Founded in 1988, Strawdog Theater Company is located in North Center at 1802 W Berenice Avenue.
66-442: Lawrence Novikoff and Paul Engelhardt founded Strawdog Theatre Company in 1988 after performing together in a production of Euripides's Helen . Strawdog was intended to be a home for a company of actors drawn to a gritty, realistic theater style. The group took their name from Sam Peckinpah's movie "Straw Dogs" and was founded with the commitment to the ensemble approach, which remains the backbone of Strawdog today [1] . In 2000,
132-737: A BA in journalism and music from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri , in 1979 and attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1983 to 1985, in a graduate psychology program, but left to pursue his journalism career. From 1979 to 1983, Teachout lived in Kansas City, Missouri , where he worked as a bank teller and jazz bassist; during this period, he also wrote about music for The Kansas City Star . In 1985, Teachout relocated to New York City, where he worked as an editor at Harper's Magazine from 1985 to 1987 and an editorial writer for
198-440: A German, who later left Russia and abandoned his family, causing Maria to take her mother's name. She was fond of ballet and viewed it as a form of social advancement from the lower reaches of Saint Petersburg society. She was eleven years younger than Meliton and rumored to have been his former housekeeper, although "she had at least some culture in her background" as she could play piano well. The Balanchine mother also worked at
264-716: A Small-Town Boy (1991). Teachout was the editor of Beyond the Boom: New Voices on American Life, Culture, and Politics (1990), which featured an introduction by Tom Wolfe , and Ghosts on the Roof: Selected Journalism of Whittaker Chambers , 1931–1959 (1989). In 1992, Teachout discovered the manuscript of A Second Mencken Chrestomathy among H. L. Mencken 's private papers and edited it for publication by Alfred A. Knopf in 1995. In 2009, Teachout published Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong . "With Pops, his eloquent and important new biography of Armstrong,
330-531: A ballet choreographer, had his darker side. In his Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts (2007), James writes that: the great choreographer ruled the New York City Ballet as a fiefdom, with the ' droit du seigneur ' among his privileges. The older he became, the more consuming his love affairs with his young ballerinas ... When [ballerina Suzanne Farrell ] fell in love with and married
396-444: A bank. Although she loved ballet, she wished for her son to join the military. This was a difficult topic to enforce in the family because not only was the mother artistic, George's father was also very talented at playing the piano. Many believe that because his father was very invested in the arts, Balanchine's career of being a businessman failed. Balanchine had three other siblings. One of them being Andrei Balanchivadze , who became
462-731: A couple of months during 1933, performing only in Paris and London, when the Great Depression made arts more difficult to fund. Balanchine created several new works, including collaborations with composers Kurt Weill , Darius Milhaud , Henri Sauguet and designer Pavel Tchelitchew . Balanchine insisted that his first project in the United States would be to establish a ballet school because he wanted to develop dancers who had strong technique along with his particular style. Compared to his classical training, he thought they could not dance well. With
528-529: A four-character-three-actor play about the relationship between William Inge and Tennessee Williams , premiered at Palm Beach Dramaworks in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 8, 2017. Teachout also wrote the libretti for three operas by Paul Moravec : The Letter , an opera based on the 1927 play by W. Somerset Maugham that was premiered on July 25, 2009, by the Santa Fe Opera ; Danse Russe ,
594-426: A legal separation." He married and divorced three more times, all to women who were his dancers: Vera Zorina (1938–1946), Maria Tallchief (1946–1952), and Tanaquil LeClercq (1952–1969). He had no children by any of his marriages and no known offspring from any of his extramarital liaisons. Biographer and intellectual historian Clive James has argued that Balanchine, despite his creative genius and brilliance as
660-481: A one-act backstage comedy about the making of Igor Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring that was premiered by Philadelphia's Center City Opera Theater on April 28, 2011; and The King's Man , a one-act companion piece to Danse Russe about Benjamin Franklin and his illegitimate son William that was premiered by Louisville's Kentucky Opera on a double bill with Danse Russe on October 11, 2013. In addition, Teachout
726-765: A permission to leave Russia and tour around Europe. Balanchine with his wife, Tamara Geva , and several other dancers ( Alexandra Danilova , Nicholas Efimov ) went to Germany, but all performances in Berlin were met coldly. The Young Ballet had to perform in small cities of the Rhine Province such as Wiesbaden , Bad Ems , and Moselle . Geva wrote later, that in that time they had to dance 'in small dark places, in summer theaters and private ballrooms, in beer gardens and before mental patients'. They could barely afford paying for hotels and often had only tea for meal. In London, they had two weeks of very unsuccessful performances, when
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#1732855408653792-461: A relationship with Cheril Mulligan. Teachout died on January 13, 2022, at the age of 65, while staying at a friend's home in Smithtown, New York . George Balanchine George Balanchine ( / ˈ b æ l ən ( t ) ʃ iː n , ˌ b æ l ən ˈ ( t ) ʃ iː n / ; born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze ; January 22, 1904 [ O.S. January 9] – April 30, 1983)
858-467: A score in 1940 for The Four Temperaments . First performed on November 20, 1946, this modernist work was one of his early abstract and spare ballets, angular and very different in movement. After several successful performances, the most notable featuring the ballet Orpheus created in collaboration with Stravinsky and sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi , the City of New York offered the company residency at
924-503: A well-known Georgian composer like his father. As a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet, but his mother insisted that he audition with his sister Tamara, who shared her mother's interest in the art. Balanchine's brother Andria Balanchivadze instead followed his father's love for music and became a composer in Soviet Georgia . Tamara's career, however, would be cut short by her death in unknown circumstances as she
990-549: A wider range of styles. In August 2003, the Company hired Nic Dimond, a former ensemble member, to helm the Company as Artistic Director. Strawdog first garnered national attention when Terry Teachout ("America's Theatre Critic") of The Wall Street Journal named Aristocrats one of the best shows of 2007. The next year, Teachout once again lauded Strawdog for their production of RUR , a rarely seen parable about robots and technology. Old Town After Dark Awards Lie of
1056-527: A young dancer, Balanchine dismissed her from the company, thereby injuring her career for a crucial decade. With his School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, and 400 choreographed works, Balanchine transformed American dance and created neoclassical ballet , developing a unique style with his dancers highlighted by brilliant speed and attack. A monument at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre in Georgia
1122-689: Is difficult to execute and all dancers must do their jobs to hold the integrity of the piece. Balanchine's use of musicality can also be seen in this work. His other famous works with New York City Ballet are popular today and are performed in the Lincoln Center by New York City Ballet: Mozartiana , Apollo , Orpheus , and A Midsummer Night's Dream . In his last years, Balanchine had angina pectoris and underwent heart bypass surgery . After years of illness, Balanchine died on April 30, 1983, aged 79, in Manhattan from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease , which
1188-467: Is interesting to many generations of choreographers. He had a Russian Orthodox funeral, and was interred at the Oakland Cemetery at Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, New York at the same cemetery where Alexandra Danilova was later interred. Starting out his professional career with opera ballets, Balanchine did not take classicism as the a priori theory, but instead searched for his own style through
1254-443: Is now a home for dancers of New York City Ballet as well as companies from all over the world. Between his ballet activities in the 1930s and 1940s, Balanchine choreographed Broadway musicals written by such notables as Richard Rodgers , Lorenz Hart and Vernon Duke . Among them, Balanchine choreographed Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes in 1936, where his program billing specified "Choreography by George Balanchine" as opposed to
1320-533: Is quite another. Terry Teachout, drama critic for The Wall Street Journal, makes this hat-switching look far easier than it is with his first play.... Mr. Teachout has done a fine job of building a fiction-plus-fact theater piece." Satchmo at the Waldorf transferred to New York City's Westside Theatre, an off-Broadway venue, on March 4, 2014. It closed there on June 29, 2014, after 18 previews and 136 performances. According to The New Yorker , "Teachout, Thompson, and
1386-535: The Mosaic Theater Company of Washington, D.C., during the 2016–17 season. The Palm Beach Dramaworks production was directed by Teachout in his professional debut as a stage director. On February 24, 2018, Satchmo opened at the Alley Theatre of Houston in a production directed by Teachout that ran through March 18, 2018; it was performed by Jerome Preston Bates . Teachout's second play, Billy and Me ,
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#17328554086531452-806: The New York Daily News from 1987 to 1993. From 1993 to 2000 Teachout was the classical music and dance critic at the Daily News . In 2003, Teachout became the drama critic for The Wall Street Journal . He was also critic-at-large for the magazine Commentary . Teachout's books include All in the Dances: A Brief Life of George Balanchine (2004), which was "highly recommended" by Publishers Weekly , A Terry Teachout Reader (2004), which Publishers Weekly called "an impressive testament to Teachout's talents, eloquence and integrity," The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken (2002), and City Limits: Memories of
1518-767: The New York City Center . In 1954, Balanchine created his version of The Nutcracker , in which he played the mime role of Drosselmeyer. The company has since performed the ballet every year in New York City during the Christmas season . His other famous ballets created for New York companies include Firebird , Allegro Brilliante , Agon , The Seven Deadly Sins , and Episodes . In 1967, Balanchine's ballet Jewels displayed specific characteristics of Balanchine's choreography. The corps de ballet dancers execute rapid footwork and precise movements. The choreography
1584-859: The "100 notable books" of 2010. In 2013, Teachout's biography Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington was published. Duke was longlisted for the National Book Awards nonfiction prize. James Gavin, writing in the New York Times Book Review , called Duke a "cleareyed reassessment of a man regarded in godlike terms" that "humanizes a man whom history has kept on a pedestal", praising its "sound scholarship and easy readability." Kirkus Reviews called it “an instant classic…Teachout solidifies his place as one of America’s great music biographers.” Publishers Weekly called it “revealing…Teachout neatly balances colorful anecdote with shrewd character assessments and musicological analysis.” Satchmo at
1650-852: The 1930s. It is widely accepted that Balanchine had established the American ballet style, and the Neoclassical style that Balanchine consolidated represents the American spirit. While the European classical ballet often creates a fantasy world filled with “magic sylphs and swans”, Balanchine diverted from the traditional story-telling method and let dancers just be dancers who showcase their artistic ability through movements. Throughout Balanchine’s career, he created many neoclassical leotard ballets in which dancers perform in simple leotards rather than excessive costumes. Balanchine’s removal of characters, storytelling, and costumes bring ballet back into reality to redefine
1716-454: The 1990s, he was a founding member of The Vile Body, a social club of right-wing intellectuals from the fields of publishing and journalism in New York City. Writing in The Nation , Jeet Heer said about Teachout, "He got his start with National Review but eventually embraced a more philosophical and nonpolitical strain of conservatism [...] his work addressed a wider audience and eschewed
1782-824: The American-style ballet, Balanchine also contributed to the ballet education in the United States. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1933, Balanchine sensed the urgency of establishing an institutionalized ballet school to deliver systematic training in ballet. Established in 1934, the School of American Ballet was taught based on the Russian ballet style Balanchine once received himself with his own alternations. Balanchine’s pedagogues focused on clarity and breadth of motion, sharpness of nuance, and intensity of image. Balanchine’s lessons delivered were not set in stone, but instead an evolving glossary: he continuous tested his concepts on
1848-658: The Ballets Russes went bankrupt. To earn money, Balanchine began to stage dances for Charles B. Cochran 's revues and Sir Oswald Stoll 's variety shows in London. He was retained by the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen as a guest ballet master. Among his new works for the company were Danses Concertantes , a pure dance piece to music by Stravinsky, and Night Shadow , revived under the title La Sonnambula . In 1931, with
1914-449: The Company went through a period of restructuring. Many ensemble members left the Company and new members were recruited. This personnel change led to a shift in leadership and focus for the ensemble. Jennifer Avery and Michael Dailey took over as Co-Artistic Directors. They added many new ensemble members of varying disciplines, restructured the administration of the Company and gradually moved its focus from gritty kitchen sink dramas to
1980-570: The Mariinsky Ballet). His studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory in 1923, and danced as a member of the corps until 1924. While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux named La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein ), a piece which the school of directors did not approve of or like. George Balanchine went about his choreography in an experimental way during
2046-724: The Mariinsky Theater until it closed down in 1917 due to a government decree. Attending ballet here could have been viewed as a convenience to the Balanchivadze family because this is where his father composed music. This theater was transferred to the People's Enlightenment Commissariat and became property of the state. The Theater reopened in 1918, then two years later the theater was called the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. He mounted some new and experimental ballets for
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2112-648: The Mikhailovsky Theatre in Petrograd. Among them were Le Boeuf sur le toit (1920) by Jean Cocteau and Darius Milhaud, and a scene for Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw. After graduating in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory while working in the corps de ballet at the State Academic Theater for Opera and Ballet (formerly the State Theater of Opera and Ballet and known as
2178-514: The Mind Joseph Jefferson Awards, Non-Equity Wing Marathon '33 Joseph Jefferson Awards, Non-Equity Wing Three Sisters Joseph Jefferson Awards, Non-Equity Wing After Dark Awards Terry Teachout Terrance Alan Teachout (February 6, 1956 – January 13, 2022) was an American author, critic, biographer, playwright, stage director, and librettist . He was the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal ,
2244-606: The United States, hosted by American Theatre magazine, which ran from September 2017 to December 2021. Terrance Alan Teachout was born on February 6, 1956, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri , the oldest son of Herbert H. Teachout, a hardware salesman, and Evelyn Teachout (née Crosno), a secretary. He grew up in Sikeston, Missouri . Teachout attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland , but left after one semester. He received
2310-901: The Waldorf , Teachout's one-man-two-character play about Louis Armstrong and his manager Joe Glaser , was premiered at Orlando Shakespeare Theater 's Mandell Theatre in Orlando, Florida, on September 15, 2011, in a production starring Dennis Neal and directed by Rus Blackwell. An extensively revised version of Satchmo at the Waldorf in which Miles Davis is also briefly portrayed was produced by Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Massachusetts, in August 2012, with John Douglas Thompson playing Armstrong, Glaser, and Davis. The production, which transferred to Long Wharf Theatre of New Haven, Connecticut, in October 2012, and to Philadelphia's Wilma Theater in November 2012,
2376-414: The arts. Among his new works, during 1928 in Paris, Balanchine premiered Apollon musagète (Apollo and the muses) in a collaboration with Stravinsky; it was one of his most innovative ballets, combining classical ballet and classical Greek myth and images with jazz movement. He described it as "the turning point in my life". Apollo is regarded as the original neoclassical ballet . Apollo brought
2442-510: The assistance of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward M.M. Warburg , the School of American Ballet opened to students on January 2, 1934, less than three months after Balanchine arrived in the U.S. Later that year, Balanchine had his students perform in a recital, where they premiered his new work Serenade to music by Tchaikovsky at Woodlands, the Warburg summer estate. The school of American Ballet became and
2508-602: The audience met them with dead silence. With expiring visas, they were not welcome in any other European country. They moved to Paris, where there was a large Russian community. At this time, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev invited Balanchine to join the Ballets Russes as a choreographer. Balanchine was 21 at the time and became the main choreographer for the most famous ballet company. Sergei Diaghilev insisted that Balanchine change his name from Balanchivadze to Balanchine. Diaghilev soon promoted Balanchine to ballet master of
2574-617: The ballerina Alexandra Danilova , from approximately 1924 to 1931. As The New York Times described their relationship in its obituary for Danilova: "She and Balanchine left the Soviet Union in 1924... Until 1931, she and Balanchine lived together as husband and wife, although they were never married. Balanchine was still officially married to another dancer, Tamara Geva, and he told Miss Danilova that because his marriage papers had been left behind in Russia, he feared it might be difficult to arrange
2640-510: The beauty of dance in its purest form. As the formalist David Michael Levin commented, “Balanchine has mastered the deepest logic of this intrinsic, expressive power of the human body”. Although ballet has been seen as a white European art form, scholars pointed out the African influence in Balanchine’s work, marking the African presence in American ballet. Moving to the United States, Balanchine
2706-418: The company and encouraged his choreography. Between 1924 and Diaghilev's death in 1929, Balanchine created ten ballets, as well as lesser works. During these years, he worked with composers such as Sergei Prokofiev , Igor Stravinsky , Erik Satie , and Maurice Ravel , and artists who designed sets and costumes, such as Pablo Picasso , Georges Rouault , and Henri Matisse , creating new works that combined all
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2772-587: The company as the American Ballet Caravan and toured with it throughout North and South America, but it folded after several years. From 1944 to 1946, during and after World War II , Balanchine served as resident choreographer for Blum & Massine's new iteration of Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo . Soon Balanchine formed a new dance company, Ballet Society , again with the generous help of Lincoln Kirstein. He continued to work with contemporary composers such as Paul Hindemith , from whom he commissioned
2838-400: The critic and cultural historian Terry Teachout restores this jazzman to his deserved place in the pantheon of American artists," Michiko Kakutani wrote in her New York Times review of the book. The Washington Post chose Pops as one of the ten best books of 2009, The Economist chose it as one of the best books of the year, and the New York Times Book Review chose it as one of
2904-514: The critic-at-large of Commentary , and the author of "Sightings", a column about the arts in the U.S. that was published biweekly in The Wall Street Journal . He weblogged at About Last Night and wrote about the arts for many other magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times and National Review . He was a co-host on Three on the Aisle , a monthly podcast about theater in
2970-476: The culture minister of the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia , which became independent in 1918 but was later subsumed into the Soviet Union. The rest of the Georgian side of Balanchine's family consisted largely of artists and soldiers. Little is known of Balanchine's Russian, maternal side. His mother, Meliton's second wife, Maria Nikolayevna Vasilyeva, is said to be the daughter of Nikolai von Almedingen,
3036-491: The director, Gordon Edelstein, together create an extraordinarily rich and complex characterization. The show centers on the trumpeter’s relationship with his Mob-connected Jewish manager of more than thirty-five years, Joe Glaser. Thompson forcefully inhabits both men—and throws in a chilling Miles Davis—delivering an altogether riveting performance." Thompson won the 2013–14 Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Solo Performance" for his performance in
3102-599: The evening time. He and his colleagues eventually performed this piece at the State School of Ballet. This was followed by another duet, Enigma , with the dancers in bare feet rather than ballet shoes . While teaching at the Mariinsky Ballet , he met Tamara Geva , his future wife. In 1923, with Geva and fellow dancers, Balanchine formed a small ensemble, the Young Ballet . In 1924, the Young Ballet managed to obtain
3168-440: The help of financier Serge Denham, René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil formed the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo , a successor to Ballets Russes. The new company hired Leonide Massine and Balanchine as choreographers. Featured dancers included David Lichine and Tatiana Riabouchinska . In 1933, without consulting Blum, Col. de Basil dropped Balanchine after one year – ostensibly because he thought that audiences preferred
3234-512: The liberal-baiting that dominates right-wing political discourse". He further described Teachout as a " Never Trump conservative " whose beliefs were both traditionalist and cosmopolitan . In 2005, Teachout was diagnosed with congestive heart failure . He lived in Upper Manhattan . He was married twice, first to Liz Cullers, until their divorce, and then to the former Hilary Dyson from 2007 until her death in 2020. In June 2021, he began
3300-509: The male dancer to the forefront, giving him two solos within the ballet. Apollo is known for its minimalism, using simple costumes and sets. This allowed the audience not to be distracted from the movement. Balanchine considered music to be the primary influence on choreography, as opposed to the narrative. Due to a serious knee injury, Balanchine had to limit his dancing, effectively ending his performance career. So he decided to focus all his attention on choreography. After Diaghilev's death,
3366-473: The many writers who eulogized Balanchine, assessed his contribution: "It is hard to think of the ballet world without the colossal presence of George Balanchine ..." In his lifetime he created 465 works. Balanchine extended the traditions of classical ballet . His choreography remains the same to the present day and the School of American Ballet still uses his teaching technique . As one of the 20th century's best-known choreographers, his style and vision of ballet
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#17328554086533432-788: The play. It was produced at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California in May 2015, and at Chicago's Court Theatre , Colorado Springs' Theatreworks, Palm Beach Dramaworks, the Seacoast Repertory Theatre of Portsmouth, N.H., and San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater during the 2015–16 season. It was produced by New Venture Theatre of Baton Rouge, La., Triangle Productions of Portland, Ore., B Street Theatre of Sacramento, California, and
3498-456: The plot of the story. Balanchine relocated his company to Hollywood in 1938, where he rented a white two-story house with "Kolya", Nicholas Kopeikine , his "rehearsal pianist and lifelong colleague", on North Fairfax Avenue not far from Hollywood Boulevard . Balanchine created dances for five movies, all of which featured Vera Zorina , whom he met on the set of The Goldwyn Follies and who subsequently became his second wife. He reconvened
3564-570: The pop-jazz Lascivious Biddies , the bluegrass band Nickel Creek , the Alec Wilder Octet, and the classical ensembles Chanticleer and the Trio Solisti , as well as for the original-cast album of Hands on a Hardbody . The New York Times described Teachout as a conservative who was "an acolyte of William F. Buckley Jr. and Norman Podhoretz ", though he did not believe his political views should overtly influence his criticism. In
3630-492: The several key elements in Balanchine’s works that scholars identify as developed under the African influence. Incorporating of African elements and dancers from an African cultural background made Balanchine’s works American. The phenomenon of cultural influences and combinations in his works represent the diversity in the American society. In 1923, Balanchine married Tamara Geva , a sixteen-year-old dancer. After later parting ways with Geva, he became romantically involved with
3696-528: The standards and technique from his time at the Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure on Broadway and in Hollywood , creating his signature "neoclassical style". He was a choreographer known for his musicality ; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like Igor Stravinsky . Balanchine
3762-453: The usual billing of "Dances staged by". This marked the first time in Broadway history that a dance-maker received choreography billing for a Broadway musical. On Your Toes featured two ballets: La Princesse Zenobia and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue , in which a tap dancer falls in love with a dance-hall girl. Balanchine's choreography in musicals was unique at the time because it furthered
3828-440: The works choreographed by Massine. Librettist Boris Kochno was also let go, while dancer Tamara Toumanova (a strong admirer of Balanchine) left the company when Balanchine was fired. Balanchine and Kochno immediately founded Les Ballets 1933 , with Kochno, Diaghilev's former secretary and companion, serving as artistic advisor. The company was financed by Edward James , a British poet and ballet patron. The company lasted only
3894-559: Was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th-century. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its artistic director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterized by plotless ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music. Born in St. Petersburg , Russia, Balanchine took
3960-440: Was close to African American artists such as Katherine Dunham. According to dancers who worked with Balanchine such as Arthur Mitchell who comes from an African background, Balanchine would send students to Dunham or have dancers with an African background demonstrate skills common in African dance. The displacement of hips instead of vertical alignment, angular arms and flexed wrists, and the non-traditional timing of movements are
4026-664: Was dedicated in Balanchine's memory. A crater on Mercury was named in his honor. George Balanchine Way is a segment of West 63rd Street (located between Columbus Avenue and Broadway) in New York City that was renamed in his honor in June 1990. Playwright Richard Nelson wrote Nikolai and the Others , produced at the Mitzi Newhouse theater at Lincoln Center in 2013 with Michael Cerveris as Balanchine. Apart from his legacy in establishing
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#17328554086534092-412: Was diagnosed only after his death. He first showed symptoms during 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing. As the disease progressed, his equilibrium, eyesight, and hearing deteriorated. By 1982, he was incapacitated. The night of his death, the company went on with its scheduled performance, which included Divertimento No. 15 and Symphony in C at Lincoln Center. Clement Crisp , one of
4158-460: Was directed by Gordon Edelstein . The Boston Globe described the revised version of the play as a "tour de force.... Aided by director Gordon Edelstein and the consummately skilled Thompson as interpreter, Teachout—in his debut as dramatist rather than drama critic—has contributed a work of insight and power." According to the New York Times , "Reviewing a play is one thing; writing a play
4224-485: Was invited to America in 1933 by a young arts patron named Lincoln Kirstein , and together they founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 as well as the New York City Ballet in 1948. Balanchine was born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg , Russian Empire, son of Georgian opera singer and composer Meliton Balanchivadze , one of the founders of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre and later
4290-1554: Was the librettist for Moravec's cantata "Music, Awake!," which was premiered at Rollins College by the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) on April 16, 2016. Teachout wrote the forewords to Paul Taylor 's Private Domain: An Autobiography (1999, University of Pittsburgh Press), Elaine Dundy 's The Dud Avocado (2007, New York Review Books Classics ), William Bailey's William Bailey on Canvas (2007, Betty Cuningham Gallery), and Richard Stark 's Flashfire and Firebreak (2011, University of Chicago Press ) and contributed to The Oxford Companion to Jazz (2000, Oxford University Press), Field-Tested Books (2008, Coudal Partners), and Robert Gottlieb 's Reading Dance (2008, Pantheon). He also appears in Alex Gibney 's Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (2015) and two film documentaries about dance, Mirra Bank 's Last Dance (2002) and Deborah Novak 's Steven Caras: See Them Dance (2011). Teachout contributed notes on recordings by Louis Armstrong , Gene Krupa and Oscar Peterson to Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology (2011) and wrote liner notes for CDs by jazz musicians Karrin Allyson , Gene Bertoncini , Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins , Julia Dollison , Jim Ferguson, Roger Kellaway , Diana Krall , Joe Mooney , Marian McPartland , Mike Metheny , Maria Schneider , Kendra Shank and Luciana Souza ,
4356-516: Was trying to escape on a train from besieged Leningrad to Georgia. Based on his audition, during 1913 (at age nine), Balanchine relocated from rural Finland to Saint Petersburg and was accepted into the Imperial Ballet School , principal school of the Imperial Ballet , where he was a student of Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov (Gerdt's son-in-law). Balanchine spent the World War I years at
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