American Ballet Theatre history

In 1945 Oliver Smith joined Ballet Theatre and became co-director with Chase.

Somehow the Company stayed together during World War II. In 1946, they performed in England at Covent Garden, and were a great success.

A longtime patron favorite, American Ballet Theatre was first seen at Northrop in 1956.

In 1957 the company changed its name to American Ballet Theatre.

In 1960 the ABT was the first American ballet company to dance in the Soviet Union.

In 1977, the company began its spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, its new official venue.

Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1980 became Artistic Director for American Ballet Theatre.

(First published September 1989)

In 2004 he established an official associate ballet school, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

The 20 dancers on the ABT Across America tour hail from 8 countries spanning 5 continents! Out of these 20 dancers, Cory Stearns has been with the company the longest, joining 16 years ago in 2005.

After a long period of no in-house choreographer, McKenzie appointed Alexei Ratmansky as "Artist in Residence" in January 2009.

The company’s performance of Giselle was the first act on the Carlson Family Stage after Northrop's 2014 renovation.

His new full-length ballet A Swan Lake, nominated for a 2015 Benois de la Danse, takes a fresh look at Tchaikovsky's classic work.

Let Me Sing Forevermore, included in ABT Across America’s mixed repertory program, premiered in 2019 and is a blend of jazz and ballet movements set to popular songs sung by Tony Bennett.