Ballet Tucson

Ballet Tucson
General information
Name	Ballet Tucson
Year founded	1986
Founder	Mary Beth Cabana
Website	ballettucson.org
Artistic staff
Artistic Director	Margaret Mullin
Other
Official school	School of Ballet Tucson

Ballet Tucson is a professional ballet company based in Tucson, Arizona. ^[1]

As of June 2023, the company has 4 principal dancers, 5 soloists, 4 demi-soloists, and 8 members of the corps de ballet. They also have 9 apprentices. ^[2]

History

Ballet Tucson, previously known as Ballet Arts Foundation, was established in 1986 by Mary Beth Cabana, who was previously a principal dancer with Cleveland Ballet, Ballet Oklahoma, Arizona Dance Theatre, and San Diego Ballet. ^{[3] [4]} The goal of creating Ballet Tucson was to create a world-class professional ballet company as well as a ballet school that would help young dancers in Southern Arizona pursue a career in dance.

In 1987, the Children's Ensemble gave a preview performance at Centennial Hall (Tucson, Arizona) in Tucson, and received positive reviews. Additional performances that year also received positive reviews.

In 1994, Ballet Tucson premiered their own full-length version of The Nutcracker, which had five sold-out performances.

In 2004, the professional ballet company debuted, and since that time has established itself as Tucson's resident professional ballet company. ^[5]

In 2022, Ballet Tucson began a partnership with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for their performances of The Nutcracker. ^{[6] [7]}

Current company

Artistic team & staff

Margaret Mullin joined as the Artistic Director in spring 2022. ^[8] She was previously a soloist with Pacific Northwest Ballet. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Chieko Imada is the Associate Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer. She was previously a soloist with Inoue Ballet of Tokyo, and a former principal dancer for Ballet Tucson. ^[12]

School of Ballet Tucson

The School of Ballet Tucson is the official school of Ballet Tucson. It has provided training to students since 1986. ^[13]

References

1. "Mission & History : Ballet Tucson".
2. "Dancers : Ballet Tucson".
3. Kitteredge, Callie (12 November 2015). "Ballet Tucson: 30 and growing still". Arizona Daily Star.
4. "Founding Artistic Director : Ballet Tucson".
5. https://playbill.com/article/ballet-tucson-opens-first-full-professional-season
6. "Mission & History : Ballet Tucson".
7. "Ballet Tucson partners with Tucson Symphony Orchestra for the Nutcracker". 12 December 2022.
8. Suddarth, Emma (7 August 2024), "Margret Mullin Seeks to Raise Ballet Tucson's Profile With Fresh Repertoire", Pointe, retrieved 2 January 2026
9. "Artistic Team & Staff : Ballet Tucson".
10. "Ballet Tucson approaches its latest season with a new vision". 30 September 2022.
11. "3 in Seattle honored with Princess Grace Awards". The Seattle Times. Seattle Times Staff. 19 August 2011.
12. "Artistic Team & Staff : Ballet Tucson".
13. "About : Ballet Tucson".