Kirstein, Lincoln

Kirstein, Lincoln (Edward)

(1907–  ) writer, impresario; born in Rochester, N.Y. Heir to a Filene (department store) fortune, he fell in love with the theater as a child and was profoundly inspired by Anna Pavlova in 1920. After graduating from Harvard, he reviewed dance and theater for Horn and Hound, which he cofounded. In 1933 he recognized George Balanchine's talents, sponsored his emigration to the United States, and, to provide vehicles for Balanchine's talents, founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 and the American Ballet Company the following year. The American Ballet became attached to the Metropolitan Opera the following year, when Kirstein also ran Ballet Caravan. In 1946 Kirstein and Balanchine founded the Ballet Society, and in 1948 they moved to New York's new City Center as the directors of what became one of America's top-ranking companies, New York City Ballet. Officially retired in 1989, Kirstein remained a presence in the American dance world and intellectual life. He wrote several books, including Dance (1935) and Movement and Metaphor (1970), as well as poetry, and was founder-editor of Dance Index Magazine (1942–48).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.