Originally founded in 1969 as the New Orleans Ballet, the organization was a civic ballet company. In 1983, the organization received national exposure when it became the New Orleans City Ballet and entered an innovative partnership with Cincinnati Ballet. The two organizations maintained separate boards and staff, but shared artists and repertoire. This allowed both cities to afford a higher artistic product in the 50 professional AGMA Union dancers and an internationally renowned artistic director in Ivan Nagy. However, over time, the shared-city concept resulted in an accumulated debt and in 1991, the partnership was officially terminated. (More)

The NOBA Dance Institute serves as the largest “dance classroom” in the Gulf South, providing over 50,000 dance enthusiasts with classes and much more.