"Working with the dancers and boards these last three months has been a wonderful experience, and I am honored to be asked to lead the company as artistic director," Marks said.
Marks danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, and Royal Danish Ballet before directing Ballet West from 1976 to 1985 and Boston Ballet from 1985 to 1997. He was credited with reinvigorating both companies; while in Salt Lake City, he reconstructed Bournonville's Abdallah to critical acclaim, and at Boston Ballet he commissioned such choreographers as Bill T. Jones and Twyla Tharp.
While in Boston, he hired Bujones, a former star of American Ballet Theatre, as principal guest dancer. When Bujones became ill last year—he had suffered from lung cancer but eventually died from skin cancer—Marks contacted Orlando Ballet and offered his assistance, he told Boston's WBUR earlier this year. He first visited the company in November, a week before Bujones's death.