Faculty & Staff
Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy
Ballet WEST ACADEMY LEADERSHIP
ADAM SKLUTE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, BALLET WEST
Since 2007, Adam Sklute has expanded Ballet West’s outlook, repertoire, and visibility with exciting company premieres, increased touring, heightened public exposure, and a greater focus on the Ballet West Academy. Mr. Sklute began his training in Oakland, California and was with The Joffrey Ballet for twenty-three years, starting in New York as a dancer where he was one of the last two artists personally chosen by Robert Joffrey for his company. He became Ballet Master in 1995 and was part of the team that moved the company from NY to Chicago. In 2004 he became the Associate Director of the Joffrey Ballet. Mr. Sklute has extensive television and film credits and is an Adjunct Professor at The University of Utah as well as a teacher, lecturer, coach, and judge for ballet schools, competitions, and companies worldwide. Mr. Sklute was listed as one of the 25 Movers and Shakers of the Utah Arts Scene in 2007. In 2014, he was named one of Utah’s Enlightened 50, and he received the Utah National Guard’s Bronze Minuteman Award for outstanding service to Utah and the nation. Mr. Sklute was awarded the Utah Diversity Connection’s Business Award for “Outstanding Commitment to Diversity Initiatives,” and Westminster College’s MLK Unsung Hero Award for his ongoing work to promote inclusivity and diversity in ballet and in our community. Most recently, Mr. Sklute was included in Deseret Magazine’s 25 Changemakers of the West for his efforts to build greater equity and inclusion in classical ballet. In 2016, Mr.Sklute took on the dual positions of CEO and Artistic Director of Ballet West for the year.
EVELYN CISNEROS-LEGATE
DIRECTOR, BALLET WEST ACADEMY
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate was Prima-Ballerina of The San Francisco Ballet for many years beginning under Lew Christensen (brother of Ballet West founder Willam Christensen) and continuing under its current Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson. Ms. Cisneros-Legate holds an honorary doctorate from both Mills College and the University of California at Monterey Bay. Considered one of America's leading ballerinas and the first Mexican-American principal ballerina, Ms. Cisneros-Legate is a renowned dance educator who has taught at some of the most prestigious dance schools in the world, a former Principal at The Boston Ballet School, she is a sought-after adjudicator and speaker.
SARAH TAYLOR
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS, BALLET WEST ACADEMY
Sarah Taylor began her role at the Ballet West Academy in 2021 after previously serving as the Director of Company Management. In that role, Ms. Taylor coordinated tours, and managed wellness programs, budgets, contracts and licensing for the Artistic department. She worked closely across departments and was the primary contact for the Ballet West company dancers, beginning with the organization in 2014. She received a Master’s Degree in Art History from the University of Oregon in 2012 after receiving a Bachelor of Arts from Utah State University where she studied Art History, Music, and Philosophy. Ms. Taylor has taught introductory Art Appreciation courses at Utah State University since 2012. Education is the tradition in her family, with the legacy of both of her parents and several grandparents teaching everything from Piano, to Health, to AP Calculus. She is delighted to support the artists and educators that make up the Ballet West Academy. Ms. Taylor lives with her husband and two boys, the oldest of whom is a Beginning Ballet West Academy student.