Ballet Arizona artistic director Ib Anderson, who studied with the legendary dancer, said, "To me, George Balanchine is to ballet what Bach is to music _ the ultimate creator of the art form."

The programs include Divertimento No. 15, Serenade, Agon, and Theme and Variations.

George Balanchine was the director of New York City Ballet for over thirty seasons, from the company's founding in 1948 until his death in 1983. He choreographed hundreds of works and trained several generations of dancers. His staging of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker in 1954 established the ballet as a annual favorite.