New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet
General information
Name	New York City Ballet
Previous names	American Ballet Ballet Caravan American Ballet Caravan The Ballet Society
Year founded	1948
Founders	George Balanchine Lincoln Kirstein
Founding choreographers	George Balanchine Jerome Robbins
Principal venue	David H. Koch Theater Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts New York City Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.
Website	www.nycballet.com
Artistic staff
Ballet Master in Chief	Peter Martins
Ballet Mistress	Rosemary Dunleavy
Music Director	Andrew Litton
Other
Orchestra	The New York City Ballet Orchestra
Official school	School of American Ballet
Associated schools	New York Choreographic Institute
Formation	Principal Dancer Soloist Corps de Ballet

New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein.Léon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. City Ballet grew out of earlier troupes: the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet, 1934; the American Ballet, 1935, and Ballet Caravan, 1936, which merged into American Ballet Caravan, 1941; and directly from the Ballet Society, 1946.

In a 1946 letter, Kirstein stated, "The only justification I have is to enable Balanchine to do exactly what he wants to do in the way he wants to do it." He served as the company's General Director from 1946 to 1989, developing and sustaining it by his organizational and fundraising abilities.

The company was named New York City Ballet in 1948 when it became resident at City Center of Music and Drama. Its success was marked by its move to the New York State Theater, now David H. Koch Theater, designed by Philip Johnson to Balanchine's specifications. City Ballet went on to become the first ballet company in the United States to have two permanent venue engagements: one at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater on 63rd Street in Manhattan, and another at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in Saratoga Springs, New York. The School of American Ballet (S.A.B.), which Balanchine founded, is the training school of City Ballet.

...
Wikipedia