Three years after forming the Morphoses company to much excitement in the dance world, the choreographer Christopher Wheeldon is walking away from the ensemble amid apparent friction with his executive director.

In an interview Sunday evening Mr. Wheeldon said there was not enough of a cadre of full-time dancers to work with.

“If I have to consider a new crop of dancers for each tour, then the conditions aren’t much different from what I have elsewhere as a freelance choreographer,” Mr. Wheeldon said. “As a freelancer you fly in, you choose your dancers, you make a ballet, you fly out, then you do it all over again with a different company. The beauty of having a permanent company is to have dancers who know just how you like them to move, the way you want them to cut shapes in space, the way you ask them to respond to music.”

Mr. Wheeldon, 36, told the company  formally known as Morphoses/The Christopher Wheeldon Company  of his decision on Feb. 11 but kept it secret until Sunday. He held the title of artistic director.