Biography

Choreographer, Jewels

George Balanchine was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1904. He joined the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in St. Petersburg at the age of 17. In 1924, Balanchine was invited by Serge Diaghilev to join Ballets Russes in Paris and was hired as Ballet Master in 1925. Balanchine formed his own company, Les Ballets 1933, in Paris and shortly thereafter met the dance connoisseur Lincoln Kirstein. In collaboration with Kirstein, Balanchine formed the School of American Ballet and American Ballet, which later became the resident ballet company at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Balanchine was choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1944 to 1946 and in 1946, he formed Ballet Society, which became New York City Ballet in 1948. He held the title of Ballet Master with New York City Ballet until his death in 1983.