2013-14
JOHN NEAR GRANT Recipient
The Role of Musicianship in George Balanchine’s Enduring Impact on American Contemporary Ballet
Angela Ma, Class of 2014
The Role of Musicianship in George Balanchine’s Enduring Impact on American Contemporary Ballet
2014 John Near Scholar
Mr. Marc Hufnagl, Mentor
April 14, 2014
Angela MaAt first glance, George Balanchine appears to have defied all tradition and artistic expectation in the realm of dance. Now hailed as the innovator of American contemporary ballet, he was nevertheless born in St. Petersburg, Russia and trained at the traditionalist governmentsponsored Imperial Ballet School.1 In an era dominated by Marius Petipa’s repetitive, strictly classical story-ballets, Balanchine succeeded, thanks to a rare combination of circumstance, hard work, and talent, all of which eventually informed his philosophy and value system concerning music and dance.2 As a rebellious youth growing up in a gradually modernizing world, Balanchine was often seen as impulsive and at odds with the conventions of his surrounding community in Russia, but it was in fact his unorthodox artistry that drew him towards opportunities in Western Europe, and, most importantly, America.3
Balanchine’s Philosophy of Music and Dance
Balanchine’s feats of choreography are foremost attributed to his comprehensive musical philosophy, which addresses three crucial themes: the choreographer’s dependency on music, the artistic standards that music mandates, and music’s specific influence on the choreographic process and effect. Balanchine was especially outspoken about his reliance on music, explaining that studying the score gave him “certain visualizations” and “vague contours” that then inspired his choreographic process in the studio with his dancers.4 In his appreciation of music, Balanchine even suggested the importance of a metaphysical connection with the composer (“beyond the grave,” if necessary) in order for a choreographer to portray a composition sincerely and aptly with regard to the purpose of the music.5 Most important, however, was Balanchine’s understanding of rhythm and its necessarily dominating influence over the choreographer: “A choreographer can’t invent rhythms.... It is a function of the musical mind.”6
In deeming music the fundamental inspiration for choreography, Balanchine suggested that the creativity of a choreographer is both limited and facilitated by the form and structure of music.
A second component of Balanchine’s musical beliefs was his artistic requirements of the composer. While Balanchine believed fervently in music’s predominant influence over choreography, he did not embrace all music blindly. Rather than restrict his musical taste to a specific genre, he emphasized the presence of a “dynamic use of silence” and an “utmost consciousness of time” in the music he enjoyed.7 Balanchine appreciated composers who expressed authenticity, sensitivity, and dynamism in their work because such qualities enabled him to choreograph purposefully and passionately. By prioritizing music before movement and by recognizing the crucial qualities of pulse and dynamic rhythm in composition, Balanchine set the stage for his choreographing strategy. A final aspect of Balanchine’s musical philosophy, therefore, lies in his self-proclaimed and publicly recognized desire to choreograph the “inevitable.”8 In Balanchine’s perspective, the “inevitable” stems from the singularity and vibrancy of a musical composition: “Not a single fragment of any choreographic score should ever be replaceable by any other fragment; each piece must be unique in itself, the ‘inevitable’ movement.”9 Balanchine strived to choreograph in a manner that was perfectly complementary to and representative of the music. In the context of choreography’s musical dependence and composers’ creative manipulation of rhythm, the “inevitable,” as coined by Balanchine, was the ultimate consummation of music and choreography.
Pre-Professional Experience with Music
Balanchine’s success as a choreographer resulted from his unique combination of inherent musical qualities and acquired musical experiences, including his artistically immersed upbringing, liberal perspective on music, and desire to use classical ballet technique to illustrate
the spirit encapsulated in musical scores. In regard to musicianship, George Balanchine’s extensive musical experience, sensitive appreciation of composition, and use of music to choreograph “the inevitable” afforded him advantageous creative inlets that ultimately differentiated and elevated his choreography.
Balanchine’s musical experience began early as a result of his family and educational background, having grown up in St. Petersburg, Russia during the tsarist regime that subsidized the traditional arts.10 Balanchine’s father, Meliton Balanchivadze, was a relatively well-known composer of Georgian opera while Balanchine’s mother taught her son to play piano proficiently.11 Most influential of all, however, was his brother Andrei Balanchivadze who, though not yet qualified as a teacher or composer, spent countless hours improvising playful melodies together with his younger brother George.12 Andrei, who would later become a composer in his own right, instilled Balanchine with his signature spontaneity in musicianship, indirectly inspiring Balanchine’s on-the-spot, seemingly improvised choreographing technique that translated to the public perception of his choreography as natural and effortless.
Beyond his musical family, Balanchine was inducted into the Imperial Ballet School at the early age of nine and began formally studying music in addition to dance.13 His early exposure to musical theory and instruments (including the French horn, trumpet, violin, and, of course, piano) laid a solid technical foundation for Balanchine’s development as a musician.14 By the age of eighteen, he had composed and choreographed the piece “La Valse,” which perhaps epitomizes Balanchine’s self-sufficiency as both a dancer and musician.15 After perusing his experiences at the Imperial Ballet School, however, there remains the inevitable question: What differentiated and advantaged Balanchine relative to the many other students at the ballet school? This subtle, but crucial query can be partially answered by Balanchine’s additional
experience as a student of the Petrograd Conservatory of Music. After graduating from the Imperial Ballet School and receiving a corps position with the Mariinsky company, Balanchine enrolled at this school dedicated solely to music and concentrated upon his musicianship to such an extent that he seriously considered becoming a professional musician rather than ballet dancer.16 During his time with the conservatory, he found himself particularly captivated by the art of music composition.17 With the additional precedent of his successful composer father, Balanchine spent a precious three years actively cultivating a profound, almost divine appreciation for the work of composers. According to Bernard Taper, “[Balanchine] was sure that the highest seats in heaven were set aside for the great composers” and “would rather have been [a worthwhile composer] than anything else in the world.”18 Thankfully, however, Balanchine was content with allowing his musicianship to influence his choreography, rather than dominate his career completely. Aware that he lacked a substantial future in the field of musical performance and composition, Balanchine settled into his hard-earned profession as a danseur, irreversibly transformed by the musical skill and experience he had gained during his time at the conservatory. Later, in the midst of the celebrated Stravinsky-Balanchine collaborations, Igor Stravinsky keenly justified Balanchine’s adolescent musical sacrifice: “The world is full of pretty good concert pianists but a choreographer such as Balanchine is ... the rarest of beings.”19
Attitude towards Composers and the Art of Composition
As a choreographer for The Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo from 1924 to 1929 and then for The Ballet Society in New York (later known as The New York City Ballet) from 1946 until his death, Balanchine expressed a rare appreciation of a generous spectrum of composers and of the specific art of music composition through his selections of music for choreography.20 In
addition to commissioning new music from composers such as Paul Hindemith and Hershy Kay, Balanchine actively advocated for the work of Igor Stravinsky, recognizing the extent to which Stravinsky embodied the fundamental musical aspects of rhythm and continuity in his work.21
Inspired by Stravinsky, Balanchine viewed music in the most minimalist fashion, paring it down to sound and silence interlocked by rhythm:
In Stravinsky’s music, the dance element of most force is the pulse. It is steady, insistent yet healthy, always reassuring ... Stravinsky’s strict beat is his sign of authority over time ... [A pause, an interruption] acts as a carrying agent from the last sound to the next one. Life goes on within each silence.22
Balanchine’s simplified perspective on music, however, should not be misconstrued with a naiveté of understanding. Rather, his effective expression of musicality in non-technical, colloquial terms suggests that his musicianship transcended the realm of music theory and enabled him to identify with a greater audience and artistic community.
In regards to Stravinsky’s music, Balanchine’s depiction of pulse and silence as practical sources of artistic opportunity offers detailed insight into his unique musical philosophy.
Balanchine acknowledges rhythm’s inevitable dominance in dance, but then goes on to characterize the so-called “pulse” of music in greater detail and profundity. Balanchine describes the musical rhythm as persistently consistent throughout the composition and suggests that the composer derives a crucial sense of power from his control of the musical beat. According to him, rhythm creates a distinctly emotional aura of urgency and fidelity that in turn inspires and facilitates the purpose of movement. In concentrating on the rudiments of music, Balanchine aptly conveys the precise relationship between music and dance in a simple, communicative, which lends greater credence to his musical skill than even his impressively extensive musical
education. The heart of Balanchine’s musicianship lies not in his erudition, but rather in his strategic understanding and application of music knowledge in dance. In specifically highlighting the sound, silence, and transitions inherent in music, Balanchine suggested that dance could emanate from a core of dynamism and simplistic structure similar to that present in music. Just as musical phrasing consists of notes and rests interconnected by rhythm, Balanchine modeled his choreography as physical poses and positions interconnected by the steps of classical ballet. The anatomy of musical scores, especially Stravinsky’s, therefore inspired Balanchine’s insight into the important qualities in choreography. Interestingly, Balanchine’s intensive study of music theory inspired him to develop a particularly straightforward, transparent perspective on music, grounded in the irrefutable fundamentals of musical structure. While his family and education gave him the skills and foundational knowledge to comprehend music, it was in fact Balanchine’s synthesis and application of his musicianship that enabled him to appreciate composition with such intimacy. His characterization of the pulse and silent potential in music reveals the admirable extent of his musicianship, which seems to stem predominantly from his experience choreographing to music such as Stravinsky’s rather than his years of formal musical schooling.
Perspective and Influence on Musical Genres
Balanchine’s generous musical appreciation additionally exposed him to the merits of a wide range of music, ranging from the romanticism of Russian-born Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to the jazz-infused lyricism of American George Gershwin.23 This inclusive appreciation enabled him to create an equally diverse repertoire of dance and therefore appeal to the public with classical, contemporary, and even Broadway pieces.24 Regardless of the emotional type of composition -- popular or serious -- Balanchine’s goal in choreography remained the same: to
portray the structural and emotional nature of music with the fundamental steps of classical ballet.25 His comprehensive taste in music coupled with this simple principle of choreography resulted in a stunning display of art that is perhaps epitomized by The European Festival of The Balanchine Centennial.26 Even among European composers, Balanchine roamed freely and fearlessly, introducing the work of French-born Maurice Ravel in L’Enfant et les Sortileges and choreographing to riveting success Vienna Waltzes by Austrian composer Johann Strauss.27 In terms of genre, Balanchine additionally devoted himself to both “serious contemporary music” and so-called popular music.28 In applying his fundamental theory of music illustration to dance, he aptly impacted each genre of music in a practical way.29 At the time, serious music, such as Stravinsky’s compositions, challenged conventional musical standards of lucidity and was often dismissed as too convoluted and difficult to understand.30 By striving to illustrate the intricate anatomy of the scores through movement, however, Balanchine effectively added a new layer of visual meaning to such works and popularized both his choreography and the music itself among his audience.31 (Indeed, the success of Balanchine’s choreography helped composers such as Stravinsky gain wider recognition among dance audiences.) In choreographing to popular music, Balanchine likewise revealed new ways of interpreting the score by deepening and exploring the meaning of melodies already accepted and appreciated by the public.32 By enlivening music like Who Cares? by Gershwin with the same degree of sensitivity and consciousness as he did with Agon by Stravinsky, Balanchine elevated popular music, which might have otherwise been performed only on Broadway and television, into the realm of “high art.”33 As a result of this revolutionary impact, Balanchine’s catalog of choreography set to both serious and popular music continues to be performed by classical ballet companies globally. Appealing to audiences across two genres of music was no small feat; Balanchine’s ability to overcome society’s
sometimes rigid, purist impressions of balletic music was a personal accomplishment that enabled him to successfully incorporate a greater realm of music in his repertoire. His cultivated, widespread taste in music led him to become a versatile choreographer capable of illustrating both serious and popular music with dance.
Musically Inspired Approach to Choreography
Balanchine’s extensive musical upbringing, liberal appreciation of composers and musical styles, and acute awareness of the artistic potential embedded in music enabled him to develop his unique perspective on the composer-to-choreographer and music-to-movement relationships. For instance, Balanchine understood that complaining about musical dissonance was “merely to express a personal limitation” and to admit defeat when confronted with unfamiliarity and artistic adversity.34 Though he appreciated a generous spectrum of music styles, his approach as a choreographer was, by contrast, universally receptive and simple: “When I do a ballet, I don’t think about happiness or sadness. I think about the composer and his music.”35 Rather than fixate on finding emotion or meaning in his work, Balanchine drew his choreography from the most fundamental motivation for dance: music and its inherent dynamism of rhythm. In “The Dance Element in Stravinsky’s Music,” he admits and even embraces the choreographer’s reliance on the composer: “A choreographer can’t invent rhythms, he only reflects them in movement. The body is his medium and ... will improvise for a short breath. But the organizing of rhythm ... is a function of the musical mind.”36 According to Balanchine, movement emanates from the composer’s rhythmic creativity, which can then be expertly presented and interpreted by the choreographer and his dancers. In response to doubts about his “plotless” ballets,” Balanchine also clearly prioritized movement before any need for an intricate storyline, demanding “A boy and girl on stage. How much story do you want?”37 By putting
music before movement and movement before emotion, Balanchine therefore allowed his musically derived choreography to compel the meaning of his ballets, rather than the other way around. In contrast to Petipa whose ballets utilize dance for the purpose of narrative, Balanchine saw emotional connotation as a natural outgrowth of choreography that was genuinely devoted to the dynamic narrative of music. His adherence to this facet of his musical philosophy accounts for a substantial part of his singularity as a choreographer and reveals the unique process by which he creates each of his masterpieces.
Balanchine’s personal perspective on music was as profound as it was fundamental. Thanks to his musical knowledge, he was able to draw practical parallels between the natural progression of musical pitch and dance movement: “I came...to understand how gestures, like tones in music ... have certain family relations ... I have developed my choreography inside the framework such relations suggest.”38 By appreciating the tonal symbiosis of musical elements, Balanchine discovered a uniquely interdependent way of approaching dance that focused on the transitions and relationships between steps. Guided by his perspective on music, he, therefore, created a universal “framework” for choreography that not only paralleled and reinforced the inner connections of music, but also pioneered a new precedent for the choreographic process.
The Stravinsky-Balanchine Collaborations
Balanchine’s famed collaborations with Stravinsky fostered and supported crucial components of his musical approach to choreography. Founded on the two artists’ shared perspective on music and dance in the context of “time, motion, and space,” the StravinskyBalanchine partnership was most prolific in the 1960s, but in fact spanned more than four decades, beginning with Le Chant du Rossignol in 1925 and ending with Stravinsky’s death in 1971.39 The significance of the Stravinsky-Balanchine collaboration lies not just in its resulting
repertoire of more than thirty works, but also in its reinforcement and cultivation of Balanchine’s musical philosophy.40 Stravinsky and Balanchine enjoyed a prosperous artistic relationship because they both shared a devotion to the core fundamentals of music and dance, the use of classical technique in the creation of modern art, and the notion of “synthesis” in choreographing to music.41 In Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey of Invention, Charles M. Joseph articulates the common manner in which Stravinsky and Balanchine viewed music and dance: “Both men recognized the elemental force of musical and physical motion. It was this sense of propulsion that drove their preoccupation with the boundaries of time.”42 In recognizing time as the rudimentary origin of music and movement, Stravinsky and Balanchine directed their artistic objectives towards a creative adherence to the constraints of time, allowing the so-called “elemental force” to facilitate their notions of rhythm and tempo. Time, however, was not the only limiting factor for Stravinsky and Balanchine. The two men reveled in their adherence to classical art technique in their innovation of contemporary music and ballet, respectively.43 After all, both Stravinsky and Balanchine grew up in Eastern Europe during a period of artistic conservatism and benefited from their childhood experiences in the cultured city of St. Petersburg.44 In the context of the constraints of time and classical technique, both Stravinsky and Balanchine believed in “freedom born of boundaries” and insisted that creativity and innovation were independent of any external constraints.45 Joseph perfectly summarizes the artistic and philosophical similarities between Stravinsky and Balanchine: “Order, precision, boundaries, time and space, the inerrancy of motion—all these abstractions were channeled through both men’s razor-sharp visual acuity.”46
The most crucial aspect of Balanchine and Stravinsky’s common philosophy was ultimately their complementary attitudes towards the choreographic illustration of music. In regard to Balanchine and the art of choreography, Stravinsky famously stated:
Choreography, as I conceive it, must realize its own form, one independent of the musical form though measured to the musical unit. Its construction will be based on whatever correspondence the choreographer may invent, but it must not seek to duplicate the line and beat of the music.47
Stravinsky emphasized the autonomous creativity of choreography and suggested that movement should be complementary to, but not dependent on the structure of the music. He despised blind imitation of the musical score in choreography because it removed all meaningfulness and inventiveness from the purpose of dance. Without disagreeing, Balanchine emphasized the other end of the spectrum, the importance of highlighting music before movement in dance: When I choreograph Stravinsky’s music, I am very careful not to hide the music. You see, usually choreography interferes with the music too much. When too much goes on stage, you don’t hear the music … I always do the reverse. I sort of subdue my dances. They’re always less than the music … you rather should do less than more.48
While Stravinsky suggested that choreographers should enjoy creative independence from the music, Balanchine addressed the necessary prioritization of music before dance. Combined, Stravinsky and Balanchine’s insights underscore two crucial qualities: choreographic freedom and musical attentiveness. Stravinsky’s discouragement of musical imitation and Balanchine’s caution against movement overshadowing music established a middle course for choreography that lay delicately between musical “imitation” and “interpretation.”49 Stravinsky and Balanchine
agreed wholeheartedly with each other; both men concluded that “true synthesis,” the act of “[synthesizing] a ballet’s score and choreography,” was a tactful matter of balancing musical transparency and choreographic exploration.50
In addition to substantiating Balanchine’s philosophy on music and dance, the Stravinsky-Balanchine partnership opened the choreographer’s eyes to new ways of interpreting music. After being inspired by Stravinsky’s minimalist, fundamentally structured compositions, for example, Balanchine advocated a “less is more” technique in choreography.51 In particular, the score of Apollon captivated Balanchine’s creativity and motivated his goal of creating movement that was “inevitable” and exclusive in relation to music.52 In regard to Stravinsky’s score itself, Balanchine reflected, “In [Apollon’s] discipline and restraint ... the score was a revelation ... it is impossible to imagine substituting for any single fragment the fragment of any other Stravinsky score. Each piece is unique in itself, nothing is irreplaceable.” 53 Balanchine then goes on to relate Apollon’s rare structural perfection to his resulting strategy of choreography: “I began to see how I could clarify by limiting, by reducing what seemed to be multiple possibilities to the one that is inevitable.”54 By recognizing the value of artistic simplicity and by employing greater restraint in his work, Balanchine learned to preserve the integrity and authenticity of his choreography. Rather than fall prey to the abundance of choreographic possibilities suggested by the music, Balanchine adhered strictly to necessity, striving to choreograph the purest representation of the music. Apollon, however, was only one of many pieces that inspired and influenced his choreographing abilities. Balanchine’s long and fruitful collaboration with Stravinsky, coupled with his personal ability to apply Stravinsky’s compositional strategies to movement, shaped his musical and choreographic philosophies on a larger scale and encompassed the impressive repertoire showcased in the Stravinsky Festival.55
In the greater context of Balanchine’s musicianship, the Stravinsky-Balanchine collaboration facilitated Balanchine’s objective of making music visible through dance. Joseph explains that Balanchine impacted audience’s understanding of Stravinsky’s music:
Balanchine’s often quoted maxim of “seeing the music” explicitly challenged audiences to grasp the multiple musical layers of Stravinsky’s scores…Balanchine’s choreography was primarily intended to magnify the music’s architecture, to clarify such internal dialogues in three-dimensional space. 56
Balanchine tackled the sophistication and intricacy of Stravinsky’s compositions with the mind of a musician and effectively bridged the knowledge gap between Stravinsky’s musical ingenuity and his audience’s appreciation of dance. Balanchine’s choreography functioned as a visual language that both translated and explained the inner workings of Stravinsky’s music.
Audience Impressions
To consider the effect of Balanchine’s musicianship on his choreography, it is useful to explore his audience’s impressions and to refer to Agon as a nearly comprehensive example of his choreographic success. As Joseph Horowitz explains in his book Artists in Exile, Balanchine’s ballets “[educated the audience] in new ways of watching and understanding” both choreography and music.57 After evidencing Balanchine’s work with Hindemith’s compositions and The Four Temperaments, Horowitz concludes that Balanchine heightened his audience’s musical awareness and insight by offering a vivid visual equivalent of the score.58 According to Ask la Cour, current principal dancer with The New York City Ballet, Balanchine appealed to his audiences by allowing them to “hear the dance and see the music,” thereby intertwining the musical and visual components of his ballets into one comprehensive experience.59 The
astounding creativity of Balanchine’s work, however, lies not in the act of imitating the score with movement, but rather in the extent to which he kinetically illustrates the mood, structure, and rhythm of music. In Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, for instance, Balanchine complements the musical tempo and varying succession of notes with a customized dynamism of movement; the female variation features a series of sharp transitions, dramatic port de bras, and intricate footwork in perfect accordance with the staccato rhythm and enthusiastic, almost frantic sentiment of the score.60 The choreography of the pas de deux stands in stark contrast because of both the corresponding difference in musical composition and Balanchine’s purposeful illustration of the music’s lyricism with gently partnered pirouettes, developés, and grand jeté lifts.61
Agon: A Testament to Balanchine’s Musicianship
An especially compelling testament to the legacy of the Stravinsky-Balanchine collaboration and to Balanchine’s musically inspired choreography is the aforementioned Agon, set to Stravinsky’s score of the same name.62 Agon is a striking example of “freedom born of boundaries”; in his choreography of this piece, Balanchine both adhered to and redefined classical ballet technique, creating new “shapes, phrases, rhythms, and sounds that…embodied New York modernism itself.”63 Specifically, in illustrating this intricate score, Balanchine achieved a sense of “visual continuity” through thoughtful interpretation rather than blind imitation of the score.64 Contrary to accusations of Balanchine’s choreography as overly “mathematical” and solely driven by the mechanics of music, Irene Alm in “Stravinsky, Balanchine, and Agon” explains that Balanchine expanded beyond the music’s structural foundation and strategically introduced new movement during familiar, repeated musical sequences:
Balanchine echoed some aspects of Stravinsky’s musical structure by assigning each block a distinctive type of movement...The choreographic canons [to the imitative trumpet lines] overlap the music, however, and do not aim to illustrate it note for note. This is a fundamental principle of Balanchine’s choreography and one that Stravinsky valued highly.65
Alm’s reference to a specific section of Agon illustrates the central, but non-exclusive role that music played in Balanchine’s choreographing process. The particular canons of movement that resemble but still differ noticeably from the trumpet canons in Agon suggest that, although Balanchine derived inspiration from music, he was more than willing to deviate from this musical blueprint in his choreography. Balanchine’s musicianship, therefore, strikes a delicate balance between adherence and departure. The result of his simultaneous devotion and independence is a unique audience experience of musical visualization, familiarity, and unpredictability.66
Agon serves as a vibrant microcosm of the Stravinsky-Balanchine collaboration, which is, in turn, an enduring testament to Balanchine’s musicianship and musically inspired choreography. In order of chronology (but not of importance), Balanchine succeeded due to his musically enriched experiences and qualities: his cultural and educational background in Russia, acquired perspectives on the art of composition, open-minded appreciation of musical genres, and fortunate acquaintance with the like-minded Igor Stravinsky. His unparalleled connection to music on a personal and professional level allowed him to demystify serious contemporary music and make popular music more meaningful for the American public. Besides his impact in the United States, however, Balanchine extended his artistic influence into his motherland, where Balanchine ballets are increasingly incorporated into Russian ballet company repertoires.67 The
extent of Balanchine’s appeal in Russia was astoundingly clear when, as documented in Richard Blanshard’s “Bring Balanchine Back,” the New York City Ballet returned to St. Petersburg and performed Balanchine’s repertoire for an enthusiastic and receptive Russian public.68
Balanchine’s legacy of growing global influence is inextricably linked to his lifetime of musical experience and appreciation. Stravinsky aptly summarized this distinguishing facet of Balanchine’s identity: “I do not see how one can be a choreographer unless, like Balanchine, one is a musician first.”69
Notes
1 Bernard Taper, Balanchine: A Biography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), 2538.
2 Tim Scholl, From Petipa to Balanchine: Classical Revival and the Modernization of Ballet (London, England: Routledge, 1994), 92-115.
3 Taper, Balanchine: A Biography, 147-152.
4 "George Balanchine (Marginal Notes on the Dance)," in Reading Dance: a Gathering of Memoirs, Reportage, Criticism, Profiles, Interviews, and Some Uncategorizable Extras, ed. Robert Gottlieb (New York: Pantheon Books, 2008), 81-83.
5 Solomon Volkov, Balanchine's Tchaikovsky (New York: Anchor Books, 1992), 6.
6 George Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's Music," The Opera Quarterly 22, no. 1 (2007), accessed November 4, 2013, 138.
7 "George Balanchine (Marginal Notes)," in Reading Dance: a Gathering, 82.
8 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 142.
9 "George Balanchine (Marginal Notes)," in Reading Dance: a Gathering, 83.
10 Taper, Balanchine: A Biography, 25-37.
11 Ibid, 31.
12 Christopher Ramsey, Balanchine 100: A Commemorative Journal (New York: New York City Ballet, 2004), 36.
13 Taper, Balanchine: A Biography, 43.
14 Robert Gottlieb, George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker, ed. James Atlas (New York, USA: HarperCollins, 2004),17.
15 Ramsey, Balanchine 100: A Commemorative, 36.
16 Taper, Balanchine: A Biography, 51.
17 Ibid, 51.
18 Ibid, 51.
19 Ibid, 51.
20 Richard Buckle, George Balanchine: Ballet Master (New York: Random House, 1988).
21 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 139.
22 Ibid, 139.
23 Ramsey, Balanchine 100: A Commemorative, 72-75.
24 Balanchine, directed by Merrill Brockway, produced by Judy Kinberg, screenplay by Holly Brubach, narrated by Frank Langella (2004; New Jersey: Kultur International Films, 2004), DVD.
25 Ramsey, Balanchine 100: A Commemorative, 66-67.
26 Ibid, 35-47.
27 Ibid, 43-45.
28 Ibid, 66-67.
29 Ibid, 66-67.
30 Ibid, 66.
31 Ibid, 66.
32 Ibid, 67.
33 Ibid, 67.
34 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 140.
35 Ramsey, Balanchine 100: A Commemorative, 47.
36 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 138.
37 Toni Bentley, "The Ballet That Changed Everything," Wall Street Journal, accessed April 9, 2014.
38 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 142.
39 Charles M. Joseph, Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey of Invention (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 353-359.
40 Ibid, 1-10.
41 Ibid, 6.
42 Ibid, 2-3.
43 Ibid, 1-10.
44 Ibid, 10.
45 Ibid, 3.
46 Ibid, 3.
47 Ibid, 1.
48 Ibid, 1.
49 Ibid, 6-7.
50 Ibid, 6.
51 Balanchine, "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's," 142.
52 Ibid, 142.
53 Ibid, 142.
54 Ibid, 142.
55 Joseph, Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey, 137-139.
56 Ibid, 8.
57 Joseph I. Horowitz, "How to Become an American: A Fortuitous Partnership of Dance and Music," in Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008), 36.
58 Ibid, 36.
59 Ask La Cour, interview by the author, San Jose, CA, June 23, 2013.
60 George Balanchine, chor., "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux," performed by Gonzalo Garcia and Ana Sophia Scheller, directed by José Manuel Carreño, by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky, San Jose Center for Performing Arts, CA, November 16, 2013.
61 Ibid.
62 Kirsten Bodensteiner, "George Balanchine and Agon," ed. Lisa Resnick, ArtsEdge, accessed November 3, 2013.
63 Ibid.
64 Irene Alm, "Stravinsky, Balanchine, and Agon: An Analysis Based on the Collaborative Process," The Journal of Musicology 7, no. 2 (Spring 1989): 263, accessed November 4, 2013.
65 Ibid, 263.
67 Peter Martins, Darci Kistler, and George Balanchine, Bring Balanchine Back: The Historic Return to Russia, narrated by Kevin Kline, directed and screenplay by Richard Blanshard (2008; New York: Warner/Elektra/Atlantic, 2008), DVD.
68 Ibid.
69 Joseph, Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey, 1.
Bibliography
Alm, Irene. "Stravinsky, Balanchine, and Agon: An Analysis Based on the Collaborative Process." The Journal of Musicology 7, no. 2 (Spring 1989): 254-69. Accessed November 4, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/763771.
This article helps me focus on the musical aspects of Balanchine's choreography of Agon by highlighting his collaboration with Stravinsky. The in-depth analysis of Agon and the references to the choreographic and musical overlap are insightful and completely relevant to my exploration of Balanchine's musicianship.
Balanchine. Directed by Merrill Brockway. Produced by Judy Kinberg. Screenplay by Holly Brubach. Narrated by Frank Langella. 2004. New Jersey: Kultur International Films, 2004. DVD.
This source contains some valuable primary sources -- video footage, interviews, and more -- that detail his life and highlight a few of his pieces, including Agon. It is valuable direct insight into his choreography especially since the director worked closely with Balanchine for previous art programs.
Balanchine, George. "The Dance Element in Stravinsky's Music." The Opera Quarterly 22, no. 1 (2007): 138-43. Accessed November 4, 2013. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/opera_quarterly/v022/22.1balanchine.html.
This primary source -- an article written by George Balanchine himself -- reveals the nature of their collaboration, as well as Balanchine's own perspective on Stravinsky's music. Balanchine also gives very specific examples of how he choreographed to scores by Stravinsky, such as the Piano Concerto (1945). I would love to interpret this and use this source as the foundation for further exploration into Balanchine's musicianship.
———, chor. "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux." Performed by Gonzalo Garcia and Ana Sophia Scheller. Directed by José Manuel Carreño. By Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky. San Jose Center for Performing Arts, CA. November 16, 2013.
Attending this gala was a wonderful opportunity to watch George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky pas de deux performed live by two members of the New York City Ballet. With my notes from the performance, I can use it to draw some of my own conclusions about Balanchine's choreography and impact on the audience.
Bentley, Toni. "The Ballet That Changed Everything." Wall Street Journal. Accessed April 9, 2014.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703467004575463543929815752 . This article offers an in-depth analysis of Balanchine's ballet Serenade. There is a specific quotation included in this article that is applicable to my argument about Balanchine's artistic philosophy.
Bodensteiner, Kirsten. "George Balanchine and Agon." Edited by Lisa Resnick. ArtsEdge. Accessed November 3, 2013. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/features/masterwork/balanchine-agon.aspx.
This source, devoted to George Balanchine and his creation of Agon, includes an overview of Balanchine's life and musicianship. It includes specific references to Stravinsky, Agon, and pas de deux, as well as links to full recordings of Agon. Especially since I am leaning towards using Agon as a representation of Balanchine's musicianship in the context of his choreography, this source will be helpful as an overview.
Buckle, Richard. George Balanchine: Ballet Master. New York: Random House, 1988. This was one of the first books I read over the summer to gain a general understanding of Balanchine's life and motivations. It led me to formulate my thesis on musicianship. I may cite it as a general reference.
"George Balanchine (Marginal Notes on the Dance)." In Reading Dance: a Gathering of Memoirs, Reportage, Criticism, Profiles, Interviews, and Some Uncategorizable Extras, edited by Robert Gottlieb, 80-83. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008. This book includes four sections relevant to my proposal, titled George Balanchine, Balanchine Ballets, Balanchine Lost Ballets, and Balanchine Dancers. The source contains a lot of valuable primary research material with commentary from Balanchine himself and other dancers who worked with him.
Gottlieb, Robert. George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker. Edited by James Atlas. New York, USA: HarperCollins, 2004.
This book offers an overview of Balanchine's life with emphasis on his early beginning and his collaboration with Stravinsky. This was one of my early sources I used to understand Balanchine's overall lifetime of accomplishments.
Horowitz, Joseph I. "How to Become an American: A Fortuitous Partnership of Dance and Music." In Artists in Exile: How Refugees from Twentieth-Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts, 23-76. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008.
The first chapter of this book highlights George Balanchine's life, including his childhood in St. Petersburg, time with Sergey Diaghilev, and collaboration with Igor Stravinsky. The book in particular focuses on Balanchine's art in the context of American culture, as suggested by the title. Besides biographical details and overview, I will use this book for insight into Balanchine's impact on distinctly American ballet.
Joseph, Charles M. Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey of Invention. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
This source highlights the Stravinsky-Balanchine collaboration with specific references to music-choreography relationships. It is a valuable source for understanding how Balanchine translated the score into movement.
La Cour, Ask. Interview by the author. San Jose, CA. June 23, 2013.
For a more personal perspective on Balanchine, I interviewed Ask la Cour, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. Here are the questions:
1. How has your training in Denmark/Europe differed from the Balanchine style?
2. How are the 2 techniques compatible? How is Balanchine’s style similar to traditional European technique?
3. Has Balanchine’s style/choreography changed since its inception? (If so, how?)
4. What are some of the defining characteristics of Balanchine’s ballets? (music, costume, movement)
5. What are the challenges of Balanchine’s choreography?
6. What are the most rewarding parts of it?
7. How does Balanchine’s style appeal to the audience? (Why is it so popular?)
8. What is so special about SAB and NYCB (in terms of values, teaching, repertory, etc.)?
9. How do you learn a new Balanchine ballet? (steps, then music? or vice versa) What kind of corrections do you often get when rehearsing his ballets?
10. Are Balanchine’s ballets interconnected? Does having performed one help with preparing another one?
11. What are your favorite pieces and why?
Martins, Peter, Darci Kistler, and George Balanchine. Bring Balanchine Back: The Historic Return to Russia. Narrated by Kevin Kline. Directed and screenplay by Richard Blanshard. New York: Warner/Elektra/Atlantic, 2008. DVD. Originally released 2008. This video offers a modern perspective on George Balanchine's life by documenting the New York City Ballet's tour to St. Petersburg, Russia. I will use this DVD as a source of information on Balanchine's past and legacy to this day.
Ramsey, Christopher. Balanchine 100: A Commemorative Journal. New York: New York City Ballet, 2004.
This source was one of my most valuable sources relating to Balanchine's musical preferences and appreciation. The three articles of this commemorative journal that concern Balanchine's musicianship are "European Music Festival," "Balanchine and Russian Music: A Moral Consideration," and "Balanchine and American Music."
Scholl, Tim. From Petipa to Balanchine: Classical Revival and the Modernization of Ballet London, England: Routledge, 1994.
This book was very useful for comparing George Balanchine to his classical ballet predecessors, such as Marius Petipa. From this source, I can better understand how Balanchine's choreography and choice of music are unique and different from previous standards.
Taper, Bernard. Balanchine: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. This biography was one of my early sources on Balanchine. There was some overlapping information with a few of the other biographies I read, but this one includes an interesting reflection on Balanchine's legacy to this day.
Volkov, Solomon. Balanchine's Tchaikovsky. New York: Anchor Books, 1992. This book, translated into English from Russian, directly reveals Balanchine's perspective on Stravinsky's music. As an extension of the shorter article from The Opera Quarterly, this book will help me dive into Balanchine's musical philosophy as a choreographer.