George Balanchine was born in St. Petersburg on Jan 22, 1904, into a very musical family and began studying the piano at age 5. He had a classical education in acting and dance training, beginning at age 9, from the Imperial Theater School in St. Petersburg. It was originally thought that young Georgi would become one of the Tsar's cadets, so it was with the thought that if things didn't work out at the ballet school he could always join the army. In fact, in his first year he was not at all thrilled by what he was learning. He only got to perform once in the Maryinsky Theater in such spectacles as The Sleeping Beauty that Balanchine became enamored of the theater.
Balanchine was raised on the dance traditions of the classical Russian ballet established by Petipa. In spite of having all the best teachers and dancers in the world at the time Balanchine states that "Contrary to popular belief, ballet was not taken very seriously by the Russian public. It was an entertainment almost......
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