The Cleveland Ballet was founded in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

in 1972 by Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath as a dance school, the School of Cleveland Ballet. It was the second incarnation of the Cleveland Ballet, having been preceded a ballet company of the same name founded in 1935 and succeeded by another founded in 2014. Nahat and Horvath subsequently recruited professional dancers who by 1975 were previewing performances around Cleveland. The company first performed at the

Hanna Theatre The Hanna Theatre is a theater at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is one of the original five venues built in the district, opening on March 28, 1921. The Hanna Theatre reopened in 2008 as the new home of Great La ...

November 16, 1976. A year later the Ohio Chamber Orchestra began providing live music and in 1978 the company presented its first original full-length ballet, “The Gift” in 1976 ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaik ...

'' in 1979, '' Coppelia'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' and ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' were next added to the repertory. In 1984 Horvath resigned, leaving Nahat solely responsible for the company and school. That year the ballet moved to the newly renovated State Theater in

Playhouse Square Playhouse Square is a theater district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger). Constructed in a span of 19 months in the early 1920s ...

where Nahat created another full evening ballet Celebrations and Ode music from Ludwig van Beethoven full 7th and 9th symphonies. From 1985 to 2000 it continued as the Cleveland San Jose Ballet, performing in both Cleveland and

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. By 1990 it was the fourth-largest ballet company in the United States, and the largest one that was a co-venture between two cities. In 2000, the founding Cleveland base of operations then led by Board President, Robert G. Jones of Key Bank, closed the company and the ballet began operating based exclusively in San Jose. In 2004 John Fry of Fry's Electronic's joined the board with a contribution on 1 million dollars and the company was subsequently taken over by new board chair, John Fry. In a letter instructed by Fry, Nahat was ousted in January 2011 by newly Fry appointed Executive Director, Stephanie Ziesel. After a year, the name was changed to Silicon Valley Ballet until its final closure in 2016.

References

{{authority control Ballet companies in the United States Ballet schools in the United States 1972 establishments in Ohio Culture of Cleveland Performing groups established in 1972