Ballet San Jose

Ballet San Jose's mission is to provide the South Bay with theatrically produced ballet and professional dance education in a manner that honors the vision of the artists, meets the highest technical and artistic standards, contributes to the fulfillment of the cultural needs of the community, and is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. The Ballet School's free Education Outreach programs are dedicated to serving young audiences and at-risk children in our region.

In 1983, a group of 18… Show more local community leaders and citizens formed a committee to identify a nationally-ranked, artistically mature ballet company that the South Bay could adopt as its own. After a two-year search, the group offered a partnership to Cleveland Ballet, then ten years old and known internationally for its combination of strong classical training and theatricality. Cleveland Ballet founder and artistic director Dennis Nahat further refined the vision of two communities sharing a single artistic resource. San Jose Cleveland Ballet was founded as a co-venture in 1986, offering to the dancers added performing exposure and to each community a great company for a moderate, shared investment.

During the years of the co-venture the Company expanded artistically and became recognized as one of California's most innovative ballet companies and one of the top 6 ballet company's in the country. When the Cleveland partner ceased operations in fall 2000, the San Jose partner decided to preserve the Company, with its outstanding artistic heritage, by moving its headquarters to San Jose. With a tremendous outpouring of community, foundation, and business support, Ballet San Jose was born.
The Ballet is now a 'fully-owned' resident company serving all of Silicon Valley. The San Francisco Chronicle has called the Company's rebirth "a major victory for American culture"; while the Examiner commented: "This may also be the artistic organization that finally mobilizes the elusive community spirit in dot-com land...into a legacy for the future."

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