There are plenty of leaps, turns, and jumps to see during American Ballet Theatre’s City Center season, which runs until November 6. But the most impressive part is not about movement at all: After years of financial woes and leadership changes, ABT is finally standing firm on stable ground.

Ticket sales are up 6% compared to this time last year. The endowment has grown from $8 million in 2003 to $15 million today. And after years of operating with a deficit, the company now finds itself with a balanced budget.

This newfound stability has much to do with executive director Rachel Moore. The 40-year-old former ballet dancer took control of ABT’s business side in April 2004. In short order, she restructured the senior staff, scaled back expenses, and made sure the entire company was working toward the same goals.

“I came in and did a real reassessment of the situation,” she said. “How can we function efficiently and still have the best on stage?”

For ABT, the most urgent issue is increasing its endowment, which is paltry compared to similar companies. Since taking over, Ms. Moore has launched a campaign to get the endowment up to $30 million. The effort is currently in a “quiet phase,” which includes seeking gifts from friends of the company and board members. In order to reach the $30 million mark, Ms. Moore will begin marketing the campaign to a broader audience. “It’s a tough fund-raising environment, but we need to show that we are financially stable,” Ms. Moore said.

Another source of perennial financial stress for ABT – and for many dance companies – is acquiring the operating cash to foot the bill for live orchestras. When in New York, ABT dances for three weeks at City Center and eight weeks at the Metropolitan Opera House with full orchestras. When on tour, the company uses musicians from the community and sends one of its three conductors ahead to rehearse with the local orchestra.

In the last year, Ms. Moore has personally dealt with union negotiations, and in doing so, has operated from a clear-cut position: “We’re committed to live music. The musicians are important to who we are.”

Establishing (and marketing) a better sense of the company’s mission has emerged as another major part of her job. “We view ourselves as the national ballet company. The institution wasn’t focused on that message,” she said, adding that it was President Eisenhower who changed the name from Ballet Theatre to American Ballet Theatre during the days of the Cold War.

Also during her tenure, Ms. Moore has continued the development of programs that expand ABT’s reach. The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, the pre-professional dance program under the auspices of ABT, was founded in January 2004 and is still going strong. The company is looking to launch a teacher-training program to improve the standard of dance education around the country. “Four thousand kids audition each year for the summer programs,” she said of the 20-city audition tour. “We see wildly different levels of dance education.”

Ms. Moore herself danced in ABT’s corps de ballet from 1984 to 1988, but a foot injury ended her stage career. She went on to study at Brown University, then earned a degree in arts administration from Columbia University. Before joining ABT, she was director of Boston Ballet’s Center for Dance Education, which is America’s largest professional ballet school.

Her artistic background and her business sense are now in harmony at ABT, and the company is better for it. As she puts it: “It’s all about balancing the artistic bottom line with the business bottom line.”

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In other ABT news, programming for the troupe’s spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House has been announced. Coming up this May: James Kudelka’s “Cinderella,” John Cranko’s “Jeu de Cartes,” and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon.” There will also be the must-see classics: “Le Corsaire,” “Giselle,” “Swan Lake,” “Sylvia,” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

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Creating dance to popular songs doesn’t always work,but when it does, it’s a delight to watch. And that was the case with David Parson’s new work, “DMB,” at the Joyce Theater last week. The piece was set to several Dave Matthews Band songs, and the result was buoyant, sexy, and just plain cool.

It’s not easy for choreographers to choose pop songs: The risk is that the work will be considered not intellectual enough or too easy to watch. (What a crime.)

But I have found myself sitting through programs in which the best piece was set to familiar music. Choreographer Henning Rubsam of Sensedance put on a solid evening of modern dance at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, and the piece with the most heart and soul was set to songs by Django Reinhardt.

I’m not voting for pop songs across the board, but they do serve a purpose. More than one, in fact. They give people who are new to dance an entry point they might not otherwise have had. And for frequent dance watchers, it can be a relief to see that sort of work after slogging through dance that’s set to challenging modern music or commissioned scores. So here’s to, hmm, let’s say, “Walkin’ on Sunshine!”

pcatton@nysun.com