George B. Skibine

George B. Skibine
George B. Skibine
Personal details
Birth name	Yuri Borisovich Skibin
Born	30 January 1920; Kharkov, Russia (formerly, Now Ukraine)
Died	14 January 1981; Dallas, Texas
Nativity	Russia
Religion	Greek Orthodox
Known for	Ballerino, Choreographer
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32683402
Rank	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943)
Section	7A
Enlisted	New York City, New York

George Boris Skibine (Yuri Borisovich Skibin; January 30, 1920 – January 14, 1981), also known as Youra Skibine, was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer.

Biography edit

George Boris Skibine (Yuri Borisovich Skibin; January 30, 1920 – January 14, 1981), also known as Youra Skibine, was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer.

George began to perform with the Ballets Russes company at the age of five, as an extra in Petrouchka. He studied with various Russian teachers including Olga Preobrajenska, Julia Sedova, Alexandre Volinine and Lyubov Egorova before making his debut on ballet stage in 1937 in Egorova's Ballets de la Jeunesse. In 1938, at age 18, he became to dance with the René Blum's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. He danced with the company in 1938–1939, then performed with the Ballet Russe of W. De Basil (1939–1941), and the Ballet Theatre (1941–1942).

Skibine immigrated to the United States in 1942 and became a naturalized U.S. Citizen the next year. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the United States military during World War II. His enrollment as a student at Camp Ritchie makes him one of around 20,000 Ritchie Boys, a group of military intelligence officers who used their language skills to obtain intel from the Axis powers during the War.

After the war, Skibine performed with the Markova-Dolin Ballet (1946), again with Original Ballet Russe (1947), Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (1947–1956), Ruth Page Civic Ballet (1956–1957 and 1959, with Marjorie Tallchief), and the Paris Opera (1957–1961, with Marjorie Tallchief). In 1959 he was named danseur étoile. He was named choreographer in 1950.

Skibine later served as artistic director for Paris Opera Ballet (1958–1961), the Harkness Ballet (1964–1966) and the Dallas Civic Ballet (1969). He was made Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1967.

In 1947, in Vichy (France), Skibine married American ballerina Marjorie Tallchief, younger sister of prima ballerina Maria Tallchief. The couple had two children and remained married until his death in 1981 from a pulmonary embolism.

Research notes edit

Ballet dancer; choreographer
Fr 405

Gallery edit

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Technical record edit

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	61
Nara ASN	32683402
Nara Name	SKIBINE GEORGE B
Nara State	23
Nara County	59
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	141242
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	O9
Nara Year of Birth	20
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	9
Nara Civilian Occupation	45
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	70
Nara Weight (lbs)	158
Class_ASN	32683402
Class_Name	SKIBINE, George B.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources edit

Wikipedia: George Skibine
Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)