During his time in Europe, Balanchine had begun to develop his neoclassical style, partially as a reaction to the Romantic anti-classicism that had led to increased theatricality in ballet. His style focused more on dance movement and construction in relation to music than on plot or characterization. After he came to America, established his school, and eventually founded the New York City Ballet, he continued to refine the principles of training his dancers.Barbara Walczak and Una Kai, Balanchine the Teacher: Fundamentals That Shaped the First Generation of New York City Ballet Dancers (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008). During the course of his career, in which he choreographed more than 450 ballets, he continued to develop his style and technique of training.Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique (New York: Knopf, 1999). He became far and away the most prolific force in the nation's ballet community,Lincoln Kirstein, "Balanchine and American Ballet," Ballet (London) 9.5 (May 1950), pp. 24-31, and 9.6 (June 1950), pp. 15-22. which led to his long-enduring legacy.Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm McCormick, No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003), passim. Lynn Garafola, Legacies of Twentieth-Century Dance (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 2005.).
