This comprehensive and illuminating biography puts into a meaningful perspective the life, art and times of one of the supreme artistic geniuses of the 20th Century. Based on nearly 1,000 interviews conducted with Mr. Balanchine and the dancers, associates, friends and wives who have been involved with the choreographer during the various periods of his life.

Published at the start of the Balanchine Centennial, this book contains several pages devoted to each of 50 ballets choreographed by George Balanchine.

Companies represented are: New York City Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and others too numerous to mention.

Each of the 50 ballets is accompanied by an essay by such notable dancers and writers as: Karin von Aroldingen, Clive Barnes, Rosemary Dunleavy, Suzanne Farrell, Robert Gottlieb, Sara Leland, Peter Martins, Kay Mazzo, Arthur Mitchell, Nancy Reynolds, Suki Schorer, Maria Tallchief, Edward Villella and many others.

Balanchine's Tchaikovsky by Solomon Volkov. Translated from the Russian. Paperback, 224 pages, over 70 black & white photographs and drawings.

Interviews with George Balanchine in which the choreographer discusses his "soul mate," Tchaikovsky, as well as his own family, his early years in St. Petersburg, and his work.

By George Balanchine Paperback, 32 pages, published by San Marco Press.

This tiny volume is an informal compilation of quotations, comments, explanations and observations by the choreographer over a period of 50 years.

Following Balanchine by Robert Garis. Hardcover, 260 pages, 46 black & white photographs.

A longtime observer of Balanchine's work explores how the choreographer built his repertory, describes many ballets in precise yet nontechnical detail, and looks at how and why Balanchine chose his dancers, including a lengthy discussion of two ballerinas who inspired major ballets—Suzanne Farrell and Violette Verdy.

A biography of the famed choreographer and founder of New York City Ballet.

George Balanchine; The Ballet Maker by Robert Gottlieb. Hardcover, 216 pages, black & white photographs.

Author Robert Gottlieb brings a lifetime of experience and passion for ballet to this biography of George Balanchine, whom he knew personally and served as a member of the Board of Directors of New York City Ballet. Published in 2004 by HarperCollins as part of its Eminent Lives series of brief biographies, this volume is an ideal introduction to the art and genius of Mr. B.--a man Gottlieb has described as “Bach and Beethoven rolled into one.” Choreographer Twyla Tharp says simply, “Balanchine is God.”

George Balanchine is recalled with vivid immediacy by the artists and collaborators who mattered most in his career, including Merrill Ashley, Tamara Geva, Lincoln Kirstein, Darci Kistler, Peter Martins, Patricia McBride, Maria Tallchief, Edward Villella, and over 70 others.

Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Journey of Invention by Charles M. Joseph. Hardcover, 440 pages, black & white photographs.

Published in 2002 by Yale University Press, this volume draws on extensive new research and explores the background and psychology of two great artists, the dynamics of their interactions, their personal and professional similarities and differences as well as the political and historical circumstances that shaped their work. The book contains a number of sketches and music selections. The author is professor of music at Skidmore College.

This pioneering study by a Soviet dance historian looks at how the radical innovations in other art forms (i.e., Constructivism and Suprematism) were reflected in dance, and how the young Balanchine was shaped by these experiments.