NYCB Vol. 15 No. 11 - Vienna Waltzes

“'I have a bit of Vienna in my bloodstream,’ Mr. Balanchine said in an interview during a lighting rehearsal some days ago. ‘I’m from the Caucasus, a Georgian, you know, but I’ve grown up in St. Petersburg, and Viennese music and other cultural influences from Austria were very strong there at that time.’

“Mr. Balanchine said he had danced the waltz in his St. Petersburg days. ‘Now few people can dance the waltz,’ he remarked. ‘Especially men can’t, even here in Vienna.’ —Paul Hofmann, New York Times, 1977

Photos by Martha Swope, 1977.

"While he was working on Vienna Waltzes, Mr. Balanchine would take all of us to the main hall and make sure that every couple was rehearsed in the proper way to waltz. He was very specific about the style. You do not go up and down, but glide. The effect would be light. You had to hold the woman’s arms just so and she had to hold her head the correct way. he was adamant about these matters. It is incredible when you think of it, how there is nothing but waltzing or variations of waltzing in every movement except the third, but you never get bored with the form.” —Sean Lavery in Balanchine: Celebrating Life in Dance by Costas.

Photos by Martha Swope, 1977