|
Andria Balanchivadze saw his brother on
the ramp, he said "I feel as if we have been going toward
each other despite the distance between us.
The fifty-year collaboration of these two
creative giants is unique in the 20th century. Stravinsky
wrote,"Balanchine composed the choreography as he listened
to my recording, and I could actually observe him conceiving
gestures, movement, combinations, and composition. The
result was a series of dialogues perfectly complementary to
and coordinated with the dialogues of the music."
Petrogradskaya Pravda newspaper carried
the following review of his public debut on the evening of
his graduation: Giorgi Balanchivadze demonstrated dazzling
skill in dancing a technically complex lekuri
The American press wrote The American
ballet owes the unity of dance and musical rhythm, and the
harmony of visual and auditory impressions to the creative
genius of the great George Balanchine.
The Washington Post claimed:
"[Balanchine] is to ballet what Tiger Woods is to golf: so
far above the competition as to be playing a different
game."
Time Magazine, in an essay dedicated to
prominent personalities of the 20th century said, Although
Balanchine himself embroidered his own unique neoclassical
style of ballet, he conducted experiments in all genres,
mounting Russian classics and contemporary works. He tried
his hand at everything, from abstract avant-garde to
Japanese ball dances. He left a legacy of majestically
beautiful dances that carry in them features of the future
ballet repertoire. The comparison suggested by the title of
one of his productions Midsummer Nights Dream naturally
comes to mind - Balanchine is the Shakespeare of the
Ballet.
In 1970, U.S.News and World Report
attempted to summarize Balanchine's achievements: "The
greatest choreographer of our time, George Balanchine is
responsible for the successful fusion of modern concepts
with older ideas of classical ballet. Balanchine received
his training in Russia before coming to America in 1933.
Here, the free-flowing U.S. dance forms stimulated him to
develop new techniques in dance design and presentation,
which have altered the thinking of the world of dance."
Tamar belkania wrote"Rockefeller
presented him with a palace and Stalin sent him the
following message: Come back to perform your duties. He
knew and befriended many a great musician, artist and writer
of the century. He hated football and worshipped wine as
truth itself.
|
