New York City Ballet
The New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein in 1948. It was the first ballet institution with two permanent venues, the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. The affiliated School of American Ballet is located in the adjacent Samuel B. & David Rose Building at Lincoln Center.
History
The idea for the foundation came from Lincoln Kirstein. His vision was an American Ballet, where local young dancers would be trained by the best ballet masters in order to present a new, modern repertoire, instead of being dependent on foreign tour groups.
1933 Kirstein met George Balanchine in New York and knew immediately he had made the right person for his vision. Balanchine had enjoyed in Russia, a classical ballet training and has also studied piano and composition. The early years were difficult. A three-year collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera ended in dispute. During the Second World War only the school of the company was active.
After the war, the Ballet Society was founded. The first performances took place in New York at City Center for Music and Drama. Morton Tree, at the time Chairman of the City Centre 's Finance Committee was impressed by the presentation and suggested to make the company the New York City Ballet. 1948 Jerome Robbins became the Assistant Artistic Director. The first season was opened in October 1948 with three choreographies by Balanchine: Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Symphony in C.
In 1964 the company in the new New York State Theater, now renamed the David H. Koch Theater to. Guest performances led the New York City Ballet, among others to Europe, Australia, Brazil, Japan and Russia.
Today the company has about 90 dancers and 150 pieces in their repertoire, mainly choreography by Balanchine, Robbins and Peter Martins. It is one of the top three ballet companies of the United States.
Principal Dancer
- Jared Angle
- Charles Askegard
- Yvonne Borree
- Ashley Bouder
- Joaquin de Luz
- Albert Evans
- Megan Fairchield
- Gonzalo Garcia
- Sterling Hyltin
- Darci Kistler
- Maria Kowroski
- Sébastien Marcovici
- Nilas Martins
- Sara Mearns
- Benjamin Millepied
- Philip Neal
- Jenifer Ringer
- Jennie Somogyi
- Abi Stafford
- Jonathan Stafford
- Janie Taylor
- Daniel Ulbricht
- Andrew Veyette
- Wendy Whelan