Robert Nichols is the name of:

• Robert Nichols (poet) (1893–1944), English writer and poet
• Robert Nichols (actor) (born 1924), United States actor (see This Island Earth)
• Robert Nichols (playwright), active in 1930s New York (see Al Carmines)
• Robert Nichols (Texas politician) (born 1944), Texas State Senator, 2007–present
• Rob Nichols, American business and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs
• Robbie Nichols (born 1946), American football linebacker
• Bobby Nichols (born 1936), golfer

See also[link]

• Robert Nichol (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Financial Services Forum President and CEO Rob Nichols addresses the audience at the Forum's globalization event in Charlotte, NC, 2008.

Robert Nichols is the President and CEO of the Financial Services Forum, a position he has held since June 2005.^[1] As President and CEO, Nichols supervises all activities of the organization. Working with the member institutions, Nichols provides strategic leadership and coordinates the Forum's efforts to educate the public about the importance of robust capital markets, encourage a competitive global marketplace, and shape the national and international regulatory dialogue.

Recently cited as, "Perhaps the country's most powerful trade association," by Time,^[2] the Financial Services Forum is a non-partisan financial and economic policy organization comprising the chief executive officers of 20 of the largest and most diversified financial institutions with business operations in the United States. As a group, the Forum’s member institutions employ more than 2 million people in 175 countries and hold combined assets of more than $21 trillion – an amount greater than the annual economic output of the United States, China and the United Kingdom combined. The Forum works to promote policies that encourage savings and investment, a competitive global marketplace, and ensure the opportunity of people everywhere to participate fully and productively in the 21st-century global economy.^[3]

Before joining the Forum, Nichols was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs, a position requiring confirmation by the United States Senate. In that capacity, Nichols oversaw all public affairs efforts for a $12 billion federal agency with 117,000 employees and played a leading role in educating the American people about tax and currency policy, debt management, Social Security and Medicare financing, the U.S. government's strategy to freeze terrorists' assets and restrict the flow of money that enables terror, and a host of international and emerging market issues that impact the U.S. economy. As assistant secretary, Nichols established policies for administering public affairs, business affairs, consumer affairs, and intergovernmental affairs programs in the Treasury Department and its bureaus. Nichols also oversaw the Office of Public Liaison, which conducts outreach to business, advocacy, and financial communities, including Wall Street; elicits information, analysis, and opinions from public and private organizations representing business and consumer interests; and communicates Treasury Department views to these entities. During his four and a half year tenure at the Treasury, Nichols gained a rich understanding of the financial markets, the financial services industry, and a wide breadth of economic matters. Nichols is a recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest honor of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Before joining the Department of the Treasury, Nichols’ career highlights included service as communications director for the Electronic Industries Alliance, a trade organization that represents 1300 U.S. high-technology manufacturers; as a senior aide on Capitol Hill as Communications Director to U.S. Senator Slade Gorton and Press Secretary to Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn, former member of the House leadership; and in the West Wing as an aide in the Office of the Chief of Staff in the George H.W. Bush administration.

In 2008 Nichols officially gave $53,686 in campaign finances to various groups, organizations and candidates.^[4]

Press Mentions and Honors[link]

Nichols is frequently cited by the news media on capital markets and financial services issues. He is regularly quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, and frequently appears on CNBC, Fox Business Network and Bloomberg. He has testified on several occasions before the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, two key Congressional committees that oversee the financial services industry.

In 2011, 2010 and 2009, Nichols was recognized by The Hill newspaper as one of the most effective trade association leaders in Washington, D.C.^[5] The New York Times called Nichols "among the most powerful lobbyists in Washington," in 2011.^[6] In November 2011, Nichols was included on The New Republic's list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people.^[7] In 2010, CEO UPDATE also named Nichols one of the year’s top trade association leaders.

Treasury Department[link]

Nichols was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs for the U.S. on August 6, 2003. He was nominated for the position by President George W. Bush on April 10, 2003, was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, and sworn in by Treasury Secretary John Snow on August 6.

Criticism[link]

Many of the CEOs Nichols represents have been criticized in Congress for contributing to the 2008-2009 financial crisis and economic recession. Eight of these CEOs have had to defend their business practices before angry lawmakers in congressional testimony.

Career History[link]

• Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Treasury (Jan. 2003-May 2005)
• Deputy Asst. Sec. for Public Affairs, Treasury (March 2001 - Dec. 2002)
• Director of communications, Electronic Industries Association (Jan. 2000 - Feb. 2001)
• Communications director; Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.)(March 1998 - Dec. 1999)
• Press secretary; Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.), (March 1996 - February 1998)
• Political director, Washington Republican Party (Jan. 1995 - Feb. 1996)
• Campaign manager, Jennifer Dunn (Feb. 1994 - Dec. 1994)
• Personal aide to the secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (Feb. 1992 - Jan. 1993)
• Assistant to Task Force Chairman, Andrew Card, Presidential Task Force on Hurricane Andrew (Aug. 1992 - Nov. 1992)
• Staff assistant, Office of the Chief of Staff, the White House (July 1991 - Feb. 1992).^[8]

Personal life[link]

Nichols was born on January 3, 1969, in Camden, New Jersey; He graduated from George Washington University with a BA in political science in 1991. He is a Sigma Alpha Epsilon Alumni Association member^[9] Nichols is a Presbyterian and is currently married to Rebecca Nichols; together they have two children.^[10] Nichols is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Presbyterian School.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2011)

Ken Frank is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.

Works[link]

Ken Frank produced interior illustrations for many Dungeons & Dragons books and Dragon magazine throughout the 1990s, as well as cover art for the adventure modules Flames of the Falcon and Falconmaster (1990). He also did artwork for the Spellfire card game.

He has also produced artwork for games from other companies, including Traveller (Game Designers' Workshop).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ken Frank :: Pen & Paper RPG Database

This Dungeons & Dragons article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Austin Nichols (born April 24, 1980) is an American film, television actor and director who is perhaps best known for his role as Julian Baker in The CW drama series One Tree Hill. He is also known for his roles in films such as The Day After Tomorrow and Wimbledon. He starred in the HBO series John from Cincinnati.

Early life[link]

Austin Nichols was born on April 24, 1980 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and moved to Austin, Texas before he was a year old.^[1] He was named after the Austin, Nichols distilling company, producers of Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.^[2] His father, David Nichols, is a radiologist, and his mother, Kay Nichols, is a professional trick water skier. Kay has been a national champion ten times and an international champion once.^[3] He has one older sister, Ashley.^[3]

Nichols was raised on Lake Austin and attended Casis Elementary School.^[1] Nichols began competitive water skiing from the age of two.^[4] He represented the US Junior Water Ski Team in the Pan-American Championships in 1997, and was also on the Junior US Olympic Water Skiing team.^[5] At age thirteen, he was ranked third in the world.^[6] Nichols had intended to become a professional water skier until he injured his shoulder in Florida, and was forced to give up the sport.^[2] While at McCallum High School in central Austin,^[1] he played basketball but was "absolutely awful".^[7] Nichols' interest in acting was sparked when he was fifteen years old and he began to take acting lessons.^[8] He moved to Los Angeles after high school, where he currently lives.^[2]

Acting career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Nichols wanted to be an actor for much of his early life.^[9] His acting career began when he gatecrashed a party at the Sundance Film Festival and was signed by a manager.^[10] Nichols initially wished to attend the University of Texas, but moved to LA after his signing and enrolled instead at dthe University of Southern California, graduating in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.^[7] Although Nichols had guest appearances in Sliders, Odd Man Out, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Family Law, Watching Ellie, and Wolf Lake before his graduation, his big break came in 2002 when he appeared as Brenda Chenowith's lover in two episodes of Six Feet Under.^[10] He had previously appeared in two films, Durango Kids in 1999 and Holiday in the Sun in 2001, both of which were panned by critics.^[11]

In his first critically successful film role, Nichols starred as a stereotypical, basketball-playing "frat boy" in The Utopian Society, a 2003 independent film directed by John P. Aguirre, which won several awards and some critical acclaim.^[12] One critic wrote that Nichols "transforms himself from a cardboard jock and frat boy caricature to a likeable vulnerable human being with surprising sensibilities."^[13] Aguirre commended Nichols as a "stellar talent" able to play his character "with total abandon to self ego".^[14] Following another guest spot in She Spies, Nichols then simultaneously co-starred in two box office successes, The Day After Tomorrow and Wimbledon.

Box office and critical success[link]

In 2004, Nichols was cast as J.D., an intelligent rich kid and romantic rival to Jake Gyllenhaal's main character in the environmental blockbuster, The Day After Tomorrow. The science and script were generally panned by critics, and cast performances criticized.^[15][16] Also in 2004, he appeared in Wimbledon, opposite Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany. The film was well received by critics, though it only did reasonably well at the US box office.^[17][18] Nichols' acting as Jake Hammond, an arrogant tennis pro, was described as "effectively unlikeable".^[19] For the role, Nichols had to learn tennis from scratch; he was trained to look professional by Pat Cash, who was taken aback by Nichols' skill. Speaking of the actor's forehand shot, the coach observed: "It’s absolutely as good as anybody’s on the circuit. I swear to God. He hits it like a bullet. He’s our star pupil."^[20] By the end of their training, Nichols and Bettany were able to have rallies and play points, although some of their more intricate exchanges were computer generated.^[21]

After this success, Nichols co-starred in a pilot for 1/4 life, a TV series about 20 somethings living in New York which was not developed by a television network. He then had a minor role in an obscure and panned 2005 film, Thanks to Gravity.^[22] Nichols followed this with short guest spots on episodes of Pasadena and Surface, before being cast in a successful 2006 film, Glory Road.

Glory Road, directed by James Gartner and starring Josh Lucas, is a film based on the true story of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in which Coach Don Haskins led a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. Nichols played one of the few white players on the team; he trained heavily for the role and had to master basketball as it was played in the 1960s, saying "I'd never been so sore in my life".^[23] The film was not a box office hit; it made $46,000,000 and received positive fan reviews, though fans were more enthusiastic than the critics.^[24]

After Glory Road, Nichols appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami and starred in Lenexa, 1 mile, a film about the disturbing secrets of five childhood friends, set during their last summer together before college. As of 2007, the creators have not announced plans to release the film.

[edit] The House of Usher and beyond

Nichols' next film was a 2006 thriller, The House of Usher, directed by Hayley Cloake and based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. He plays the disturbed Roderick Usher, who has been described by Nichols as a "twisted, terminally ill, fucked-up guy".^[2] The House of Usher was released in September 2007. Nichols also portrayed Neal Cassady, with Will Estes as Jack Kerouac, in the short film Luz Del Mundo.

In April 2006, Nichols guest starred in Deadwood, an HBO Western series. Shortly afterward, Nichols signed a rare holding deal with the HBO Network.^[25] In August of that year, Nichols was cast as the lead in a new series, John From Cincinnati, a surfing drama created by David Milch, who also produced Deadwood. The series began airing in June 2007, but was cancelled after one season due to poor ratings and mixed critical reviews. Nichols played John Monad, a stranger who suddenly appears in a quiet surfing town; for the role, he took up surfing and practiced every day for three months.^[26]

In 2007, Nichols appeared as teacher for a few episodes of Friday Night Lights, before being cast in a recurring role on the The CW's One Tree Hill. He was upgraded to series regular for the seventh season.^[27] He directed two episodes of the series including the seventh episode of the ninth and last season.^[28] On March 2012, it was announced that Austin landed a role in a new drama for Showtime called Ray Donovan planned to air on the season 2012-2013.

Personal life[link]

Alongside his acting career, Nichols maintains a strong interest in cinema. He keeps a log of every film he sees: "I take it to the movies and write down who does the music, edits, directs, and how long the film is."^[29] Claire Oswalt, an ex-girlfriend, said in a 2003 interview that Nichols watches an average of 20 movies a week.^[30] Nichols himself has stated: "If I'm not working, I spend almost half my day at theaters or watching DVDs at my house."^[31] He especially admires Hal Ashby, Sam Fuller, and John Ford.^[32] In addition to his interest in film, Nichols enjoys golf, tennis, and horseback riding.^[32] Since beginning filming John from Cincinnati, he has also taken up surfing, which he finds "very therapeutic and healing".^[33]

Nichols dated artist Claire Oswalt for seven years before breaking off their engagement in 2004. He mentioned in an interview he was living out of his car and sleeping on friends' couches for some time afterwards.^[7] Nichols has been friends with fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal since the two met on the set of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004. Nichols said in one interview, "I've learned a ton from Jake. He's a really sharp guy. He told me everything about acting, the business, girls, life."^[2] His sister, Ashley, is married to director, Rowdy Stovall, making him Nichols' brother-in-law.

Shortly after John from Cincinnati was cancelled, Nichols was pulled over at 3 A.M. on August 24, 2007 in Jackson, Michigan after driving the wrong way down a one-way street in his silver Mercury Mountaineer. His blood alcohol level was a reported .10 and he was arrested for DUI.^[34]

On May 25, 2010, it was revealed that Nichols has been dating fellow One Tree Hill co-star Sophia Bush off and on for the past four years. It was also revealed that Austin took a job on One Tree Hill to be with Sophia.^[35] As of February 2012 they have broken up.

TV and filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Austin Nichols at the Internet Movie Database
• Austin Nichols at AllRovi
• Interview with Austin Nichols on LAist

George Balanchine, born Giorgi Balanchivadze (Georgian: გიორგი ბალანჩივაძე, Russian: Георгий Мелитонович Баланчивадзе) (January 22 [O.S. January 9] 1904 – April 30, 1983), was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States and the co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet.^[1] He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky. Thirty-nine of his more than four hundred ballets were choreographed to music by Stravinsky.^[2]

Biography[link]

Georgia and Russia[link]

Balanchine was born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother.^[3] Balanchine's family comprised largely composers and soldiers. His father was a noted Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze (1862–1937), one of the initiators of the Georgian Opera, while his mother was a Russian ballet aficionado.^[3] George's brother, Andria Balanchivadze (1906–1992), became a well-known Georgian composer. As a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet but his mother loved the arts and had the young Giorgi audition with his sister, who shared her mother's passion for ballet.

Based on his audition, during 1913 (at age nine) Balanchine relocated from rural Finland to Saint Petersburg and was accepted into the Imperial Ballet School, principal school of the Imperial Ballet, where he was a student of Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov (Pavel's son-in-law).^[4] After the Bolsheviks won the Russian Revolution of 1917, they closed and disbanded the school as an elitist symbol of the Czarist regime. To survive the privation and martial law of this period, Balanchine played the piano — for food, not for money — at cabarets and silent movie theaters. Eventually the Imperial Ballet School reopened, but with greatly reduced funding from the government. After graduating with honors in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory while working in the corps de ballet at the State Academic Theater for Opera and Ballet (formerly the State Theater of Opera and Ballet and known as the Mariinsky Ballet). His studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory during 1923, and danced as a member of the corps until 1924.

While still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux named La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein). This was followed by another duet, Enigma, with the dancers in bare feet rather than ballet shoes. During 1923, with fellow dancers, Balanchine formed a small ensemble, the Young Ballet. The choreography proved too experimental for the new authorities.

Marriages[link]

In 1922, when Balanchine was eighteen years old, he married Tamara Geva, a fifteen-year-old dancer. After his divorce from Geva, Balanchine was with Alexandra Danilova from 1926 through 1933. He married and divorced three more times, all to women who were his dancers: Vera Zorina (December 1938 – 1946), Maria Tallchief (1946–1952), and Tanaquil Le Clercq (1952–1969). He did not have any children.

Escape to the West[link]

On a 1924 visit to Germany with the Soviet State Dancers, Balanchine, his wife Tamara Geva, and the dancers Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov fled to Paris, where there was a large Russian community of families exiled by the Revolution. The impresario Sergei Diaghilev, another Russian exile, asked Balanchine to join his newly formed Ballets Russes as a choreographer. Diaghilev drew from all the contemporary arts to create a company with great influence.^[4]

Ballets Russes[link]

Diaghilev soon promoted Balanchine to ballet master of the company and encouraged his choreography. Between 1924 and Diaghilev's death in 1929, Balanchine created nine ballets, as well as lesser works. During these years, he worked with major composers, such as Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie and Ravel, and artists who designed sets and costumes, such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault, and Henri Matisse, creating new works that combined all the arts. Among his new works, during 1928 in Paris, Balanchine premiered Apollon musagète (Apollo and the muses) in a collaboration with Stravinsky; it was one of his most innovative ballets, combining classical ballet and classical Greek myth and images with jazz movement. He described it as "the turning point in my life".^[5]

Apollo 1928

Suffering a serious knee injury, Balanchine had to limit his dancing, effectively ending his performance career. After Diaghilev's death, the Ballets Russes became somewhat disorganized. To earn money, Balanchine began to stage dances for Charles B. Cochran's revues and Sir Oswald Stoll's variety shows in London. He was retained by the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen as a guest ballet master.

When part of the Ballets Russes settled in Monte Carlo, Balanchine joined them and accepted a job as ballet master; directed by René Blum, the company was then named the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. He choreographed three ballets: Cotillon, La Concurrence, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. His protégée in Monte Carlo was the young Tamara Toumanova, one of the original three "baby ballerinas" that the director had selected from the Russian exile community of Paris.

When Blum gave control of the company to Colonel W. de Basil, Balanchine left the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo to act as principal choreographer for the newly-founded Les Ballets 1933. The company was financed by Edward James, a British ballet patron. Boris Kochno, Diaghilev's former secretary and companion, served as artistic advisor. The company lasted only a couple of months during 1933, performing only in Paris and London, when the Great Depression made arts more difficult to fund. Balanchine created several new works, including collaborations with composers Kurt Weill, Darius Milhaud, and Henri Sauguet, and designer Pavel Tchelitchew.

Lincoln Kirstein, a young American arts patron recently graduated from Harvard University, saw Les Ballets 1933. With the goal of establishing a ballet company in the United States, he met with and quickly persuaded Balanchine to relocate there with his assistance. By October of that year, Kirstein had brought Balanchine to New York, where he would begin influencing the character, training and techniques of American ballet and dance.

United States[link]

Architect Philip Johnson designed the New York State Theater to Balanchine's specifications.

Balanchine insisted that his first project would be to establish a ballet school because he wanted to develop dancers who had the strong technique and style he wanted. Compared to his classical training, he thought they could not dance well. With the assistance of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward M.M. Warburg, the School of American Ballet opened to students on January 2, 1934, less than 3 months after Balanchine arrived in the U.S. Later that year, Balanchine had his students play a recital, where they premiered his new work Serenade to music by Tchaikovsky at the Warburg's summer estate. The work, modified by Balanchine over the years, remains a signature work of New York City Ballet nearly eighty years after its premiere.

Between his ballet activities in the 1930s and 1940s, Balanchine choreographed for musical theater with such notables as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Vernon Duke.^[6] He greatly admired Fred Astaire, describing him as "the most interesting, the most inventive, the most elegant dancer of our times... you see a little bit of Astaire in everybody's dancing—- a pause here, a move there. It was all Astaire originally."

During 1935, Balanchine formed a professional company named the American Ballet. After failing to organize a tour, the company began performing as the house company for the Metropolitan Opera. In 1936, Balanchine staged Gluck's opera Orfeo and Eurydice and during 1937 an evening of dance works all choreographed to the music of Igor Stravinsky.

Relocation to West Coast[link]

Balanchine relocated his company to Hollywood during 1938, where he rented a white two-story house with "Kolya", Nicholas Kopeikine, his "rehearsal pianist and lifelong colleague",^[7] on North Fairfax Avenue not far from Hollywood Boulevard. Balanchine created dances for five movies, all of which featured Vera Zorina, whom he met on the set of The Goldwyn Follies and who subsequently became his second wife. He reconvened the company as the American Ballet Caravan and toured with it throughout North and South America, but it folded after several years. From 1944 to 1946, during and after World War II, Balanchine served as resident choreographer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Return to New York[link]

Soon Balanchine formed a new dance company, Ballet Society, again with the generous help of Lincoln Kirstein. He continued to work with contemporary composers, such as, for example, Paul Hindemith, from whom he commissioned a score in 1940 for The Four Temperaments. First performed on November 20, 1946, this modernist work was one of his early abstract and spare ballets, angular and very different in movement. After several successful performances, the most notable featuring the ballet Orpheus created in collaboration with Stravinsky and sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi, the City of New York offered the company residency at the New York City Center. With that arrangement, Ballet Society officially became New York City Ballet in 1948.

In 1955, Balanchine created his version of The Nutcracker, in which he played the mime role of Drosselmeyer. The company has since performed the ballet every year in New York City during the Christmas season. One of its most famous productions, The Nutcracker has been a money-making tradition for NYCB and other companies that perform it. It was filmed for theatrical release in 1993 by director Emile Ardolino, danced by NYCB with specially written narration spoken by Kevin Kline and released on DVD by Warner Brothers Home Video.

Balanchine with Suzanne Farrell in Don Quixote.

When Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts was constructed, NYCB was offered the New York State Theater (renamed the David H. Koch Theater since 2008 when the billionaire made a donation of one hundred million dollars for major renovations). Balanchine collaborated with architect Philip Johnson in determining its design and finally had a theater large enough for the works he wanted to stage when the house opened in 1964. He often created large-scale works there, from American themes and Broadway, such as Stars and Stripes for the premiere performance, to drawing from European traditions and music, such as his 1977 Vienna Waltzes, a lavishly designed one-hour ballet choreographed to music by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár, and Richard Strauss.

During the 1960s, Balanchine created and revised nearly forty ballets including in 1965 a rare foray into the genre of evening-length story ballets, Don Quixote in which he played the title role. His created the lead female role for Suzanne Farrell, the young ballerina of whom he was greatly enamored at the time and for whom he would create many roles until the end of his career. Among the most notable is the Diamonds section of the plotless evening-length three-act ballet Jewels to music of Tchaikovsky. Some ballerinas, including his former wife Maria Tallchief, quit the company, citing his obsession with Farrell as the reason. Balanchine obtained a Mexican divorce from then-wife Tanaquil LeClercq during this time.

In the summer of 1972, a year after the death of Stravinsky, Balanchine staged another Stravinsky Festival, for which he choreographed several major new works including the "miracle" ballets Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Symphony in Three Movements, both of which premiered on June 18, 1972.

Death[link]

After years of illness, Balanchine died on April 30, 1983, in New York City of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, diagnosed only after his death. He first showed symptoms during 1978 when he began losing his balance while dancing. As the disease progressed, his equilibrium, eyesight and hearing deteriorated. By 1982, he was incapacitated. The night of his death, the company went on with its scheduled performance, which included Divertimento No. 15 and Symphony in C at Lincoln Center.^[8] In his last years, Balanchine also suffered from angina and underwent heart bypass surgery.^[9]

Legacy and honors[link]

• 1978, Balanchine received the Kennedy Center Honors Award the first year the awards were given.
• With his School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet, and 400 choreographed works, Balanchine transformed American dance and created modern ballet, developing a unique style with his dancers highlighted by brilliant speed and attack.
• 1987, posthumously inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame.
• Presidential Freedom of Honor Medal
• Balanchine 100: The Centennial Celebration ^[10]

Selected Choreographed Works[link]

For Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev[link]

• Le Chant du Rossignol (The Song of the Nightingale) (1925)
• Jack in the Box (1926)
• Pastorale (1926)
• Barabau (1926)
• La Chatte (1927)
• Le Triomphe de Neptune (1927)
• Apollo (1928)
• The Prodigal Son (1929)
• Le Bal (1929)

For Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo[link]

• Cotillon (1932)
• Concurrence (1932)
• Balustrade (1941)
• Danses Concertantes (1944 and 1972)
• La Sonnambula (1946)

For Les Ballets 1933[link]

• The Seven Deadly Sins (1933)
• Errante (1933)
• Les Songes (1933)
• Fastes (1933)

For the American Ballet[link]

• Alma Mater (1934)
• Les Songes (Dreams) (1934)
• Mozartiana (1934)
• Serenade (1935)
• Errante (1935)
• Reminiscence (1935)
• Jeu de cartes (variously, Card Game or The Card Party) (1937)
• Le Baiser de la Fée (originally titled The Fairy's Kiss) (1937)

For Broadway[link]

• Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
  • Words without Music: A Surrealist Ballet, a production number for the singing and dancing ensemble
  • Night Flight, a solo for Harriet Hoctor
  • 5 A.M., a number for Josephine Baker and male dancers
• On Your Toes (1936), music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart; starring Tamara Geva and Ray Bolger
  • Princess Zenobia Ballet (1936)
  • Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1936)

This dramatic ballet served as the climax of this musical production and has subsequently been presented as a stand-alone piece; however, several of the sung numbers in the show featured dance routines as well, notably the title number.

• Babes in Arms (1937), by Rodgers and Hart
• I Married an Angel (1938), by Rodgers and Hart; starring Vera Zorina
• The Boys from Syracuse (1938), by Rodgers and Hart
• Great Lady (1938), music by Frederick Loewe
• Keep Off the Grass (1940), a musical revue
• Lousiana Purchase (1940), music and lyrics by Irving Berlin; with William Gaxton and Vera Zorina
• Cabin in the Sky (1940), music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by John Latouche; starring Ethel Waters and Katherine Dunham, who collaborated with Balanchine on the choreography
• The Lady Comes Across (1942), by Duke and Latouche; a notable flop
• Rosalinda (1942), an operetta with music by Johann Strauss
• The Merry Widow (1943), an operetta with music by Franz Lehár
• What's Up? (1943), lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe
• Dream with Music (1944), a musical fantasy starring Vera Zorina
• Song of Norway (1944), an operetta based on the life and music of Edvard Grieg; Balanchine's most successful Broadway show
• Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945), another flop
• The Chocolate Soldier (1947), an operetta with music by Oscar Straus
• Where's Charley? lyrics and music by Frank Loesser, a long-running show starring Ray Bolger
• Courtin' Time (1951), music and lyrics by Don Walker and Jack Lawrence
• House of Flowers (1954), music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Truman Capote and Harold Arlen; starring [[Pearl Bailey[[, Diahann Carroll, and Juanita Hall; Balanchine's choreography was rearranged by Herbert Ross before the Broadway opening

For Hollywood[link]

• The Goldwyn Follies (1938), with Vera Zorina and William Dollar as principal dancers
  • "Romeo and Juliet," with ballet dancers as the Capulets and tap dancers as the Montagues
  • "Water Nymph Ballet," in which Zorina rose from the depths of a pool
• On Your Toes (1939), the film version of the Broadway show, starring Vera Zorina and Eddie Albert
• I Was an Adventuress (1940), starring Vera Zorina
• Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), a wartime morale booster for military troops
  • "That Old Black Magic," sung by Johnny Johnston, danced by Vera Zorina
• Follow the Boys (1944), with Vera Zorina and George Raft

For American Ballet Caravan[link]

• Ballet Imperial (later referred to as the Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2) (1941)
• Concerto Barocco (1941)

For the Ballet del Teatro de Colón[link]

• Mozart Violin Concerto (1942)

For Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo[link]

• Song of Norway (1944)
• Danses Concertantes (1944)
• Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1944)
• Pas de Deux (Grand adagio) (1945)
• The Night Shadow (1946)
• Raymonda (1946)

For Ballet Theatre[link]

• Waltz Academy (1944)
• Theme and Variations (1947)

For Ballet Society[link]

• The Four Temperaments (1946)
• L'enfant et Les Sortilèges (The Spellbound Child) (1946)^[11]
• Haieff Divertimento (1947)
• Symphonie Concertante (1947)
• Orpheus (1948)

For the Paris Opera Ballet[link]

• Palais de Cristal (renamed Symphony in C) (1947)

For Le Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas[link]

• Pas de Trois Classique (also known as Minkus Pas de Trois) (1948)

For New York City Ballet[link]

• La Sonnambula (1946)
• Bourrée Fantasque (1949)
• The Firebird (1949; later revised with Jerome Robbins)
• Sylvia Pas De Deux (1950)
• Swan Lake (after Lev Ivanov) (1951)
• La Valse (1951)
• Harlequinade Pas De Deux (1952)
• Metamorphoses (1952)
• Scotch Symphony (1952)
• Valse Fantaisie (1953/1967)
• The Nutcracker (1954)
• Ivesiana (1954)
• Western Symphony (1954)
• Glinka Pas De Trois (1955)
• Pas De Dix (1955)
• Divertimento No. 15 (1956)
• Allegro Brillante (1956)
• Agon (1957)
• Square Dance (1957)
• Gounod Symphony (1958)
• Stars and Stripes (a ballet in 5 "campaigns")' (1958)
• Episodes (1959)
• Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960)
• Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960)
• Donizetti Variations (1960)
• Liebeslieder Walzer (1960)
• Raymonda Variations (1961)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962)
• Bugaku (1963)
• Meditation (1963)
• Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1963)
• Harlequinade (1965)
• Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1966)
• Jewels (1967)
  • Emeralds
  • Rubies
  • Diamonds
• La Source (1968)
• Who Cares (1970)
• Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (1970)
• Stravinsky Festival (1972)
  • Pulcinella (with Jerome Robbins)
  • Stravinsky Violin Concerto
  • Symphony in Three Movements
  • Duo Concertant
  • Lost Sonata
  • Divertimento from "Le Baiser de la fée"
  • Choral Variations on Bach's "Vom Himmel Hoch"
  • Danses Concertantes
  • Scherzo Á La Russe
• Cortège Hongrois (1973)
• Coppélia (1974)
• Variations pour une porte et un soupir (1974)
• Ravel Festival (1975)
  • Sonatine
  • Tzigane
  • Le tombeau de Couperin
  • Pavane
  • Shéhérazade
  • Gaspard de la Nuit
  • Rapsodie Espagnole
• The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1975)
• Chaconne (1976)
• Union Jack (1976)
• Vienna Waltzes (1977)
• Ballo della Regina (1978)
• Kammermusik No. 2 (1978)
• Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze (1980)
• Walpurgisnacht Ballet (1980)
• Tschaikovsky Festival (1981)
  • Garland Dance from The Sleeping Beauty
  • Mozartiana
• Stravinsky Centennial Celebration (1982)
  • Élégie

For New York City Opera[link]

• Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1979)

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Taper, Bernard (1996). George Balanchine: A Biography. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20639-8. 

• Schorer, Suki (1999). On Balanchine Technique. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-45060-2. 

• Joseph, Charles M. (2002). Stravinsky and Balanchine, A Journey of Invention. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08712-8. 

• Gottlieb, Robert (2004). George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-075070-7. 

• Goldner, Nancy (2008). Balanchine Variations. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 

• Goldner, Nancy (2011). More Balanchine Variations. Gainesville: University Press of Flordia. 

See also[link]

• Balanchine method
• List of Russian ballet dancers
• List of ballets by George Balanchine
• List of Eastern Bloc defectors
• Category: Ballets by George Balanchine

Articles[link]

• Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times, June 30, 2003
• Robert Gottlieb,"Keeper of the Jewels", The New York Review of Books, volume 55, number 15, October 9, 2008
• Anna Kisselgoff, obituary, Sunday New York Times, May 1, 1983

External links[link]

• George Balanchine at the Internet Movie Database
  • Biography for George Balanchine at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website George Balanchine Foundation
• Official website George Balanchine Trust
• Official website NYCB
  • Official website SAB
• Firebird performed by Maria Tallchief and Michael Maule, Jacob's Pillow, 1951
  • Suzanne Farrell on Balanchine: More than Technique Jacob's Pillow, 2006
• George Balanchine: Master of the Dance American Masters, PBS, January 14, 2004
• Guide to George Balanchine archive at Houghton Library Harvard University