IN BALANCHINE'S CLASSROOM takes us back to the glory years of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet through the remem | dG1fV05uOHphaVQzR1U
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00:01George Balanchine said,
00:03I don't want dancers that love to dance.
00:05I want dancers that need to dance.
00:11Balanchine was one of the most important people
00:13in the ballet world ever.
00:15When Balanchine came to America,
00:18there was no real ballet training.
00:22Balanchine not only started a company,
00:25he changed the whole look of ballet.
00:30He was inventing movement that was so new.
00:34He was experimenting.
00:35This is like some kind of mad scientist.
00:38It's like I was a pupil of Einstein.
00:42Sometimes it was so strange
00:44and what he was asking you to do.
00:47It took you a while to figure it out.
00:50And then again, he'd say,
00:51your hands like baby, like baby.
00:54He talked to me about eagles, soccer players.
00:57Scraping the bowl with your foot.
01:01Any other ballet class, eight of something,
01:03that's a lot of repetitions.
01:04Balanchine often gave 32, 64, faster.
01:08And faster.
01:09Faster, faster, faster, faster.
01:11Oh, no way.
01:12I remember thinking I was going to throw up,
01:14but he was trying to find out what our limits were.
01:17You think I am going to fall down and die.
01:20And he would say, dear, what are you saving it for?
01:27The way he taught, the way he choreographed.
01:32I can't imagine not passing on what I know.
01:37Do it fast.
01:38You have to push.
01:39As teachers, as much as we try, we're not Balanchine.
01:43Bigger.
01:44Hard.
01:45More delicate.
01:46But we devote ourselves to it.
01:47We have an obligation.
01:49I went from questioning, to believing, to being a disciple.
01:54.
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01:58.
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