History left many such vivid marks – coincidences, close calls and fateful meetings – over Balanchine’s career, and none was more crucial than the timing of his birth. If he had been born in a different generation he would probably have remained Balanchivadze and stayed in Russia. During his last years at school, however, the gilded world of the Tsar’s Imperial Ballet was overturned by revolution. To a young choreographer, the resulting artistic fomentation was enthralling, but along with it came the risks of starvation and political chaos, and in 1924 Balanchivadze left for the west.