featuring Victoria Cholka and Peter Kozak.
South Carolina Ballet is based in Columbia, South Carolina, where the company was founded in 1961 and where it continues to present its primary performance season today.
Originally established as Columbia City Ballet, South Carolina Ballet is the oldest professional ballet company in South Carolina. Over more than six decades, the organization has grown from its Columbia roots into a professional company with an extensive touring presence throughout the state and across the Southeast.
That growth eventually led to the adoption of the name South Carolina Ballet, reflecting the broader geographic reach of the company and the audiences it serves.
While South Carolina Ballet performs throughout the state, Columbia remains its home and main stage.
The company presents its principal Columbia season at the Koger Center for the Arts, one of the state’s major performing arts venues. Each season, audiences in the capital city experience classical ballets, contemporary works, original productions, and longstanding favorites such as Nutcracker.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director William Starrett, South Carolina Ballet has expanded its repertory and touring presence while maintaining its artistic home in Columbia.
The relationship between the company and the capital city is central to South Carolina Ballet’s identity. Columbia is where the company rehearses, develops productions, and presents the core of its annual performance season before taking its work to audiences in communities across South Carolina and beyond.
The transition from Columbia City Ballet to South Carolina Ballet reflected that evolution. The organization had grown beyond the geographic boundaries suggested by its original name, while its connection to Columbia remained firmly in place.
Today, South Carolina Ballet serves audiences across the state while maintaining Columbia as the center of its artistic operations and the Koger Center for the Arts as its principal performance venue.
For more than 65 years, professional ballet has had a home in South Carolina’s capital.
Founded in Columbia in 1961, South Carolina Ballet is South Carolina’s oldest professional ballet company, presenting its main stage season at the Koger Center for the Arts and performing for audiences throughout the state and the Southeast.
