Chanda West, age 15, of Bessemer, Ala., for her question:

HOW GREAT WAS GEORGE BALANCHINE?

All the historians in the field of ballet dancing agree that George Balanchine was one of the greatest choreographers in the history of dance. He was born George BalanchivaAze in Saint Petersburg (now Leningrad), Russia, in 1q04 and was trained there at the Imperial Ballet Academy.

In 1925 while touring in Europe with a small dance company, he joined a larger company in Paris as a choreographer. In 1931 he organized his own group, Les Ballets, and in 1434 was invited by the American ballet patron Lincoln Kirstein to co found and direct the School of American Ballet (now part of the Juilliard School) and the American Ballet Company.

In 1948 Balanchine co founded Ballet Society, which in 1948 became the New York City Ballet. Under his direction, this company became one of the world's great performing groups, with a repertory largely of his ballets.

Balanchine was considered the foremost representative of neoclassicism in ballet. He choreographed more than 100 ballets.

Balanchine died in New York City in 1983.