International Ballet

International Ballet was a British ballet company that operated, with great success, between 1941 and 1953. Its director throughout its existence was Mona Inglesby, who was also its principal ballerina. Although it was Britain's largest ballet company during the war years, and performed to an audience of between one and two million in wartime Britain and between ten and twenty million in its twelve-year life, its contribution to the growth of British ballet has been largely overshadowed by that of the other four ballet companies that were operating in 1953. All are state subsidised, and are still operating: Sadler's Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet), Ballet Rambert (now the Rambert Dance Company), Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet now (Birmingham Royal Ballet), and the newly formed Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet).

International Ballet is probably unique amongst large ballet companies in that it paid its way without any private or state grant aid. Staging ballet has always been expensive, and Arts Council funding for the year 2013-2014 for those other three companies was Rambert £2M, English National Ballet £6M and the Royal Ballet well over £10M.