Ballet West

Ballet West
Ballet West
General information
Name	Ballet West
Year founded	1963
Founders	Willam F. Christensen; Glenn Walker Wallace;
Website	www.balletwest.org
Artistic staff
Artistic Director
Other
Official school	Ballet West Academy
Formation	Principal Artists; Soloists; Demi-Soloists; Artists;

Ballet West is an American ballet company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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 in 1951.^[1]

In 1968, the chose the company to represent that group, and by extension, to represent the western United States. Due to that choice, the group's name was changed to Ballet West.^[2] This is not to be confused with Ballet West in Taynuilt, Scotland.^[3]

The Ballet West Academy is the official school of Ballet West and is located in Salt Lake City.^[4]

Ballet West was featured in the reality TV series Breaking Pointe 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, 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 , a dancer and choreographer.^[1]

The company's fifth and current artist director is , who has served in that capacity since 2007. Sklute was dancer, ballet master and associate director with The Joffrey Ballet.^[1]^[5]

Dance company[]

Dancers with Ballet West as of January 2016 include:^[6]

Principal dancers[]

Name	Birth Place	Date Joined	Training
Emily Adams	Newtown, Pennsylvania	2007	The School of American Ballet, Studio Maestro, Ballet Technique, and Princeton Ballet
Adrian Fry	Omaha, Nebraska	2010	Omaha Theater Ballet School, School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School
Katherine Lawrence	Fairfield, Connecticut	2004	Connecticut Dance School, followed by The Harid Conservatory
Chase O'Connell	Fredericksburg, Virginia	2012	The Royal Ballet School, and Kirov Academy of Washington D.C
Christopher Ruud	San Francisco, California	1998	San Francisco Ballet School, University of Utah Department of Ballet
Beckanne Sisk	Longview, Texas	2010	The Rock School for Dance Education
Rex Tilton	San Diego, California	2008	Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, and School of American Ballet
Arolyn Williams	Rowe, Massachusetts	2006	Pioneer Valley Ballet and University of North Carolina School of the Arts

First soloists[]

Name	Birth Place	Date Joined	Training
Allison DeBona	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	2007	The Parou Ballet, followed by the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet
Sayaka Ohtaki	Tokyo, Japan	2010	Inoue Ballet School in Japan
Beau Pearson	San Francisco, California	2007	The Academy of Ballet in San Francisco
Christopher Sellars	Huntington Beach, California	2006	Orange County Dance Center and The Rock School for Dance Education

Soloists[]

Name	Birth Place	Date Joined	Training
Katlyn Addison		2011
Katie Critchlow	San Diego, California	2006	The San Elijo Dance Academy in San Diego, followed by Pacific Northwest Ballet
Tyler Gum		2009
Jenna Rae Herrera		2007
Alexander MacFarlan		2007

Demi-soloists[]

Name	Birth Place	Date Joined	Training
Lindsay Bond		2008
Trevor Naumann		2009
Jordan Veit		2012
Joshua Whitehead		2010
Chelsea Keefer		2014
Gabrielle Salvatto		2014

Corps de ballet[]

Paige Adams
Kimberly Ballard
Hadriel Diniz
Dominic Ballard
Lillian Casscells
Olivia Guiti
Kyle Davis
Lucas Horns
Amber Miller
Emily Neale
Kazlyn Nielson
Oliver Oguma
Jordan Richardson
Joshua Shutkind
Anisa Sinteral
Ronald Tilton
Kristina Weimer
Elizabeth Weldon

Ballet West II, Second Company Artists[]

Stephanie Buesser
Levi Durie
David Huffmire
Jordan De Pina
Ashleigh Richardson
Joseph Lynch
Noel Jensen
Jenae Korte
Jake Preece
Cy Doherty
Hannah Sterling
Alexandra Terry
Victoria Vassos

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c "About Us". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
^ Willis, Cherie N. (1994), Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), "Ballet West", Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917, archived from the original on 2017-01-13, retrieved 2013-10-30
^ "Ballet West - Ichrachan House - Taynuilt - Argyll - Scotland". Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
^ "Ballet West Academy". Ballet West. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
^ "Artistic Director". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
^ "The Artists". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

External links[]

[About_Us-1] "About Us". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

[2] Willis, Cherie N. (1994), Powell, Allan Kent (ed.), "Ballet West", Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917, archived from the original on 2017-01-13, retrieved 2013-10-30

[3] "Ballet West - Ichrachan House - Taynuilt - Argyll - Scotland". Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

[4] "Ballet West Academy". Ballet West. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

[5] "Artistic Director". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

[6] "The Artists". Ballet West. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.

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