History:
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.
Being an organization known for creative approaches and solutions, a new name, the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA), was adopted to reflect the new image and mission as a presenter of dance from around the world and as a service organization to the community. By 1993, new records were set in earned revenues and programming excellence, and in 1995, the accumulated debt was fully retired.
