Our History

Where It All Began.

American Ballet Theatre is considered one of the greatest dance companies in the world, revered as a living national treasure since its founding in 1939. Few ballet companies rival ABT in size, scope, and outreach. Though located in New York City, ABT annually tours the United States – performing for 300,000 people annually – and is the only major cultural institution to do so. The Company has made more than 30 international tours to 45 countries in order to share American ballet with the world, and on many of these engagements ABT received sponsorship from the State Department of the United States Government.

In the Autumn of 1939, ABT was launched with the mission of developing a repertoire of the best ballets from the past, and the creation of new works by gifted choreographers, wherever they might be found. Under the direction of Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith (1945 – 1980), the Company more than fulfilled this mission.

Perhaps unmatched in the history of ballet, ABT’s celebrated repertoire includes beloved full-length classics from the nineteenth century: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and Giselle; many of the finest works from the twentieth century: Apollo, Les Sylphides, Jardin aux Lilas, Fancy Free, Rodeo, Airs, Push Comes to Shove, In the Upper Room, and Duets; and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces, including Shostakovich Trilogy and Serenade after Plato’s Symposium. Throughout the curation of this exquisite repertoire, ABT has commissioned works by celebrated choreographic minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.

Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre in 1980, succeeding Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith. Under his leadership, numerous classical ballets were staged, restaged, and refurbished and ABT strengthened and refined the classical tradition. In 1990, Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith succeeded Baryshnikov and established an agenda dedicated to maintaining the great traditions of the past while aggressively pursuing a vital and innovative future.

In October 1992, former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie was appointed Artistic Director. McKenzie, steadfast in his vision of ABT as “American,” was committed to maintaining the Company’s vast repertoire, and to bringing the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world.

Former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Susan Jaffe was named Artistic Director in December 2022. Jaffe is dedicated to preserving the beauty and depth of classical ballet while moving the Company artistically into the future, expanding ABT’s audience, and exploring diverse choreographers and styles.

In keeping with ABT’s long-standing commitment to bring the finest in dance to the widest international audience, the Company has recently enjoyed triumphant successes with engagements in Abu Dhabi, Brisbane, Paris, and Muscat, Oman.

On April 27, 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre was designated America’s National Ballet Company®.