George Balanchine's Relationship With Women
Introduction
George Balanchine’s relationship with women is a many layered, fascinating topic. It is my hope that this paper will shed some light on the nature of, and circumstances surrounding, these many multi-faceted relations. I refer to these relationships in the plural because Balanchine was many things to many women. Throughout his life he took on many roles, including that of colleague, husband, lover, teacher, mentor, director, and most famously, choreographer. One could ask numerous questions about any of these relationships. Was he in a dominant role? Was his attitude easy-going or intensely focused? What was the life-span of these relationships? What were the catalysts for both the beginning and the end of these relationships? Have …show more content…
Though he is revered, Balanchine’s preferred aesthetic is also often blamed for fostering unrealistic expectations of thinness, causing disordered eating and emaciation. Additionally, the extreme technique which he required of his dancers, and which younger dancers of successive generations have emulated, is often pointed to as the cause of physical debilitation and chronic pain. One thing about Balanchine’s legacy is sure – both his glorification and objectification of women in American ballet forever changed the landscape for female dancers. In the age of neo-classical dance he forged a new path for female dancers, providing opportunity and inspiration, as well as a strong dose of emotional oppression and physical destruction.
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Body
George Balanchine was enamored with the female form. It served as his primary inspiration for his artistic work, both as a choreographer and as a teacher. His artistic focus was a natural manifestation of his most favored part of his larger life. This favor was influenced by …show more content…
It’s apparent that Balanchine’s history with his muses was also deeply interwoven with his marriage history. Evidently he was a man who had difficulty drawing a distinction between his personal and work life, or alternately was so deeply engrossed in his work and his art that the distinction didn’t exist. All of his wives were dancers, either contemporaries or protégés, who
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were either highly accomplished at the time of their meeting or were in possession of an unusual amount of talent. Clearly, achievement in dance was the feature which Balanchine found overwhelmingly alluring in his romantic life. Additionally, his quick succession through a series of four wives (as well as a live-in romantic partner), each younger than the last, suggests his proclivity for youth. It seems that neither a wife nor a muse could surpass her mid-to late twenties without losing Balanchine’s interest.
The first woman to marry Balanchine was Tamara Gevergeyeva, a young student at the
Imperial Ballet School, where Balanchine was a member of the Maryinsky company.
George Balanchine’s relationship with women is a many layered, fascinating topic. It is my hope that this paper will shed some light on the nature of, and circumstances surrounding, these many multi-faceted relations. I refer to these relationships in the plural because Balanchine was many things to many women. Throughout his life he took on many roles, including that of colleague, husband, lover, teacher, mentor, director, and most famously, choreographer. One could ask numerous questions about any of these relationships. Was he in a dominant role? Was his attitude easy-going or intensely focused? What was the life-span of these relationships? What were the catalysts for both the beginning and the end of these relationships? Have …show more content…
Though he is revered, Balanchine’s preferred aesthetic is also often blamed for fostering unrealistic expectations of thinness, causing disordered eating and emaciation. Additionally, the extreme technique which he required of his dancers, and which younger dancers of successive generations have emulated, is often pointed to as the cause of physical debilitation and chronic pain. One thing about Balanchine’s legacy is sure – both his glorification and objectification of women in American ballet forever changed the landscape for female dancers. In the age of neo-classical dance he forged a new path for female dancers, providing opportunity and inspiration, as well as a strong dose of emotional oppression and physical destruction.
2
Body
George Balanchine was enamored with the female form. It served as his primary inspiration for his artistic work, both as a choreographer and as a teacher. His artistic focus was a natural manifestation of his most favored part of his larger life. This favor was influenced by …show more content…
It’s apparent that Balanchine’s history with his muses was also deeply interwoven with his marriage history. Evidently he was a man who had difficulty drawing a distinction between his personal and work life, or alternately was so deeply engrossed in his work and his art that the distinction didn’t exist. All of his wives were dancers, either contemporaries or protégés, who
7
were either highly accomplished at the time of their meeting or were in possession of an unusual amount of talent. Clearly, achievement in dance was the feature which Balanchine found overwhelmingly alluring in his romantic life. Additionally, his quick succession through a series of four wives (as well as a live-in romantic partner), each younger than the last, suggests his proclivity for youth. It seems that neither a wife nor a muse could surpass her mid-to late twenties without losing Balanchine’s interest.
The first woman to marry Balanchine was Tamara Gevergeyeva, a young student at the
Imperial Ballet School, where Balanchine was a member of the Maryinsky company.