The Texas Ballet Theater was founded by Margo Dean in 1961 as the Fort Worth Ballet Association, in Fort Worth, Texas. At the invitation of Dean, Fernando Schaffenburg was invited to direct the company the following year. It became a fully professional ballet company in 1985. In 1988, after the demise of Dallas Ballet, the company began adding performances of The Nutcracker in Dallas in a business partnership with The Dallas Opera, producing Nutcracker performances in The Music Hall and using The Dallas Opera Orchestra.
Fort Worth Ballet became the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet in 1994 when The Dallas Supporters of FWDB, a separate 501(c)3 corporation with its own board of directors, was established in Dallas. The Dallas Supporters' responsibility was primarily to raise contributed funds so that Fort Worth Dallas Ballet could perform a full season in Dallas in the Music Hall at Fair Park. A detailed joint venture agreement was established between the two organizations. FWDB – the Fort Worth organization – remained the primary employer and producing entity. All dancers, production staff and most administrative staff were employees of FWDB. The Dallas Supporters hired a small administrative staff. Each season, FWDB and The Dallas Supporters would negotiate an agreement outlining which and how many productions would occur in Dallas.
The two organizations operated under this two-corporation, two-board structure for nine seasons. In 2001, the Dallas Supporters were not able to raise the funds needed to produce the Ballet's Dallas season, forcing FWDB to cancel productions planned in Dallas for early 2002; one Fort Worth production was also cancelled. This occurred during a season when FWDB had no permanent artistic director. Bruce Marks was serving as artistic advisor and Bruce Simpson as Ballet-Master-in-Chief.
Over the 2002–2003 season, an agreement to merge the two corporations and their boards was created. The resulting organization was then renamed Texas Ballet Theater in 2003.
Texas Ballet Theater, currently under artistic director of Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. is a resident company of Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth and the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.
Artistic staff
As of June 2023:
Tim O'Keefe - Artistic Director
Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. - Artistic Director Laureate
Li Anlin - Assistant Artistic Director
Company dancers
As of June 2023:
Principals
Carl Coomer
Alexander Kotelenets
Alexandra F. Light
Paige Nyman
David Schrenk
Andre Silva
Nicole Von Enck
Soloists
Amanda Fairweather
Rieko Hatato
Adeline Melcher
Riley Moyano
Dara Oda
Samantha Pille
Katelyn Rhodes
Kyle Torres-Hiyoshi
Joamanuel Velazquez
Brett Young
Corps de Ballet
Valentin Batista
Jackson Bayhi
Lauren Leb
Adam Phillips
Anastasia Tillman
Rayleigh Vendt
Sophie Williams
Henry Winn
Hannah Wood
Character Dancers
Cristian Jimenez
Apprentices
Harrison Pickering
Troy Santulli
Trainees
AvaRose Dillon
Kayla Fessler
Jordan Lovelace
Jason McClung
Directors
Artistic Directors
Margo Dean 1961-1964
Fernando Schaffenburg, 1964-
Anthony Salatino, 1982-1985
Nanette Glushak and Michel Rahn, 1985-1987
Paul Mejia, 1987-1998
Ben Houk, 1998-2001
Bruce Marks, Artistic Advisor; Bruce Simpson, Ballet-Master-in-Chief, 2001-2002 (interim leadership) Ben Stevenson, Artistic Advisor, Tim O'Keefe, Ballet Master, 2002-2003 (interim leadership) Ben Stevenson, 2003-2022 Tim O'Keefe, 2022-2023 (interim leadership) Tim O'Keefe, 2023-Present