LEVYdance Competitors

Since 1963, Boston Ballet’s internationally acclaimed performances of classical, neo-classical, and contemporary ballets, combined with a dedication to world-class dance education and community engagement, have made the institution a leader in its field, with a 61-year history of promoting excellence and access to dance. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and Executive Director Ming Min Hui, the Company, made up of 67 dancers and 14 nationalities, performs a diverse and acclaimed repertoire ranging from full-length classical ballets to masterworks by George Balanchine, and new works and world premieres by today’s finest contemporary choreographers. The New York Times hailed Boston Ballet’s repertoire as “one of the most eclectic in the country,” and as having dancers that are “striking by national and international standards.” Boston Ballet's second company, Boston Ballet II, gains experience performing with the Company and independently. Boston Ballet School, the official school of Boston Ballet, has a long-standing dedication to providing exceptional dance education and ballet training to students across three studios in Boston, Newton, and Natick. The School reaches more than 5,000 students (toddler to adult) each year through its core programs: Graduate Program, Professional Division at Walnut Hill, Classical Ballet Program, Children’s Program, Adaptive Dance Program, and Adult Dance Program. Boston Ballet School also operates community education and arts experiences around Boston and beyond, providing programming, events, and activities that connect the community to dance. Community programs reach more than 4,000 individuals in Boston and the surrounding region each year through Citydance, workshops, and trainings.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is recognized as one of the great dance companies in the world. Few ballet companies equal ABT for its combination of size, scope, and outreach. Recognized as a living national treasure since its founding in 1940, ABT is the only major cultural institution that annually tours the United States, performing for more than 450,000 people. Over its 83-year history, the Company has also performed in a total of 139 cities around the world. As a result of this vast domestic and international reach anchored in its American roots, in 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre became America's National Ballet Company.® When American Ballet Theatre was founded, the aim was to develop a repertoire of the best ballets from the past, and to encourage the creation of new works by gifted young choreographers, wherever they might be found. In January 2022, former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, Susan Jaffe, was appointed Artistic Director. Jaffe is committed to maintaining the Company's vast repertoire, engaging the leading choreographers of our time to create exciting new work, and bringing the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world. With a repertory of the great full-length classical ballets and contemporary one-act ballets, ABT’s performance season includes a Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House and a Fall season at the Koch Theater in New York City. ABT also tours in the US and abroad and has a robust Education program which includes the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School, ABT Summer Intensive programs across the US, and the ABT National Training Curriculum, a training program for dance educators.

Ballet West was established in Salt Lake City in 1963. Willam F. Christensen was the company’s first artistic director, co-founding the company together with Utah’s “First Lady of the Arts” Glenn Walker Wallace. In 1951, Christensen had established the first ballet department in an American university at The University of Utah and with the tireless assistance of Mrs. Enid Cosgriff this program grew into the Utah Civic Ballet, Ballet West’s first incarnation. But this was not the first ballet company Willam Christensen’s founded. Along with his brothers Lew and Harold, Christensen made history by establishing the oldest ballet company in the western United States, the San Francisco Ballet. There he went on to create the first full-length American productions of Coppélia, Swan Lake, and his evergreen production of The Nutcracker, which remains in Ballet West’s repertoire to this day. Since 2007, Artistic Director Adam Sklute, former dancer, Ballet Master and Associate Director of The Joffrey Ballet has further energized and expanded Ballet West’s remarkable repertoire with works by the most renowned choreographers of today such as Ulysses Dove, Jiri Kylian, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, and Stanton Welch. Sklute has also introduced the elegant historical masterpieces from the great Ballets Russes of the early 20th Century and continues to preserve Ballet West’s classical legacy. Sklute has further strengthened Ballet West’s heritage by introducing new creations by local, national and international choreographers. For 50 years, Willam Christensen and Ballet West have developed and influenced innumerable great artists in the ballet world. Some notable figures include Bart Cook, Finis Jhung, Jay Jolley, Victoria Morgan, Tomm Ruud, Michael Smuin, Richard Tanner, and Kent Stowell. With this eclectic and ever expanding outlook, Ballet West is truly an American pioneer in the world of dance.