15 December 1963
"A Ford Foundation grant of $144,000 to the Boston Ballet School has given birth to Boston's first and only professional ballet company", announced The Boston Globe on Monday, December 30, 1963. The Ford Foundation grant, officially announced on December 15, was a historic $7.7 million, the largest private subsidy made to a single art form at the time. Based on the recommendations of George Balanchine and McNeil Lowry, the grant provided for the formation of several professional ballet companies, including E. Virginia Williams' company, which would become Boston Ballet. George Balanchine was a strong supporter of this initiative. He would serve as Boston Ballet's artistic advisor and direct the company in many of his ballet's over the next ten years.
"Gets Ford Grant, Boston Ballet Now a Reality", Christopher Lydon, The Boston Globe, Monday, December 30, 1963
Boston Ballet Archives