National Ballet of Washington, D.C.

The National Ballet of Washington, D.C. was an American national ballet company founded in 1962 by Jean Riddell,[1][2] granddaughter of the founder of PET Evaporated Milk and artistic director Frederic Franklin,[3] with financial support from the Ford Foundation.[4] Its studios were located at 2801 Connecticut Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C.[5]

The company debuted on January 3, 1962, at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, changed residency upon the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1972, and officially ended on June 13, 1974.

The National Ballet brought ballet to every state in the United States but two, and also performed in Canada and Mexico.

Ben Stevenson OBE was co-artistic director from 1971 to 1974.[6]

  1. ^ "Jean M. Riddell, 100, dies; patron of the arts". September 25, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. ^ "Jean Montgomery Riddell's Obituary on Washington Times". Washington Times. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ^ Halzack, Sarah (May 6, 2013). "Frederic Franklin, ballet dancer, coach and director, dies at 98". Washington Post. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. ^ Norton, Leslie; Franklin, Frederic (July 5, 2007). Frederic Franklin: A Biography of the Ballet Star. McFarland. ISBN 9780786430512. Retrieved March 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ National Ballet (Washington, D.C.) (March 18, 1962). Records of the National Ballet. OCLC 042278446. Retrieved March 18, 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  6. ^ Ben Stevenson, Wikipedia