New York City Ballet what he wants to do in the way he wants to do it." He served as the company's General Director from 1946 to 1989, developing and sustaining it by his organizational and fundraising abilities. The company was named New York City Ballet in 1948 when it became resident at City Center of Music and Drama. Its success was marked by its move to the New York State Theater, now David H. Koch Theater, designed by Philip Johnson to Balanchine's specifications. City Ballet went on to become the first ballet company in the United States to have two permanent venue engagements:
New York Theatre Ballet teacher Margaret Craske was ballet mistress for New York Theatre Ballet from its foundation until late in her life. Craske was succeeded by Sallie Wilson, a student of hers, who was ballet mistress until 2008. Wilson staged works by Antony Tudor for New York Theatre Ballet and also choreographed her own pieces. New York Theatre Ballet runs LIFT, a community program to give underprivileged children the chance to learn to dance. Steven Melendez, a former Project LIFT student, is the current director of the project. In the summer of 2013 New York Theatre Ballet began a fight against eviction from