New York City — The George Balanchine Foundation is pleased to announce seven additions to its archival video series. These videos are devoted to examining selected passages of Balanchine's choreography in detail. In a studio setting, originators or major interpreters of some of his greatest works teach, coach, and discuss their roles in these ballets with dancers of today. The overall goal of the Video Archives Program is to create an original "manuscript" of Balanchine ballets by preserving not only the steps but the nuances of the choreography as conceived and taught to the dancers by Balanchine himself.

Coaches in the 2016 series include Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Frederic Franklin, Gloria Govrin, Conrad Ludlow, Peter Martins, Kay Mazzo, Maria Tallchief, Violette Verdy and Edward Villella working with dancers from Cincinnati Ballet, Miami City Ballet and New York City Ballet.

The release of the seven new videos brings the series total to forty-nine. Edited masters are preserved in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and for a nominal fee, copies of these are made available to non-circulating research repositories. Currently seventy-eight libraries worldwide house the videos which are also available through the Alexander Street Press Dance in Video series.

Nancy Reynolds, dance historian, writer, and the Foundation's director of research, conceived and continues to direct the program, assisted by independent film maker and film professor Virginia Brooks, Gus Reed a New York City based film maker, and Paul Boos a répétiteur with the George Balanchine Trust.

For a complete list of the George Balanchine Video Archives and the facilities housing them, visit: https://balanchine.org/03/gbfvideoarchives.jsp