American Ballet Theatre

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a US classical ballet company established in 1939 by dancer Lucia Chase (1897—1986) and Hollywood agent Richard Pleasant (1909—1961) and based at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York as a principal venue. Initially known as [url=https://discogs.com/artist/837626]Ballet Theatre[/url], the company changed its name in 1957. Chase served as ABT's artistic co-director for the first 40 years, alongside producer and set designer [url=https://discogs.com/artist/1496875]Oliver Smith[/url] (1918—1994), who joined in 1945; Mikhail Baryshnikov replaced them in 1980.