Upon arriving in the United States, Balanchine insisted that his first project would be to establish a ballet school, and with the support of Lincoln Kirstein and
Edward M.M. Warburg, the
School of American Ballet opened its doors to students on
January 2, 1934, less than 3 months after Balanchine arrived in the U.S. The students premiered
Serenade at the Warburg's summer estate later that year.
During the 1930s and 1940s, in between his ballet activities, Balanchine worked as a choreographer for musical theater (with such notables as
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and
Vernon Duke). He greatly admired
Fred Astaire, describing him as "the most interesting, the most inventive, the most elegant dancer of our times... you see a little bit of Astaire in everybody's dancing—a pause here, a move there. It was all Astaire originally."
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fred_Astaire
In 1935, a professional company was formed—the
American Ballet. After failing to mount a tour, the company began performing at the
Metropolitan Opera House. After being allowed to stage only two dance performances (
Orfeo and Eurydice in
1936, and an evening of dance choreographed to the music of
Igor Stravinsky in
1937), Balanchine moved the company to
Hollywood in
1938. The company reconvened as the
American Ballet Caravan and toured
North and
South America, although it too folded after several years.
Balanchine served as resident choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1944 to 1946, but soon formed a new dance company—the
Ballet Society—again with the help of Lincoln Kirstein. With the success of several performances, the company was offered the opportunity to work at
New York City Center for Music and Drama as the resident company. With that arrangement in place, Ballet Society became the
New York City Ballet in
1948.
Balanchine's
1954 staging of
The Nutcracker, performed every year in New York City during the
Christmas season, is largely responsible for making the ballet a Christmas tradition in the United States.
In the 1960s, Balanchine fell deeply in love with the young and talented
Suzanne Farrell. He created many ballets for her, including
Don Quixote (with him playing the
Don, and Farrell,
Dulcinea), and the
Diamonds section of the full-length ballet
Jewels. The romance suffered however, because Balanchine was still married to
Tanaquil Le Clercq, and Farrell, a
Roman Catholic, refused to consummate the romance. Farrell's position in the company was the cause of consternation—some ballerinas, like his former wife,
Maria Tallchief, quit, citing Farrell as the reason. Balanchine obtained a
Mexican divorce from Le Clercq, only to discover Farrell had married a NYCB dancer, Paul Meija. Heartbroken and enraged, Balanchine and Farrell became increasingly estranged, and in 1970 both Farrell and her husband quit the company. They then moved to Brussels and joined
Maurice Bejart's dance company. In 1975, Farrell returned to the NYCB.
George Balanchine received the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1978, the first year the awards were given.
In 1983, Balanchine died of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, diagnosed only after his death. He first showed symptoms in 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing. As the disease progressed his equilibrium, eyesight and hearing deteriorated. By 1982 he was incapacitated, and he died the following year at the age of 79.
In his last years he also suffered from
angina and underwent
heart bypass surgery.
After his divorce from Tamara Geva, Balanchine married and divorced three more times. All were dancers:
Vera Zorina (December 1938–1946),
Maria Tallchief (1946–1952), and
Tanaquil Le Clercq (1952–1969), as well as his common law wife,
Alexandra Danilova (1926–1933). He had no children.
