A Dazzling Celebration of 65 Years of Artistic Excellence
Columbia, SC — South Carolina Ballet proudly announces its 65th Anniversary Performance Season. Celebrating its amazing transformation from a civic ballet company to South Carolina’s largest performing arts organization, South Carolina Ballet will present a season of productions showcasing its history, innovation, and reputation for high artistic and production standards. With exquisite costumes, elegant staging, and breathtaking choreography, the season captures the essence of South Carolina Ballet’s journey — from its classical roots to its most daring contemporary expressions. From graceful pas de Deux’s to emotionally charged ensemble pieces, the season will showcase the full spectrum of the company’s artistic voice. Join us for all our productions and help us celebrate 65 years of passion, innovation, and community impact.
Remarkably, South Carolina Ballet has performed without interruption for 64 consecutive performance seasons. Despite economic recessions, pandemics, and the challenges of selling ballet in a sports-centric southern state. This survival is attributed to the passion and dedication of thousands of volunteers, the commitment of dancers, the tenacity of leadership and staff, the wisdom of board members, and the loyalty of audiences. Public figures like mayors and council members, corporate and business leaders, philanthropists, and benefactors have all been instrumental in the organization’s longevity and sustainability. To all of these supporters, past and present, a hearty thank you and congratulations are in order.
In this anniversary performance season, the company will present a total of five mainstage ballets, including Motown Ballet, Dracula: Ballet with a Bite, Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Sapphire, and two productions from the repertoire of the Educational Outreach & Engagement Series, Rudolph and The Lion King of Mali. The organization will also host its annual Gala with a Bite at the Koger Center for the Arts and conclude the season with the Sapphire Gala.
During the 65th anniversary performance season, audiences will experience a carefully curated program featuring beloved works from the company’s extensive classical repertoire
alongside exciting new choreography, including a stunning world premiere created exclusively for the Sapphire Gala. CEO & Artistic Director William Starrett says the season is “a heartfelt reflection on where we’ve been, and an inspiring vision of where we’re going. It’s a celebration of 65 years of artistry, perseverance, and service to our community.”
When South Carolina Ballet says, “our community,” it is very large indeed. Community not only refers to the annual mainstage performance season at their home theater, The Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, but also to a full season of performances presented at the Charleston Music Hall. And that’s not all, for more than 20 years, South Carolina Ballet has performed annually in Savannah, Georgia, and maintains regular schedules of performances in Sumter, Hartsville, Lancaster, Florence, and Camden. This performance season, the company will also tour to Beaufort, Newberry, and Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina, as well as to Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida.
These extensive performance and touring calendars are a testament to the growth of the company since William Starrett assumed the role of Artistic Director in 1986. South Carolina Ballet will perform 60 times in 14 cities and 3 states during its 65th Anniversary Season. Overall, more than 60,000 people will see a performance by South Carolina Ballet in its Sapphire year. Now that’s a community!
The secret to South Carolina Ballet’s incredible success has been its adherence to high artistic and production standards. William Starrett has successfully built a strong company of professional dance artists and assembled a team of artistic, technical, and administrative professionals who are all committed to maintaining the standard of the company and organization. It is the reputation for high artistic and production standards that has allowed the company to present its art not only in Columbia and throughout South Carolina, but also in cities like Chicago, Washington, DC, and Palm Springs, California.
The organization’s robust Educational Outreach & Engagement Series also continues to thrive and grow. While other performing arts organizations offer their dress rehearsal as educational outreach, William Starrett realized in 1991 that a deeper educational outreach program was necessary. Working with volunteer educational consultants, Starrett began to create ballets specifically as educational components. Each ballet in the Educational Outreach & Engagement Series is coordinated to South Carolina Department of Education standards for Arts education and meets the intent of the Profile of a SC graduate, SC College- and Career-Ready Academic Standards, and SC READY. The repertoire of the Educational Outreach and Engagement Series now includes more than 20 of these ballets created by William Starrett. South Carolina Ballet expanded its educational outreach to Florence last season and is thrilled to be introducing the Series to Charleston students in the 65th Anniversary Performance Season in addition to its annual performances in
Columbia, Sumter, Hartsville, and Lancaster. More than 18,000 students will receive quality, curriculum-driven arts education through the Series this performance season.
South Carolina Ballet continues to fulfill its mission of bringing new levels of excellence to ballet and advancing ballet as an art form to enrich the cultural life of its community. The organization reaffirms its dedication to providing artistic excellence, exhilarating performances, innovative choreography, and superb educational programs. Join us as we celebrate our 65th year! Complete event and performance details may be found at southcarolinaballet.com and on our social media channels.
