choreographer (1904-1983)
I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
attributed, Forbes, 1992
First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty if you're very lucky and have said your prayers.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
attributed, Little Book of Dance Quotations
See the music, hear the dance.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
attributed, Dancing for Balanchine
I am not a man, but a cloud in trousers.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
"Balanchine Said", The New Yorker, January 26, 2009
In ballet a complicated story is impossible to tell.... we can't dance synonyms.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
Life Magazine, June 11, 1965
The ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers, and man is the gardener.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
Life Magazine, June 11, 1965