Initially, the company functioned either as an opera ballet—that is, participating in various opera and operetta productions—or by presenting independent dance performances. Gradually, it developed increasingly ambitious programs. Thus, immediately after the National Opera became an independent institution in 1944, it presented full-length ballets such as, for example, Manolis Kalomiris’s *The Death of the Brave Woman* and Georgios Sklavos’s *The Eagle*. Starting in the 1980s, the great romantic ballets began to be added to the organization’s repertoire one by one.
In 1994, choreographer Leonidas de Pian took over as director of the ballet, and he was succeeded in 1999 by Anna Petrova. In 2006, the renowned Canadian dancer and choreographer Lyn Symour served as director, followed by Russian dancer and choreographer Irek Mukhamedov (October 2007) and Christiana Stefanou (January 2010). In the fall of 2011, the GNO Ballet was taken over by the Italian dancer and choreographer Renato Gianella. In 2017, the internationally renowned Antonis Foniadakis took over as director of the GNO Ballet, and the following year, choreographer, director and visual artist Konstantinos Rigos.
