The Balanchine Century. 1904-2004

On 2 June 2004 an exhibition opened in the Hermitage Theater to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Balanchine, the outstanding choreographer of the 20th century.

The exhibition has been organized by the State Hermitage together with the Mariinsky Theater, the State Museum of Theater and Musical Arts, the Balanchine Foundation (New York) and the General Consulate of the USA in St Petersburg.

The display exhibits feature materials pertaining to the Petersburg period in the life of the choreographer, including documents telling about the first steps in his professional career. Most of these materials are being shown publicly for the first time.

Visitors will see archival documents, photographs, theater programs and drawings for shows in which Balanchine worked as the choreographer of dance scenes while serving as a young dancer in the Mariinsky Theater. There are also photographs of Balanchine’s productions for the New York City Ballet, excerpts from his shows and documentary films about Balanchine.

The exhibits on display come from museum collections, as well as from Moscow and St Petersburg archives and libraries: the Bakhrushin Central State Theater Museum, the Central State Archive of Literature and Art, the Akhmatova State Literary and Memorial Museum in the Fontanka House, the State Theater Library, The Russian National Library, the All-Russian Pushkin Museum. Materials from the collection of the State Museum of Theater and Musical Arts constitute the basis for the exhibition. The exhibition in the Hermitage takes place within the program entitled The Balanchine Century, which has been arranged to coincide with the Mariinsky Theater’s White Nights Festival.

Among those who took part in the opening ceremony of the exhibition were US Ambassador to the Russian Federation Alexander Vershbow , Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky, Executive Director of the George Balanchine Foundation (New York) Lopez Lourdes, Director of the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theater Makhar Vaziev and Tamara Tsepota, a representative of Sberbank Russia.

More

Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky at the opening of the exhibition

US Ambassador to the Russian Federation Alexander Vershbow

The opening ceremony of the exhibition