Ballet San Jose

Ballet San Jose was established in 1985, as a co-venture with Cleveland Ballet, and for fifteen years flourished as a successful two-city enterprise. In 2000, the Cleveland entity dissolved, and the San Jose board supported relocating the entire company including dancers, sets, and costumes West, to make downtown San Jose the home-base for the 'new' Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. Since then, the company has maintained production and rehearsal studios in the same historic building that also houses the Ballet San Jose School. The mission of Ballet San Jose is to provide our audiences with professional ballet performances that are produced to the highest artistic standard, which contribute to the cultural needs of the community, and that are accessible to the broadest possible audience. The Company is firmly committed to providing arts education for children and adults through a ballet school and free outreach programs, focusing on both professional training and on general community enrichment. In support of this mission the company performs three or more repertory programs in addition to Dennis Nahat's THE NUTCRACKER each performing season (Oct-May). The company repertoire includes more than 120 works, over eighty of which are ballets with original choreography by Dennis Nahat. His classical works such as ROMEO & JULIET, SWAN LAKE, GISELLE, and COPPELIA are recognized for their traditional as well as theatrical interpretations. And Nahat is also known for other more contemporary choreography, such as his Emmy-award winning BLUE SUEDE SHOES danced to original Elvis Presley recordings, or his dramatic modern interpretation of Carl Orff's CARMINA BURANA. His most recent original choreographic work was a full-length collaboration with Chinese dancer/choreographer Yong Yao, covering Chinese myth and history entitled MIDDLE KINGDOM-ANCIENT CHINA, with original music composed by Phil Young. The company is also proud to have license to present works by many choreographers, such as Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Flemming Flindt, Twyla Tharp and Daryl Gray among others. Ballet San Jose also welcomes invited guest artists such as dancers Inaki Urlezaga and Carlos Acosta, as well as guest conductors, most recently, Andrew Mogrelia, who was invited to conduct Symphony Silicon Valley musicians in Bizet's CARMEN, and George Gershwin's orchestrated songs for Balanchine's WHO CARES?, the concluding repertory program of Ballet San Jose's twenty-fifth anniversary season.