Carolina Ballet in the Triangle region was not only needed but desired as well. Robert Weiss, former principal dancer with New York City Ballet and past artistic director of Pennsylvania Ballet, was selected in April 1997 as the founding artistic director of the new professional company, known as Carolina Ballet, Inc. Dancers of the Carolina Ballet, as of April 2016: Carolina Ballet Carolina Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1997 which performs primarily in Raleigh, North Carolina and throughout the state. It has toured to New York City, Hungary and China. Robert Weiss, the artistic director, danced for George Balanchine for
Richmond Ballet first professional Ballet company in Virginia and was designated the State Ballet of Virginia in 1990, by then Governor Wilder. Richmond Ballet's educational outreach program, Minds In Motion, was founded in 1993. It features a pedestrian based movement curriculum that is taught to 4th graders all over the commonwealth. In 2000, Richmond Ballet moved into a renovated facility in Richmond. In his 2011 article on American productions of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the New York Times' Alastair Macaulay singled out the Richmond Ballet production as one of the best in the country. The company debuted in New York City in 2005