Ballet biopic on choreographer George Balanchine in works

A biopic on the early years of the influential ballet choreographer George Balanchine is being made by production banner Gulfstream Pictures.

Writer-composer David K. Israel is adapting the story of the upcoming film from author Elizabeth Kendall's book "Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer", reports variety.com.

The book, published in 2013, focused on the friendship between Balanchine and his childhood friend Liidia (Lidochka) Ivanova from the years just before the 1917 Russian Revolution to Balanchine's escape from Russia in 1924. Balanchine had been abandoned by his mother at the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet Academy in 1913 at the age of 9.

Ivanova died days before she and Balanchine had planned to leave Russia together. Zippora Karz, a ballerina chosen by Balanchine for the New York City Ballet, will be an executive producer.