History
In November 1999, shortly after opening the Russian Ballet Centre in Newport's Greystone Plaza, Pasha and Kristina Kambalov asked long time ballet supporters and friends to serve as the board of directors for a new 501 (c)(3) ballet school with Robert Grenfell as Board President. They chose the name First State Ballet Theatre to signal that they intended to be a ballet company for the entire state and they adopted a family-friendly pricing policy to enable families to enjoy the beauty and excitement of their art form. In early 2003, the company was invited to relocate to Wilmington's Grand Opera House. With funding from the City of Wilmington, the Longwood and Welfare Foundations and individuals, they designed and built beautiful, state-of-the-art studios. In September 2008 they launched Delaware's only professional ballet company. They began the 2008-09 season with 10 dancers and have grown the roster every year to the current 23 dancers.
Specialties
First State Ballet Theatre is Delaware's professional ballet company. Bringing the passion and beauty of ballet to Delaware audiences statewide. Our company is made up of over 20 professional dancers from all over the world. - The School of First State Ballet offers ballet training to students from age four through adults. Our curriculum is based on the Vaganova syllabus of classical Russian ballet - a progressive system of training that concentrates on building strength and flexibility while minimizing the risk of injury. - Offering creative movement, ballet, pointe, variations, pas de deux, and adult ballet class.