Balanchine on the brain (thanks to Superman) I thought it'd be appropriate to write about the man since I'm studying under his technique here in Austin. Mr. George Balanchine is called the father of American ballet... He is who started New York City Ballet and it's school School of American Ballet. He's the reason skinny is "in" in ballet... but unlike many of his followers, he was obsessed with the female body... skinny, but still a woman. Suzanne Farrell is the perfect example. In her biography she tells how after every performance she was told to lose 5 more pounds... Other dancers have stories of all the dancers going to dinner with them and everyone having a bowl of spagetti and he placing an apple in her spot as her dinner. But she never looked like a 12 year old boy to me (like some of the ballerinas in the world today). The best twist to this story is he was in love with the woman. She was his muse, his inspiration. You can see his love for her in his eyes in all these pictures I think (some of these pictures are her dancing with Peter Martins, now the Director of NYCB). He divorced (one of his many) wives to be with her. There was a fall out between them for some time before they reconciled in `75... His last choreographic works were solos for Farrell before his death. There are many new generations to Balanchine but it is still very alive today as ever. You can spot a new generation Balanchine ballerina compared to other ballerinas easily; thin, long hyper-extended legs, in classic freed pointe shoes, yumiko leotard, short tapered skirt worn on the hips (rather than the waist) and the Balanchine bun usually... even the little delicate necklace and minimal make up. I personally love it... But it's funny, I've trained in that style for 3 summers, never a full year or anything. It's definately a little cult I pretend to belong to.
