1959年12月31日，中央芭蕾舞团的前身——北京舞蹈学校实验芭蕾舞剧团在北京白家庄成立。创建初期，剧团在彼·安·古雪夫等前苏联专家的指导下打下了俄罗斯芭蕾学派的坚实基础。首任团长为中国舞蹈事业奠基者戴爱莲女士。

On the 31^st of December 1959, the Experimental Ballet Company of Beijing Dance School (the predecessor of the National Ballet of China) was founded in Beijing Bai Jia Zhuang. In the early years, Pytor A. Gusev, the Russian ballet master and his colleagues helped lay a solid foundation using methods from the Russian Classical Ballet School. The first Director of the Company was Madam Dai Ailian, the pioneer of contemporary Chinese dance.