Biographical Note
American Ballet Theatre (ABT), first known as Ballet Theatre, opened its inaugural three-week season on January 11, 1940, at Radio City's Center Theatre in New York City. During the years before World War II, ballet performances were relatively scarce on the U.S. stage. The formation of Ballet Theatre represented the first successful effort in the United States to create a major ballet company. Founder Richard Pleasant (1909-1961) set the goal of the new company to present an international gallery of dance, including both classics and contemporary ballet, to the widest possible audience. Among the many choreographers from the United States and Europe who provided ballets for ABT are Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Adolph Bolm, Birgit Cullberg, Agnes de Mille, Anton Dolin, Michel Fokine, Robert Joffrey, Jirí Kylián, Léonide Massine, Mark Morris, Bronislava Nijinska, Alexi Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Antony Tudor.
After the departure of founder Richard Pleasant in 1941, Lucia Chase (1897-1986)—the financial power behind the company—assumed artistic direction. Her position was formalized in 1945 and designer Oliver Smith (1918-1994) joined her as co-artistic director at that time. The two led the company until 1980. That year, Mikhail Baryshnikov, who had been a principal dancer with ABT from 1974 to 1978, was named artistic director. In 1990, impresario Jane Hermann took over the position along with Oliver Smith, who returned as co-artistic director. Kevin McKenzie, another former principal dancer, assumed the company’s artistic leadership in 1993.
In June 1941, the company, still called Ballet Theatre at that time, began its first national tour and also performed in Mexico City. Much of the company’s later touring was under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and, in the 1950s, the name of the company was changed to American Ballet Theatre. In 1960, ABT appeared in the Soviet Union as the first U.S. dance company sent to that country. In affirming the place and importance of the company to the cultural life of the nation, in 2006 the U.S. Congress proclaimed American Ballet Theatre as “America’s National Ballet Company.”