George Balanchine

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/george-balanchine

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was George Balanchine born?January 22, 1904
2. When did George Balanchine die?April 30, 1983 (age 79)
3. Where was George Balanchine born?St. Petersburg, Russia
4. What is the career?Ballet choreographer, artistic director, ballet master
5. Who was George Balanchine and why is he famous?He was a Russian-born choreographer who created American ballet and changed how people dance. He founded the New York City Ballet and taught many dancers.
6. What is neoclassical ballet and how did Balanchine use it?Neoclassical ballet is a style that focuses on music, speed, and abstract shapes instead of stories. Balanchine made many "plotless ballets" that let the dancers show the music in clean, fast movements.

Choreographer: An artist who conceives, designs, and arranges dance movements for performance.
Ballet: A classical dance form characterized by precise technique, graceful movements, and often narrative structure.
Neoclassical Style: A 20th-century ballet aesthetic that blends classical technique with modern sensibilities, emphasizing musicality, speed, and abstract form.
Plotless Ballet: A ballet that eschews a narrative storyline in favor of exploring abstract movement, musical interpretation, and visual design.