Ballet and modern dance (a closely related artform) owe an unpayable debt to the Russian emigre choreographer George Balanchine (1904-1983). In addition to being a master teacher, a famously demanding and perfectionistic director of both the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet, as a choreographer he developed a new language of dance expression which was less ethereal, more immediate, than the previous century's classical ballet. In so doing, he created a uniquely "American" ballet, and established America as a powerhouse in the ballet world. He was a friend of the great artists of his era, from composer Igor Stravinsky to poet W.H. Auden. This documentary includes film of some of the works he choreographed, as well as reminiscences of some of his dedicated dancers. His troubled personal life is only glancingly alluded to: the focus of this documentary is on his transcendent artistry.
~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide