Lincoln Edward Kirstein (1907–96) was an American writer, impresario, and cultural figure, best known as co-founder of the New York City Ballet. His contributions to dance, literature, and the arts shaped American cultural history.
Born in Rochester, New York, he studied at Harvard University, where he founded the Harvard Society for Contemporary Art (1928,) a precursor to the Museum of Modern Art. He later became a ballet patron, bringing George Balanchine to the U.S. in 1933 and establishing the School of American Ballet.
His literary works include Flesh Is Heir (1932,) Low Ceiling (1935,) and Rhymes of a PFC (1964,) an epic World War II poem. His writings on dance include Dance Index (1942–48,) Movement and Metaphor (1970,) and Thirty Years: Lincoln Kirstein’s The New York City Ballet (1978.)
Kirstein received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1984) and the National Medal of Arts (1985) for his contributions to American arts and culture.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Lincoln Kirstein
In liberal democracy and anxious anarchy, the traditional classic dance, compact of aristocratic authority and absolute freedom in a necessity of order, has never been so promising as an independent expression as it is today.
—Lincoln Kirstein
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