Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Specialties

Ballet Theatre of Maryland (BTM) is the state’s premier professional ballet company and fully comprehensive training academy. BTM offers a subscription series of performances at Maryland Hall, as well as touring throughout the state. BTM’s School of Classical and Contemporary Dance offers classes for ages 2 through adult, at beginner through pre-​professional levels, in ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, tap, and character. BTM also offers a 6-​week Summer Intensive and Choreographic Institute.

BTM also presents a variety of outreach performances throughout the year including mini-​shows for area schools, residencies, assemblies, and workshops.

History

Established in 1978.

Originally named The Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, the organization was founded in November 1978 as a private non-​profit corporation governed by a twelve-​person Board of Trustees, and established residency at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. In 1980, Edward Stewart became Artistic Director and led the company until his death in 2002. In 1996, the company achieved professional status. In 2000, the organization’s name was changed to Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Inc. to fulfill a new mission of serving the State of Maryland. Dianna Cuatto joined BTM as Artistic Director at the start of the 2003 – 2004 season and has since won numerous awards for her choreography with BTM.

Meet the Manager

Dianna C.

Manager

Dianna Cuatto is the Artistic Director of Ballet Theatre of Maryland, where she has already choreographed The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, An American Southwest Carmen, Little Women and Excalibur, to name a few. Previously, she spent four seasons as the Ballet Mistress with the Richmond Ballet and taught ballet and jazz in their school of dance. She was also Artistic Director/​Choreographer/​School Director of the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre in Colorado where many alumni went on to pursue professional careers in such companies as San Francisco Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Hubbard Street, San Diego Ballet and Richmond Ballet. Following that, Ms. Cuatto taught classical ballet at San Francisco Ballet, Ballet West, Sacramento Ballet, New Orleans Ballet Theatre and Oklahoma Ballet. In addition, she has taught at the University of Oklahoma, University of Utah, and California State University at Sacramento. Ms. Cuatto is the 2011 recipient of the Arts Council’s «Annie Award.»