This holiday season, the Salt Lake Chamber will showcase local small businesses weekly. These businesses are integral to our community, and we encourage you to join us in celebrating and shopping small this season! Discover this week’s featured business below:
Tell us about The Nutcracker. How long has Ballet West been performing it and why is it special to this company?
Ballet West’s The Nutcracker was choreographed by our founder Willam Christensen, and it is the first full-length Nutcracker in the country, debuting Christmas Eve of 1944. We have been performing it at the Capitol Theater since 1963; this year is its 80th anniversary. It has become, for ballet companies, one of the largest single sources of revenue since the ticket sales are tremendous. Not only does Ballet West own the title of America’s first Nutcracker, but it also owns the first Nutcracker website and store. Plus, not many may know that The Nutcracker was designated by the Utah Legislature in May as Utah’s first Living Historic Landmark.
Why should people attend the Ballet?
Unlike some art forms, you get theatre, dance, music and drama in Ballet. On top of that is athleticism. It’s astonishing to see the feats they are doing, with men lifting women over their heads while they’re turning and making it look effortless. It is one of the most exceptional art forms. I’m a musician by training, and the combination of live music and dance offers something special not found in other art forms.
What’s the biggest opportunity of being a small business/nonprofit?
We are one of the larger nonprofits in the state, allowing us to have a well-known brand throughout Utah. With this comes opportunities to positively influence the community through our outreach programs. Ballet West has the largest outreach program of any professional dance company in the country. While we may be small as a business, we are large as a nonprofit, and that has given us incredible opportunities to reach out into the community.
What’s one thing you wish guests knew more about in regards to Ballet West?
Ballet West is more than tutus and pointe shoes. We have a very eclectic repertoire, incorporating classical ballet with incredible contemporary dance that is not all on pointe shoes. We commission a lot of new work to keep the art form fresh. Beyond performances, we offer a robust outreach program and a highly regarded training academy. With four campuses, the academy serves over 700 students from August through May, plus 300-400 students during summer sessions, all receiving top-quality instruction.
When people think of Ballet West, they think of the awe-inspiring performances, but we offer so much more. Ballet West builds most of its costumes in-house, crafted with care in our costume shop. We are also home to dancers from around the world, with many performers moving through our training programs to center stage.
This is such a beloved company. After working with similar-sized companies in other states, I have to say that Utah’s support for the arts — especially ballet — is extraordinary. It is heartwarming to know how highly regarded Ballet West is in the community and how great a place it is to work.
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About Ballet West
Ballet West, one of America’s leading ballet companies, under the artistic direction of Adam Sklute, has earned an international reputation for artistic innovation and excellence since its founding in 1963. For over 60 years, the Salt Lake City-based Company has entertained and excited audiences in Utah and worldwide by presenting great classical ballets, historical masterpieces, including America’s First Nutcracker, and new cutting-edge creations with only the highest artistic and professional standards. The Company continues to build future ballet artists and audiences by providing classical ballet training through the Frederick Q. Lawson Ballet West Academy and its four campuses and more than 1,000 students. Ballet West also operates the largest outreach and education programs in the country which reaches over 148,000 children and adults throughout Utah and the Intermountain Region every year. The 24/25 Season is generously sponsored by Salt Lake Zoo, Arts & Parks, George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and Intermountain Health.
