Ballet Society Ballet Society Ballet Society is a non-profit educational institution founded in 1946 by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. At its founding, Balanchine was the Artistic Director and Kirstein served as the Secretary. The president of Ballet Society is Nancy Lassalle, an original Board member of both the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet, currently Emerita. The first performance took place on November 20, 1946 at the Central High School of Needle Trades in New York City. In its first season, it opened with "The Four Temperaments" and the "Spellbound Child". Ballet Society's purpose was to develop
New York International Ballet Competition New York International Ballet Competition The New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC), was a program providing dance education and employment opportunities for young dancers ages 17 to 24. In 1983 Ilona Copen founded NYIBC, with Igor Youskevitch as first artistic director, in order to fill a void and satisfy a need in the global dance ecosystem. Other international ballet competitions existed, but New York City, considered a dance capital of the world, did not have its own. NYIBC's mission was to discover the world's finest young ballet dancers, provide them with an extraordinary educational, mentoring and cultural experience, advance their