"The ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers, and man is the gardener." This quote by George Balanchine exemplified his view on the significant role women played in the art of ballet. Balanchine is regarded as the greatest contemporary choreographer in ballet, as he is known for being the father of American Ballet. Another one of Balanchine's famous quotes, "Ballet is woman" refers to the movements in ballet showing womanhood and ballet helping girls mature into women (3.1.6). Balanchine strengthens the theory of the importance between gender and types of dancing with his view on women and ballet. .
Ballet Russes (3.1) was one of the singular works we learned about in lesson 3. In the early 1900s, they toured throughout North and South America, and were well known for their ground breaking artistic collaborations. "When the Ballet Russes toured America and the world, they astonished audiences with artistry never before seen" (3.1). Choreographed by Sergei Diaghilev and George Balanchine, Ballet Russes was regarded as one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century. Their production created a huge sensation and brought attention to the public, while significantly changing the art of ballet; their influence still lasts today. Ironically, Ballet Russes refutes Balanchine's claim of ballet being an art form strictly for women as opposed to men. The dancers of Ballet Russes consisted of principle female dancers that included: Tamara Karsavina, Alicia Markova, Ida Rubenstein among others. However, Ballet Russes was even more remarkable for raising the status of the male dancer, which was somewhat overshadowed. It was very ironic that Ballet Russes contained successful male dancers, as it was George Balanchine himself who played a major role in choreography. The women's technique was very technical and structured. It seemed as if they were defying gravity (3.
