New York City Ballet (New York City)

In the 1930s ballet enthusiast Lincoln Kirstein decided to promote the idea of an American ballet company that would train its own American dancers and be on a par with celebrated European companies. He met the legendary choreographer George Balanchine in 1933 and brought him to New York to help found the company. Balanchine's innovative, neoclassical choreography and singular vision for the ballet are at the heart of the company. His legacy runs through the teaching methods of the School of American Ballet and through his repertory of more than 125 works. The New York City Ballet also performs works by celebrated choreographers Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins (its current director) and others.

Now half a century old, the New York City Ballet performs in the Philip Johnson-designed New York State Theater, and has a season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center each summer and at venues around the world. The company is committed to adding at least four new ballets each year in order to maintain the vitality and distinction of its repertory.