Ballet West is an American

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

based in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

. It was founded in 1963 as the Utah Civic Ballet by Willam F. Christensen, the company's first artistic director, and Glenn Walker Wallace, who served as its first president. Christensen had previously established the first ballet department in an American university at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 1951. In 1968, the Federation of Rocky Mountain States chose the company to represent that group, and by extension, to represent the western

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Due to that choice, the group's name was changed to Ballet West. This is not to be confused with Ballet West in Taynuilt,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The Ballet West Academy is the official school of Ballet West and is located in Salt Lake City. Ballet West was featured in the reality TV series ''

Breaking Pointe ''Breaking Pointe'' was an American reality television series that premiered on May 31, 2012, on The CW. It goes behind the scenes at Ballet West, a ballet company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. ''Breaking Pointe'' was renewed for a second season ...

'' in the Summer of 2012 and 2013 aired on the CW Network, part of a BBC Production.

History of Ballet West

Ballet West was established in Salt Lake City in 1963. Willam F. Christensen was the company's first artistic director, co-founding the company together with Utah's “First Lady of the Arts” Glenn Walker Wallace. In 1951, Christensen had established the first ballet department in an American university at The University of Utah and with the tireless assistance of Mrs. Enid Cosgriff this program grew into the Utah Civic Ballet, Ballet West's first incarnation. But this was not the first ballet company Willam Christensen's founded. Along with his brothers Lew and Harold, Christensen made history by establishing the oldest ballet company in the western United States, the San Francisco Ballet. There he went on to create the first full-length American productions of Coppélia, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker, which remains in Ballet West's repertoire to this day. A 20th Century ballet pioneer, Christensen developed a distinctly American and theatrical repertoire for his company based on his early training in Utah and New York City as well as his years traversing the American Vaudeville circuit. He also built a strong connection to the works of George Balanchine. In 1975 Christensen invited the great American dancer Bruce Marks to join him as Ballet West's Co-Artistic Director. Marks became Artistic Director in 1978 when Christensen retired. Under Marks’ direction, the company presented its first full production of Swan Lake and it earned a reputation for developing emerging choreographers of the time. Also during this period Marks made history, along with his wife, the acclaimed Danish Ballerina, Toni Lander, by presenting the first American full-length production of Abdallah by renowned 19th Century Danish choreographer, August Bournonville. John Hart, CBE, former dancer, administrator, and Assistant Director of The Royal Ballet in England succeeded Marks as Artistic Director of Ballet West In 1985. Under his leadership, the company's repertoire was expanded to include more well-loved 19th Century classics such as The Sleeping Beauty. Hart further enriched the company's repertoire of ballets with the works of many early 20th Century masters, most notably the great English choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton. From 1985 to 1996, Hart engaged San Francisco-based Val Caniparoli as Ballet West's resident choreographer. Dancer and choreographer Jonas Kåge served as Artistic Director from 1997 to 2006. During this time Kåge maintained Ballet West's repertoire of classics while revitalizing its profile with notable late 20th Century choreographers such as Christopher Bruce, Hans van Manen, Glen Tetley and William Forsythe.

Artistic directors

The founding artistic director, Willam Christensen, retired in 1978. He was succeeded by

Bruce Marks Bruce S. Marks (born March 14, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 2nd district from 1994 to 1995. Early life Marks was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia. ...

, who had been co-artistic director since 1975. Starting in 1985, the company's third artistic director was John Hart, CBE, a former dancer, administrator, and assistant director of The Royal Ballet. From 1997 through 2006, the position belonged to Jonas Kåge, a dancer and choreographer. The company's fifth and current artist director is Adam Sklute, who has served in that capacity since 2007. Sklute was dancer, ballet master and associate director with

The Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric ...

Dance company

Dancers with Ballet West as of August 2022 include:

Principal dancers

First soloists

Soloists

Demi-soloists

Corps de ballet

* Jazz Khai Bynum * Lillian Casscells * Beau Chesivoir * Isabella Corridon * Amelia Dencker * Nicole Fanney * Robert Fowler * Connor Hammond * Jacob Hancock * Noel Jensen * Vinicius Lima * Joseph Lynch * Amber Miller * Rylee Ann Rogers * Anisa Sinteral * Tatiana Stevenson * Victoria Vassos * Loren Walton * Claire Wilson

Ballet West II, Second Company Artists

* Stella Birkinshaw * Micheal Bushman * Kye Cooley * Anderson Duhan * Maren Florence * Luca Freudenberg * Victor Galeana * Elijah Hartley * Schuyler Lian * William Lynch * Jonas Malinka-Thompson * Lexi McCloud * Julia Outmesguine * Kennedy Sheriff * Rebecca Trockel * Kaeli Ware ''Memorable Dancers''

References

External links

* * {{authority control West Ballet 1963 establishments in Utah Performing groups established in 1963 Dance in Utah Non-profit organizations based in Utah