The first part of “Mr B”, Jennifer Homans’s engrossing (and occasionally exhausting) biography of George Balanchine, is a journey across the political and cultural landscape of the early 20th century.

In Russia -- With Diaghilev -- On his own -- To America -- Broadway and Hollywood -- His women and his men -- The New York City ballet -- Back to Russia -- The final years -- The man Chronicles the ...

Long before he died in 1983, George Balanchine had established himself as the 20th-century’s most important ballet choreographer. How a poor boy who was born in pre-revolutionary Russia and fled the ...

Seventeen women in tulle stand in moonlight, right arms raised, hands flexed to the sky as Tchaikovsky's chords swell. The opening of George Balanchine's "Serenade," the centerpiece of San Francisco ...