George Boris SkibineGeorge Boris Skibine in ''South Carolina, Naturalization Records, 1868-1991'' (russian: Юрий Борисович Скибин; Yuri Borisovich Skibin; January 30, 1920 – January 14, 1981), also known as Youra Skibine, was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer.

Biography

Skibine was born in

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

(now Ukraine) the son of

Boris Skibine Boris Alexandrovich Skibin (russian: Борис Александрович Скибин; 3 June 1876 – 3 December 1937), spelled Skibine in French, was a Russian ballet dancer with the Ballets Russes, as was his son, George. Boris Skibine appear ...

, a member of Diaghilev's

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

, and Vera Skibina. In 1937, Boris Skibine was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and executed, as part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1989. George began to perform with the Ballets Russes company at the age of five, as an extra in ''

Petrouchka ''Petrushka'' (french: link=no, Pétrouchka; russian: link=no, Петрушка) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1911 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes compan ...

''. He studied with various Russian teachers including

Olga Preobrajenska Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (russian: О́льга Ио́сифовна Преображе́нская; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biogra ...

, Julia Sedova,

Alexandre Volinine Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom o ...

and Lyubov Egorova before making his debut on ballet stage in 1937 in Egorova's Ballets de la Jeunesse. In 1938, at age 18, he became to dance with the René Blum's

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its a ...

. He danced with the company in 1938–1939, then performed with the Ballet Russe of W. de Basil (1939–1941), and the

Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

(1941–1942). Skibine immigrated to the United States in 1942 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen the next year. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the United States military during World War II. His enrollment as a student at

Camp Ritchie Fort Ritchie at Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 19 ...

makes him one of around 20,000

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...

, a group of military intelligence officers who used their language skills to obtain intel from the Axis powers during the War. After the war, Skibine performed with the Markova-Dolin Ballet (1946), again with

Original Ballet Russe The Original Ballet Russe (originally named Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo) was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company ...

(1947), Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (1947–1956), Ruth Page Civic Ballet (1956–1957 and 1959, with

Marjorie Tallchief Marjorie Tallchief (born Marjorie Louise Tall Chief; October 19, 1926November 30, 2021) was an American ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both fe ...

), and the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

(1957–1961, with Marjorie Tallchief). In 1959 he was named

danseur étoile ''Danseur étoile'' (for men) or ''danseuse étoile'' (for women), literally "star dancer", is the highest rank a dancer can reach at the Paris Opera Ballet. It is equivalent to the title "Principal dancer" in Anglo-Saxon countries or to the title ...

. He was named choreographer in 1950. Skibine later served as artistic director for

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...

(1958–1961), the

Harkness Ballet The Harkness Ballet (1964–1975) was a New York ballet company named after its founder Rebekah Harkness. Harkness inherited her husband's fortune in Standard Oil holdings, and was a dance lover. Harkness funded Joffrey Ballet, but when they re ...

(1964–1966) and the Dallas Civic Ballet (1969). He was made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1967.

Personal life

In 1947, in Vichy (France), Skibine married American ballerina

, younger sister of prima ballerina

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

. The couple had two children and remained married until his death in 1981 at the age of 60 from a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...

.''Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982 for George Boris Skibine''

References

External links

''New York Times'' obituary by Jack Anderson
Friday, January 16, 1981, Late City Final Edition, Section D, page 17 1920 births 1981 deaths Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Russian male ballet dancers Ballet masters Ballet choreographers Soviet emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Paris Opera Ballet étoiles Paris Opera Ballet artistic directors Ritchie Boys {{russia-bio-stub