Serenade
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"The greatest choreographer of our time, George Balanchine is responsible for the successful fusion of modern concepts with older ideas of classical ballet." Here, the free-flowing United States dance forms, such as modern, square dancing, and jazz, stimulated him to develop new techniques in dance design and presentation, which have altered the thinking of the world of dance. How could one man change the world of dance so much? Balanchine had a vision for American dancers, which was to teach them how to become great. Coming to American with that in mind he opened a school, in hopes to one day have a company in addition to a school. However, he felt that a school must come before the company because he felt as though the American dancers needed to be taught how to dance his style of choreography. Thus came the infamous quote by Balanchine, "But first a school." With this school Balanchine began teaching his dancers how to dance on stage, and form that class came Serenade. Serenade is a clean, airy, luminous piece, but the trick to this piece is to make it look humanly romantic rather than mechanically impressive.
George Balanchine was born in Russia in 1904...