A Balanchine Class in the year of the Plague 2020 ( John Clifford)

During the Coronavirus shutdown of all live performances and schools, including ballet schools, dancers around the world began posting videos of themselves doing their own exercises in their homes, or teaching classes to others via the internet. I didn t feel the need to do that, but felt maybe I could use the time to show what a typical Balanchine class was like. When I joined the NYC Ballet, Balanchine was only 62 years old, and still very physically active. He taught 6 days a week, and rarely missed one. Balanchine actually brought me to the company after seeing some of my ballets in Los Angeles. He wanted me to choreograph for his school, the School of American Ballet (and this was years before they had their public workshop shows) and to groom me to be a choreographer. I had just turned 19. It was only a month after I arrived at the school (and made two ballets) that he took an interest in my dancing, hired me for the company, and started developing both my dancing, and choreographic caree