Les Grands Ballets Canadiens have been a vital element of Canadian culture for over fifty years. Since it was founded in 1957, Les Grands Ballets have remained true to the essence of classical ballet, while constantly providing its fans with innovative and fresh entertainment. By way of individuality, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens can claim to be the most unique company in the history of ballet since it started out as a television company and ended up live.

The original director and founder of the company was Ludmilla Chiriaeff, a former prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet. She enjoyed a successful career as a performer in Europe until the breakout of WWII. In 1952, Madame Chiriaeff came to Canada where she started her own dance school in Montreal within a short period of time.

Shortly thereafter, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation offered her a chance to take some of her best students and showcase her choreography talents in a ballet series. Just three years following their television debut, the company had a large enough audience to debut on the Montreal stage, as the start of a tour of neighbouring provinces.

When Madame Chiriaeff started Les Grands Ballets Canadiens she was not interested in merely creating another ballet company but she wanted to develop a style which would reflect both French and English Canada. Spurred on by this positive reception, Les Grands Ballets commissioned original works by young, up-and-coming choreographers. The troupe’s repertoire expanded throughout the 70s and 80s, with a wealth of Quebecois and Canadian creations, as well as with works by the great Balanchine.

Les Grands Ballets have extensively succeeded in using and promoting Canadian talent, such as the great choreographers Ginette Laurin, Paul-André Fortier, Édouard Lock and James Kudelka. Due to the international fame of its founder, the troupe was also able to claim the creative skills of European choreographers such as Jirí Kylián, Mats Ek and Ohad Naharin, and use the Canadian stage to showcase international talent.

In 2000, Gradimir Pankov became Artistic Director. A native of Macedonia, Pankov previously served as Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater II (Netherlands), the National Ballet of Finland (Helsinki), the Cullberg Ballet (Sweden), and Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève (Switzerland).