Ballet West Tickets

American ballet company, Ballet West based in Utah’s Salt Lake City was founded as Utah Civic Ballet by Glenn Walker Wallace and Willam F. Christensen in 1963. The former served as the company’s first president while the latter was its first artistic director and had ample experience from having previously established the ballet department in 1951 in the University of Utah.  By 1968, Federation of the Rocky Mountain States selected the company to represent them, so that by extension, they would be representing western US. For continuing with this choice, the Ballet was given the new name, Ballet West, which is not to be mixed with the Ballet West of Taynuilt, Scotland. The official school for Ballet West is the Ballet West Academy that is located in the same city. Among the company’s currently featured shows is The Sleeping Beauty, The Rite of Spring, The Nutcracke, The Firebird, and The Little Mermaid. For many years now, the Ballet has been performing classic as well as more contemporary works, which is why Ballet West tickets are considered to be most promising choice by so many ballet admirers.

In 1928, the founding artistic director of Ballet West, Willam Christensen retired and his place was soon given to Bruce marks, who also had sufficient experience from being a co-artistic director for  three years. Beginning in 1985, the company saw the appointment of its third artistic director John Hart, the former administrator, assistant director and dancer at The Royal Ballet. Between 1997 and 2006, the company was run by Jonas Kade, an accomplished choreographer and dancer. Currently, the Ballet’s artistic director is ballet master Adam Sklute, who first came into this capacity in 2007. The latter has been a dancer, associate director and ballet master at The Joffrey Ballet.

In the past few years, Ballet West has toured heavily, appearing twice the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington; twice at the Fall of Dance Festival in NYC; and twice in Chicago at the famous Chicago Dancing Festival. Also, in the last five years, it has performed at the Wolf Trap national Park, The Laguna Dance Festival, as well as in Las Vegas where it performed alongside Nevada Ballet Theater.  It has been gaining more prominence as is reflected by the number of articles about the Ballet that have been published in such magazines as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dance Magazine, Pointe, and Ballet Review, among many more. Moreover, in recent years, it has presented audiences sixteen Utah premieres by leading present and past choreographers like Sir Frederick Ashton, Val Caniporoli, George Balanchine, Ulysses Dove, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Ben Stevenson, Stanton Welch, Marius Petipa, Bronislava Nijinska, Andre Prokovsky, and Michael Smuin.

It has also revived some of the greatest work from its past performances by the likes of Ashton, John Butler, Balanchine, James Canfield, Michel Fokine, Petipa, Caniporoli, and Bruce Marks. Sklute has once again introduced the company to lost elements of his loved production of the classic Nutcracker, while also producing and conceiving the critically acclaimed, all new production of The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. More importantly, he has developed the Ballet’s much successful program of Innovations, which is designed to present and nurture new creations by artists as well as the emerging new talent in Utah, international and national choreographers. To date, this program has brought in unprecedented world premiers of twenty-one shows by choreographers like Susan Shields, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Helen Pickett, Fonte, Avichai Scher, and Jodie Gates, along with ten other Ballet West Artists. Since 2007,  Sklute has brought much more to the Ballet’s repertoire, overall outlook and visibility with intriguing company premieres; public exposure and increased touring. It features complete and full-length classic that were not performed before; as well as new works by up-and-coming and renowned choreographers, along with new material by Ballet West Artists. The Ballet is now celebrating its golden anniversary with a variety of spectacular performances so make sure to book your Ballet West tickets in time.