Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance

Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance offers comprehensive dance training and education, including trainee and apprentice programs and scholarship programs for dance training. Students take part in professional performances, dance workshops, and a range of classical and contemporary ballet works presented each season. The Conservatory of Dance is part of a non-profit performing arts organization that presents over 20 full-length performances each season, including traditional classics and innovative new works, and conducts training programs that attract promising young dancers throughout the U.S.

The Conservatory of Dance operates as the training academy of Ballet Theatre of Maryland, which was founded in 1978 as a private non-profit corporation and achieved professional status in 1996. The organization was originally established as Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, changed its name to Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2000, and acquired Jean Marie Dance Studio in Grasonville, Maryland in 2021. Its mission is to provide Maryland with a fully professional ballet company and training academy by performing known and original classical and contemporary works, creating new works that express American and Maryland culture, educating the community through a complete training program and services for under-served groups, and preserving classical ballet while promoting the evolution of dance as an art.

Leadership has included Artistic Director Edward Stewart, who served from 1980 until 2002, followed by Artistic Director Dianna Cuatto from 2003 to 2020. The current Artistic Director is Nicole Kelsch, appointed in 2020 after serving as a Principal Dancer, School Principal, and Ballet Mistress over a 14-year career with the organization. The Conservatory is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and follows a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination.

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s community involvement includes school assemblies in Maryland K–12 schools, outreach performances at local libraries, senior centers, and community centers, and 10 mainstage mini-performances each season for students and seniors. The organization partners with community groups such as Casey Cares, Boys and Girls Club, GiGi’s Playhouse Annapolis, Naval Support Activity Annapolis, and Seeds 4 Success through dance workshops. It also teaches and performs a 10-week Arts Integration Residency with participating Anne Arundel County Public Schools and collaborates with other local arts organizations to expand its artistic repertoire, influence, and reach. The Conservatory offers accessible dance training to students in need through the Thea B. Pinsky Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Robert Sutton Memorial Scholarship Fund, and other sponsorships.

Ballet Theatre of Maryland has been recognized as Maryland’s premier professional ballet company by many distinctions and awards, including by the Governor’s Proclamation. It has been voted Best Theater Company and Best Dance Lessons in the Capital Gazette Best of Anne Arundel for multiple years, as well as Best Camp in 2025 and 2026. It has also been voted Best Dance Studio and Best Nonprofit Organization by What’s Up? Annapolis in various years and received Annapolis Moms Thumbs Up in 2024 and 2025. One published testimonial described “the entire musical ensemble” as creating “a beautiful ballet experience…danced above and beyond anything previously seen.”

Last updated July 19, 2026.