanchine, Alexei Ratmansky in the Society index
Additional recordings will appear here as the catalog expands.