George Balanchine
George Balanchine, born Giorgi Melitonis dze Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Georgian parents, was one of the 20th century's foremost choreographers, a pioneer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet: his work created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques. He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky, his contemporary.
“Your eyes is camera and your brain is a file cabinet.”
George Balanchine
“What are you waiting for? What are you saving for? Now is all there is.”
George Balanchine
“The choreographer and the dancer must remember that they reach the audience through the eye. It's the illusion created which convinces the audience, much as it is with the work of a magician”
George Balanchine
“Most ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned.”
George Balanchine
“God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it – from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do...”
George Balanchine
“Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays.”
George Balanchine
“Dancing is music made visible.”
George Balanchine
“I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance”
George Balanchine
“Why are you stingy with yourselves? Why are you holding back? What are you saving for—for another time? There are no other times. There is only now. Right now.”
George Balanchine
“See the music, hear the dance.”
George Balanchine
“Someone once said that dancers work just as hard as policeman, always alert, always tense. But i dont agree with that because policeman don't have to look beautiful at the same time" * ”
George Balanchine