In addition to small vaudeville shows, the three brothers landed jobs in the Broadway musical The Great Waltz, during which time Christensen became a student at Balanchine's new School of American Ballet.
[4] Christensen, the first American to dance Apollo, set a new standard for that role, and was thereafter considered to be America's first home grown significant male dancer.
Although considered by many to be the logical heir to Balanchine's company, Christensen was instead enticed to join his brothers at the San Francisco Ballet in 1948.
Filling Station incorporated Christensen's vaudeville roots, acrobats, deadpan humor, and tap dancing.
In 1952, on his brother Willam's departure to establish the ballet program at the University of Utah, Lew became the director of the company.
With Christensen as director, San Francisco Ballet made its first tours nationally and internationally and received much acclaim.