While celebrating its 75th anniversary this fall, New York City Ballet is performing 18 ballets by its founding choreographer, George Balanchine. But to get a sense of the global standing of Balanchine, 40 years after his death, other numbers might be more telling. Last year, for instance, about 50 other ballet companies across the world — including City Ballet of San Diego — performed his works, about 75 dances in total. Balanchine likened his ballets to butterflies: “They live for a season.
Russell was the first to stage one in China, in 1987. The next year, she brought one to the Soviet Union — to the institution then known as the Kirov Ballet , where Balanchine had trained in the first decades of the 20th century but where few of the dancers had seen his works or knew much about him. Always, there have been questions about authenticity.