Though ballet companies had toured the United States previously, ballet became widely popular in the early 20th century when the Ballet Russes undertook several worldwide tours. U.S. audiences fell in love with these lavish productions featuring exquisitely trained dancers, ornate costumes and sets, and innovative classical and neoclassical music. Little girls around the nation flocked to dance schools in the hopes of reaching such levels of technical artistry.
"The Nutcracker" has become a cherished holiday tradition and perhaps the most widely known ballet. "The Nutcracker" first was performed in the United States in 1944 by the San Francisco Ballet, also America's first classical ballet company. Though originally an imported ballet set in Europe, many regional versions exist in the United States with a changed back story and setting , with the ballet taking place in the United States. Today's revamped "Nutcracker" presented by the San Francisco Ballet takes place in San Francisco, at the 1915 World's Fair. "The Jazz Nutcracker," featuring the original Tchaikovsky score arranged by Duke Ellington, is a distinctly Americanized version.
While on the West Coast, the San Francisco Ballet was delighting audiences with ballet performances, George Balanchine went on to found what eventually became the New York City Ballet in 1948 and created choreography that became the basis for the neoclassical style. Balanchine opened a rigorous school which taught his demanding technique. He personally chose and trained his dancers to perform his new ballets, which took cues from classical technique, yet featured aesthetics and choreographic influences from modern dance and rhythmic inspiration from neoclassical music. He collaborated with such artists as composer Igor Stravinsky and costume designer Barbara Karinska, who worked with him and his dancers to develop a unique sensory experience for the modern ballet audience.
Balanchine developed a technique and style rooted in the classical tradition, but also enjoyed creating ballets that required a specific aesthetic that diverted greatly from the classical or romantic "story" ballets. Though he re-envisioned such favorites as "Swan Lake," "The Nutcracker" and "The Sleeping Beauty," many of his pieces had no narrative and were performed in practice clothes against a minimalist backdrop, relying only on the choreography and music to draw the interest of the viewer.
Today dancers trained in the U.S. find jobs in ballet companies the world over, and U.S. ballet choreography is performed by many companies outside the United States. The training of ballet dancers today requires a versatility and athleticism that allows dancers to adapt to and perform several classical styles, and dancers trained in foreign countries also fill the ranks of U.S. companies.