Balanchine also began to create plotless ballets in which the primary motivation was movement to music.
Zenaida Yanovsky is a completely persuasive Balanchine dancer, very assured and very sassy.
Seventeen women showed up for the first rehearsal, all of whom Balanchine managed to deploy in an ingenious opening tableau.
The founder of the New York City Ballet and grandfather of the now famed holiday production of The Nutcracker, Balanchine was the first classical choreographer to enlist modern dancers into his company.
Paul Taylor is one noted example of an artist to work with Balanchine, and he also recruited Martha Graham.