Sacramento Ballet is honored to celebrate Season 68 as a highly regarded cultural asset renowned for artistic and production quality. Deeply committed to the Capitol region for more than six decades, our international company of 22-classically trained dancers and second company of 13 aspiring pre-professionals call Sacramento home. Approximately 80,000 people attend performances annually; many more participate and train in School of SacBallet, our programming for older adults, dance in schools, and outreach programs.
Our vision is to deliver transformational professional performances in new and evolving delivery mediums; excellence in dance training and education; Second Company and Trainee Project free community performance premieres, expansion and to role-model DEIA reach to underserved populations and activate community engagement for all ages.
Barbara and Deane Crockett founded Sacramento Ballet as a resident company of professional dancers in 1954. Ron Cunningham became Artistic Director in 1988, serving with Carinne Binda, as Co-Artistic Directors from 1991-2018. Lauded choreographer, artist and former professional dancer, Amy Seiwert was named Artistic Director from 2018 to mid-2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic halted performances. Anthony Krutzkamp was named Artistic/Executive Director in July 2021 and the company returned to stages for its 21-22 season, including sold-out, live performances of Nutcracker in December 2021 and 2022.
We returned to stages after a 22-month pandemic production stoppage. We welcomed 17,500+ audience members to Sacramento's own hometown Nutcracker in December 2021 and again in 2022. All Choreography created by local Sacramento artists; current dancers or alumni.
Current Programs & Activities 22-23
- New and evolving delivery mediums for professional performances rooted in our principles of DEIA including a grant conferred by DanceUSA for BIPOC works this spring
- Dance training and education from 18 months to pre-professional; adult classes for ballet, tap, hip-hop, Broadway and contemporary dance
- Leaps and Bounds community programs
- Free, year-long, after-school dance training at Sacramento Title I elementary schools
- Send a Child to the Ballet with free tickets for underserved youth and families
- Free events at James Hargrove Outdoor Studio Stage
- 1200 free tickets and bus transportation for three or four schools a season from diverse neighborhoods that otherwise might not have opportunity to attend
- 5,000+ school-aged students attend shows at nominal ticket prices
- Hybrid school assemblies with themed programs highlighting the athleticism, social and cultural diversity of dancers
- Second Company & SB2 free performances, expansion and reach to populations and neighbors who are underserved, marginalized, isolated and poor
- Fall Prevention through Movement for Older Adults brought to communities, assisted-living and healthcare providers sponsored by Kaiser Permanente
-In 2020, Sacramento Ballet built its James Hargrove Outdoor Stage at CLARA through the efforts of leadership, patrons, sponsors, and board members.
-SacBallet has an experienced Board of Directors, a senior-management team with national arts experience and a staff and production team with deep industry expertise.
- Artistic/Executive Director Anthony Krutzkamp is a former principal dancer with Cincinnati Ballet and Kansas City Ballet, and former Director of Programming and Manager of Dancers at Kansas City Ballet's Second Company, and founder of summer dance festivals in Kansas City and Cincinnati. As a director, he has presented repertoire from around the world by Marco Goecke, Douglas Lee, George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Salvatore Aiello, Yuri Possokhov, Penny Saunders, Andrea Schermoly, Marina Kessler, Stephanie Martinez, Chris Stuart, Todd Bolender, Matthew Neenan and Ma Cong.
-General Manager Sara Slocum joined SacBallet in 2016 and is a UC Davis graduate with BS in Environmental Design. She began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala. She worked in Human Resources at the Smithsonian Institution, as Executive Assistant to the Dean of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and has owned a small business.
- Communications and Development Director Cynthia Wuthmann is a classically trained dancer who studied and performed with Maria Tallchief, Ed Parish, Gus Giordano, and the University of Utah Ballet School of Dance. Her successful marketing and fundraising contributions include Development & Communications Director at Smuin Ballet, CEO of Cindabella Inc, and Director of Worldwide Sales & Marketing launching Star Wars video games in the U.S. and internationally for Lucasfilm Games.
- School Director Jorge Laico whose 18-year professional dance career led him to join numerous professional ballet companies around the US. After his performing career, he taught at the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Cirque du Soleil among others.