We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it is one of the great arts. . . . The important thing in ballet is the movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle . . . is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer must remember that they reach the audience through the eye. It's the illusion created which convinces the audience, much as it is with the work of a magician.
George BalanchineIn my ballets, woman is first. Men are consorts. God made men to sing the praises of women. They are not equal to men: They are better.
George BalanchinePut a man and a girl on stage and there is already a story; a man and two girls, there's already a plot.
George Balanchine