BALLET IN AMERICA

Ballet made its way into America through immigrant dancers and ballet masters. The first ballet preformed in America that was documented was The Adventures of Harlequin and Scaramouch, with the Burgo'master Trick'd February 4, 1735, given in Charleston by Henry Holt, a British dancing master. The next major figure in American ballet was Alexander Placide. Alexander trained in the Paris Opéra as a dancer and a tightrope walker. He brought companies of dancers and tightrope walkers with him to Santo Domingo, New York and Charleston in the late 1700’s. Augusta Maywood and Mary Ann Lee are considered America’s first native born ballerinas. They were born into theater families and studied with the Paris Opéra and preformed in their home state in Philadelphia and along the Mississippi River. They later went to Paris for further study and work in their dance careers.
Ballet spread across America because a large number of Russian and European dancers chose to stay in America, becoming teachers, choreographers, and ballet masters for theaters. Companies and choreographers decided that ballet in America should be American. From this idea became the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet.

Cohen-Stratyner, Barbara. "Ballet." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 389-391. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.