13 August 2020
Our Top 5 Balanchine Quotes
If you hadn’t noticed, we are big fans of George Balanchine. Not only did his ballets leave a lasting impression on the world, but so did his words. Here are our top 5 favorite Balanchine quotes to inspire you!
Ballet Arizona company dancers in George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev. © The George Balanchine Trust.
Ballet is important and significant – yes. But first of all it is a pleasure.
See the music, hear the dance.
Ballet Arizona company dancers in George Balanchine’s Emeralds. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev. © The George Balanchine Trust.
First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty, if you’re very lucky and have said your prayers.
The mirror is not you. The mirror is you looking at yourself.
Ballet Arizona company dancers in George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev. © The George Balanchine Trust.
When you have a garden full of pretty flowers, you don’t demand of them, “What do you mean? What is your significance?” Dancers are just flowers, and flowers grow without any literal meaning, they are just beautiful. We’re like flowers. A flower doesn’t tell you a story. It’s in itself a beautiful thing.
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Ah, but the seminal quote seems to have originated in the 1930’s, when Lincoln Kirstein asked Balanchine “Would you come to America to start a ballet company?”.Balanchine’s answer, of course, is said to have been “But first, a school.”.