Kirstein, Lincoln (Edward)

(born May 4, 1907, Rochester, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 5, 1996, New York, N.Y.) U.S. dance authority, impresario, and writer. He graduated from Harvard, where he founded the literary magazine . Financially independent, he focused his artistic interests on ballet and in 1933 persuaded the choreographer George Balanchine to move to the U.S. to found a ballet school and company. The School of American Ballet opened in 1934; Kirstein was its director from 1940 to 1989. He and Balanchine jointly established a series of ballet companies, culminating in the New York City Ballet (1948), of which he served as general director until 1989. He wrote seven books on ballet, including the classic history (1935).

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