What is the Balanchine Method?

A way of training dancers for a specific body of choreography, developed by George Balanchine at the School of American Ballet from 1934 and refined over five decades to serve New York City Ballet. It prizes speed, clarity at high tempo, extreme range of movement and a willingness to go off the vertical and recover. Unlike the older European schools it was never written into a syllabus by its founder, and is transmitted by teachers who danced for him.

Where did the Balanchine Method originate?

The Balanchine Method originated in New York City, United States in 1934.

What is the character of the Balanchine Method?

The Balanchine Method is characterized as quick, attacking, expansive, off-balance, angular, musically precise.

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Balanchine Method

Q: What time signature is the Balanchine Method danced in?

The Balanchine Method is danced in A conventional barre and centre order, but with the barre kept short and functional and the emphasis thrown onto centre work at speed. Tendu and small jump combinations are drilled relentlessly, pirouettes are taken from a wide fourth without a preparatory settling, and pointe work is trained for speed and articulation as much as for balance..

Q: What tempo is the Balanchine Method danced at?

The Balanchine Method is typically danced at Faster than most academic training, with petit allegro pushed to the edge of what is executable and adagio used less for luxuriating than for building the strength that speed later requires..

Also known as: Balanchine technique, the SAB style, New York City Ballet style, American neoclassical training

OriginNew York City, United States

Era1934–Present

RhythmA conventional barre and centre order, but with the barre kept short and functional and the emphasis thrown onto centre work at speed. Tendu and small jump combinations are drilled relentlessly, pirouettes are taken from a wide fourth without a preparatory settling, and pointe work is trained for speed and articulation as much as for balance.

TempoFaster than most academic training, with petit allegro pushed to the edge of what is executable and adagio used less for luxuriating than for building the strength that speed later requires.

Characterquick, attacking, expansive, off-balance, angular, musically precise

History & Cultural Context

George Balanchine (1904-1983) was trained in the Imperial school in Petrograd and carried that grounding with him when Lincoln Kirstein brought him to the United States, where the School of American Ballet opened in January 1934. Over the following decades he adjusted the classroom to what his choreography needed as the choreography itself changed, so the training that produced dancers in the 1950s is not identical to the training of the late 1970s. He wrote no manual and issued no syllabus; the method exists as an oral tradition passed on by teachers such as Suki Schorer and by generations of former company dancers now teaching across America and abroad. It spread through the regional American companies founded by Balanchine alumni and through the licensing of his ballets, which brings repetiteurs and their expectations into other companies. Its status is contested by some who argue that it is a house style rather than a method, and that argument is itself part of the honest account.

Cultural Significance

The training was built inside a company culture that treated the classical vocabulary as raw material to be recombined rather than a heritage to be preserved, and that ran on plotless one-act works, often to Stravinsky. Its aesthetic came to stand for a distinctly American ballet at a moment when American cultural institutions were consciously establishing themselves against European ones. Because Balanchine's ballets are licensed through a trust that sends stagers with them, the technique travels with the repertoire.

Characteristic Movement & Technique

The hip is allowed to open and release so that extensions go higher and the leg travels further, and the dancer is expected to move through and past the vertical rather than protecting balance. The foot in tendu and in the air is often winged, the hands are open with fingers separated rather than classically rounded, and arms can be angular, elongated or held in positions no earlier school would sanction. Attack is immediate, with steps started without visible preparation, weight carried forward on a high demi-pointe, and the accent placed so that the dancer arrives on the music rather than approaching it.

Partnering Dynamics

Pas de deux in this tradition is fast, weight-shared and often unconventional in its handholds, with the woman taken far off her own axis and returned, and lifts that read as continuations of momentum rather than as displayed feats. The partnering in the leotard ballets in particular treats the two dancers as a single moving structure, with supported promenades taken at speed and shapes that would be impossible for either alone. It is trained in the studio alongside repertoire rather than as a separate examined subject.

Competitive Context

There is no examination system attached to this training; assessment is by audition, by placement within the school, and by the annual workshop performances that function as the entry point to the company. Balanchine repertoire appears less often in international competitions than Petipa, partly because the ballets are licensed and cannot simply be taken up as a variation. Youth America Grand Prix and similar events have nonetheless become a route into American schools, so competition-trained students increasingly enter this training rather than emerging from it.

Regional Variations

What is taught in New York differs from what is taught in the regional companies founded by former Balanchine dancers, because each teacher carries the version of the technique current when they danced. Teachers from the 1950s emphasise different things than those from the 1970s, and there is real disagreement among alumni about which is authentic. Outside the United States the label is often applied loosely to any fast, high-extension, neoclassical training with no direct lineage at all.

Common Misconceptions

It is not a rejection of classical technique; it is an outgrowth of Imperial Russian training pushed toward speed and range, and the vocabulary underneath is orthodox. There is no official codified syllabus, so any claim that a particular set of exercises is the method should be treated as one teacher's account. The thin, long-limbed Balanchine body was a casting preference and an aesthetic of his company, not a requirement produced by or necessary for the training, and conflating the two has done real harm.

Peak Popularity

1980s

85% estimated global awareness

Signature Figures

Pirouettes from a wide fourth with a straight back leg
The winged foot in tendu
Open, separated fingers
Arrival on the beat rather than preparation for it
High demi-pointe and forward weight

Notable Codifiers

George Balanchine
Lincoln Kirstein
Muriel Stuart
Alexandra Danilova
Stanley Williams
Suki Schorer
Suzanne Farrell

Who governs Balanchine Method

Federations, councils and examining bodies with a recorded role in this style. No single organisation can tell you this — each one knows only itself.

The George Balanchine TrustHeritage body · International · USARecognises what it calls George Balanchine choreography

Legends of Balanchine Method

Dancers, choreographers and teachers whose work shaped this style.

George BalanchineFather of American BalletPioneered · developed the fast, musically responsive ballet practice sustained by his school and repertory Lincoln KirsteinLegend of DancePopularised · Enabled Balanchine training through SAB and NYCB Maria TallchiefAmerica's First Prima BallerinaTaught · coached later dancers in Balanchine repertory Suzanne FarrellLegend of DanceTaught · transmitted Balanchine repertory through coaching and staging Arthur MitchellLegend of DancePerformed · originated major Balanchine roles at New York City Ballet Jacques DamboiseLegend of DancePerformed · originated major Balanchine roles at New York City Ballet Tiler PeckLegend of DancePerformed · principal interpreter of Balanchine repertory at NYCB

Balanchine Method on screen

Films and television where Balanchine Method appears, with the sequences worth watching for.

In Balanchine's Classroom (2021)6 sequences indexedBalanchine teaches company class · chor. George BalanchineSerenade (1973 performance excerpt) · chor. George BalanchineEdward Villella coaches Carlos Guerra (2011) · chor. George Balanchine

Poster artwork from TMDB.

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Balanchine Method in performance

17 staged works in the Limelight catalogue contain Balanchine Method, 1870–1978 — 2 of them in a named act or number.

Coppélia1870
Ballet · Arthur Saint-Léon, George Balanchine · defining style
Act III · Grand Pas de deux
Act III, in Balanchine's 1974 New York City Ballet production — Balanchine replaced the Act III finale with new choreography and added a corps of 24 young girls dancing the Waltz of the Hours, Dawn, Prayer and Work variations in his own idiom Source: "Balan…
La Valse1951
Ballet · George Balanchine
Eighth Waltz
Eighth Waltz solo variation for the ballerina in white — Balanchine directed the dancer toward torso contraction and a quality of 'plastique' rather than pure academic line, illustrating his method's blending of classical steps with expressive distortion. S…
Mozartiana1933
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
Whole work — A plotless, small-cast structure built directly from the music's movements — principal ballerina, two men, a corps of four women, and four young girls — typical of Balanchine's spare, musically driven ensemble design. Source: "Mozartiana is dan…
Serenade1934
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the whole ballet, as a graded teaching structure — Choreographed explicitly as pedagogical material for School of American Ballet students, escalating in technical demand so it could serve as both classroom and graduation exercise. Source: "the ballet was f…
Concerto Barocco1941
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the entire ballet — Fast, musically exacting phrasing with syncopated accents laid over classical steps, characteristic of Balanchine's own developing choreographic method at the School of American Ballet. Source: "In the original choreography, Balanchine i…
The Four Temperaments1946
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The whole ballet's choreographic vocabulary — Choreography built directly from the music's pulse, with characteristic weight-shifts and foot/leg articulation later identified as core to Balanchine's own developing technique. Source: "The choreography stems…
Theme and Variations1947
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the lead couple's pas de deux material throughout the ballet — Balanchine reportedly directed the male lead away from dramatic, prince-like interpretation and toward the steps themselves, escalating technical complexity to suppress personal interpretation i…
Allegro Brillante1956
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the entire ballet, principal couple and corps of eight — fast turns, beats and pirouettes demanding exactness and control beneath apparent freedom, described by the originating dancers as requiring 'strong, broad dancing spaced in very little time' Source:…
Divertimento No. 151956
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The entire ballet, across all five movements — Choreographed by Balanchine himself as an abstract, score-driven structure of solos and ensembles for a plotless cast of principals and corps, described by a Balanchine scholar as characteristic of his purest w…
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux1960
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The entire pas de deux — Fast attack, sharp footwork and expanded amplitude in lifts and jumps characteristic of Balanchine's choreography for New York City Ballet dancers, as described through the variations and coda. Source: "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux open…
Tarantella1964
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The whole pas de deux — Choreography built explicitly around Villella's speed and jump and McBride's matching technique, described by the dancer as physically punishing bravura passages performed at full-out attack. Source: "to showcase New York City Ballet…
Jewels1967
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the whole work — This is Balanchine's own choreography made for the company he founded to realise his method; the article credits him as sole choreographer and 'founding choreographer' of NYCB. Source: "Jewels is a three-act ballet created for the New York…
Who Cares?1970
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The whole ballet — Balanchine's own choreography throughout, described by an original cast member as pointe technique carrying jazz-derived musicality rather than a conventional jazz-dance treatment of Gershwin. Source: "he put it on pointe – it's sort of l…
Stravinsky Violin Concerto1972
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
The whole ballet, danced by NYCB principals and corps — Dancers describe the choreography as a defining test of the Balanchine idiom itself, requiring the speed, attack and musicality specific to his method rather than a generic classical vocabulary. Source…
Union Jack1976
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
the whole work — A full-company ensemble ballet built by Balanchine for New York City Ballet, using his ensemble ballet-vocabulary throughout rather than a narrative dramatic idiom. Source: "Union Jack is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and…
Ballo della Regina1978
Ballet · George Balanchine · defining style
Whole ballet, especially the lead ballerina's variations and coda — Fast, torque-driven pointe work with spiralling épaulement through the limbs, built specifically to exploit one dancer's speed, precision and extreme range of movement. Source: "The squaren…
Sylvia1876
Ballet · Frederick Ashton, Louis Mérante
Sylvia Pas de Deux, New York City Ballet, 1950 (excerpted concert piece, separate from the full-length stagings) — a stand-alone concert pas de deux extracted and choreographed independently of the full-length narrative productions Source: "the New York Cit…

Every claim above is quoted from a cited source and names where in the work the style appears. Claims we could not place or could not quote are held back from this list and shown on the work’s own page instead. Browse the full performance catalogue →

Sources & Further Reading

Cultural & Historical Context

Balanchine Method emerged from New York City, United States during 1934—present day. Understanding the cultural roots, musical traditions, and social circumstances of this era enriches appreciation for the dance's characteristics and significance.

Formative Influences

Codifiers & Standardizers:

George Balanchine, Lincoln Kirstein, Muriel Stuart, Alexandra Danilova, Stanley Williams, Suki Schorer, Suzanne Farrell

Signature Movement Vocabulary:

Pirouettes from a wide fourth with a straight back leg, The winged foot in tendu, Open, separated fingers, Arrival on the beat rather than preparation for it, High demi-pointe and forward weight

Primary Source Documents

The Library of Dance contains public-domain primary sources for dance history. Copyrighted modern syllabi are indexed with purchase links to their respective copyright owners. Search by dance name or codifier to discover primary source documents.

Last reviewed: September 2026 — This dance profile synthesizes historical research, cultural documentation, and contemporary practice knowledge to provide authoritative context.

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Vaganova Method(T-BAL)

Neoclassical Ballet(T-BAL)

Contemporary Ballet(T-BAL)

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