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 BalanchineThe ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers, and man is the gardener.
George BalanchineThe 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 BalanchineStoryless is not abstract. Two dancers on the stage are enough material for a story; for me, they are already a story in themselves
George Balanchine