ABSTRACT
George Balanchine loved things American, from Western movies to jazz music. Even before he moved to the United States he was inspired by black dance styles. In the first few years after he arrived in New York, he worked closely with several dancers and choreographers whose work in the black idiom had an impact on him. Moreover, several modernist composers whose music he choreographed were deeply influenced by black jazz. Balanchine's interest in black dance and black music - whether performed by whites or African Americans - is evident not only in his various works for the popular musical stage; aspects of the black dance tradition also thread through Balanchine's concert choreography, like Rubies and other ballets. I argue here not that Balanchine appropriated African or African-American dance wholesale or singled out black dance as his sole inspiration. Rather, his interest and participation in American popular entertainment fed back into his ballet choreography. His connoisseurship of dance in popular culture inevitably led him to experiment with one of the crucial forms and styles that have shaped American twentieth century social and popular dancing - viz., the venerable tradition of African-American dance.
