George Balanchine (born
Giorgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze April 30, 1983) was an American
ballet choreographer. Styled as the father of American ballet, he took the standards and technique from his education at the
Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure as a guest choreographer on Broadway and in Hollywood, creating his signature "neoclassical style". He was a choreographer known for his
musicality; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like
Igor Stravinsky.