Slovene ballet began with the performances of the Jesuit school theatre groups which utilised ballet as well as theatre. During the 18th and 19th centuries visiting Austrian, German and Italian pantomime ballet groups performed frequently in Slovene territory. The first Slovene pantomime ballet was Možicek ('Little Man') by Josip Ipavec, performed in 1912 by Slovene actor-dancers in Ljubljana. In 1918 ballet was incorporated into the work of the Slovene National Theatre (SNG) and the first Slovene professional ballet ensemble and ballet school were established. In 1946 a second professional ballet ensemble began work at Slovene National Theatre (SNG) Maribor.

In Ljubljana, dancers and choreographers Pia and Pino Mlakar, Slovenia’s most famous ballet couple, led the SNG Ljubljana Ballet Company for almost 15 years after World War II. Under their patronage many young choreographers developed (Jeras, Sevnikova, Otrin, Dedovič, Neubauer). Of these, neoclassicist Henrik Neubauer and neoexpressionist Metod Jeras subsequently took leading positions in the theatre, consolidating and artistically improving Slovene ballet during the 1960s and 1970s. Other important artists of the second half of the 20th century included Dedovič, Kosi and Hribar. Meanwhile in Maribor one of the most important figures was Iko Otrin, who enriched the classical repertoire with experimental and avant-garde pieces.

Slovenia has two opera and ballet houses - Slovene National Theatre (SNG) Ljubljana - Opera and Ballet and Slovene National Theatre (SNG) Maribor - which are both subsidised by the state. These two institutions currently produce around 15 premieres each year, hosting many international guest directors, conductors, choreographers, singers and dancers. In recent years some large-scale international co-productions have been made possible through collaboration with other institutions such as Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre, Festival Ljubljana and Narodni dom Maribor, which present acclaimed international productions within their programmes.