His art will live on

By Kristen Peterson

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Who: Nevada Ballet Theatre

What: "An All Balanchine Celebration: From Tchaikovsky to Gershwin"

When: 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall

Tickets: $29, $49, $69, 895-2787

Sandra Jennings was there for the good times, the inspired moments, the humor, the prolific work and revolutionary progression that was George Balanchine.

Jennings, a Boston-born dancer, joined Balanchine's New York City Ballet in 1974 and stayed for nine years.

"In our hearts we thought it would go on and on," Jennings says.

But what to do when the legend exits the stage, leaving behind an ephemeral language that doesn't hold its permanence like a book, score or painting.

It was something all of his dancers and colleagues had wondered.

When Balanchine died in 1983, his will distributed decades of his ballets among a small group of individuals, which founded a trust and then established a foundation to ensure his artistic legacy.

"It was a way to make order out of chaos," says Barbara Horgan, who until two years ago was administer of the trust. She was just 20 years old when she began working with Balanchine as a secretary in the 1950s. She eventually became his personal assistant and a lifelong devotee of his work.

The Balanchine Essays were the foundation's first project and evolved from Balanchine's idea of creating a "dictionary of his technique."

Dancers Suki Schorer and Merrill Ashley demonstrate Balanchine's style on videotape. Dance masters, known as repiteurs, stage productions.

Balanchine left behind more than 400 works and had also choreographed musicals, film and opera. His reputation of having a neoclassical style was defined by a simplified, quickened pace and his heavy focus on musicality, a result of extensive musical training.

The cavalier Balanchine, who didn't expect his work to be remembered after his death, would be surprised at what has come of his legacy and his works.

"We are trying to teach them as best we can so the next generation of dancers can pass them on," says Jennings, one of several dance masters. She has staged more than 30 of his works. "He's been gone for 24 years. His ballets are as much if not more in demand than they ever were. He's teaching another generation of dancers."

Trained at the Imperial Ballet School, Balanchine danced at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He came to the United States in 1933 and set out to create a ballet company that would rival those in Europe and formed the New York City Ballet in 1948.

A company must not only have permission to present a Balanchine work. It must also have instruction. If the company is not ready for one Balanchine number, there is quite possibly another it can use.

"The great joy of the Balanchine repertoire is that it's a cornucopia. There is something for everyone," Horgan says.

Jennings came to town in November to stage "Who Cares?" a classical ballet with Broadway flavor, for the Nevada Ballet Theatre.

The company will be presenting "An All Balanchine Celebration: From Tchaikovsky to Gershwin" this weekend at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall. The program also includes "Allegro Brilliante," a Tchaikovsky pas de deux and a pas de deux from "Tarantella." Jennings also staged the two pas de deux.

Nevada Ballet had presented "Allegro Brilliante" in February 2004, but never a full Balanchine production. Having Balanchine in a company repertoire is definitely a coup for any company and Nevada Ballet is for the first time opening the balcony at Artemus Ham Hall to accommodate the expected crowds. Normally the company presents in the smaller Judy Bayley Theatre.

Given that his works are considered great teaching tools, it's possible to see a stronger company from this. Beth Barbre, the company's new executive director, is familiar with the artistically accurate demands of Balanchine works. She spent five years as administrator of The George Balanchine Trust in New York City and five years as company manager of the New York City Ballet.

The integrity of the work is heavily policed by the foundation.

"I don't think there will ever be another Balanchine," Jennings says, adding that the traditionalist never let go of his roots with Russian classical ballet, rather he took ballet to another level. "He was such a gift for dance."

His work is a standard with some companies: "Balanchine has become something of a Shakespeare in that sense," Horgan says. "He has become that classic work."