Monday, January 9, 2012

Ballerina Finishing School Series: Balanchine

You already walk the walk, you might as well talk the talk. :)

You may have heard of George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet, and choreographer to many ballets still performed today even 20 years after his death. His ballets are famous for being abstract, many times without a story, presenting clean lines & seemingly impossible technical feats driven by musicality. "See the music, hear the dance"

The excerpts in the videos below are from San Francisco Ballet (Marisol's old stomping grounds) featuring "The Four Temperaments", and New York City Ballet featuring "Serenade". I was lucky to get to perform both!

When we choreograph for Dance Cardio, we take a lot of inspiration from the syncopation, fast footwork and crazy arms of Balanchine's ballets. Our ballet teacher growing up, Ingeborg Heuser, studied with him at the so Marisol and I were lucky to have her pass along many of his teachings and style.


For those of you starting Intro to Ballet tomorrow with Marisol, enjoy! It will change you forever the way you approach your workout forever. :)

-Zi

“What are you waiting for? What are you saving [yourself] for? Now is all there is.”


― George Balanchine

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