Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance
Maryland Hall, 801 Chase St, Annapolis, MD 21401
About
Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance offers comprehensive dance training and dance education alongside professional performances. Students may take part in trainee and apprentice programs, dance workshops, and scholarship programs for dance training connected to Thea B. Pinsky Memorial Scholarship Fund and Robert Sutton Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Conservatory of Dance operates as part of a non-profit performing arts organization that presents over 20 full-length classical and contemporary ballet performances each season and conducts training programs that attract promising young dancers from across the United States.
The organization’s 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 eclectic works that express American and Maryland culture, educating the community through a complete training program and services for under-served audiences, and preserving classical ballet while promoting the evolution of dance as an art. Founded in 1978 as Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, it achieved professional status in 1996, changed its name to Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2000, and acquired Jean Marie Dance Studio in Grasonville in 2021. Leadership has included Artistic Director Edward Stewart from 1980 to 2002, Artistic Director Dianna Cuatto from 2003 to 2020, and current Artistic Director Nicole Kelsch, appointed in 2020 after serving as a Principal Dancer, School Principal, and Ballet Mistress over a 14-year career. The organization has been recognized as Maryland’s premier professional ballet company by many distinctions and awards, including by the Governor’s Proclamation, and has received honors such as Best Theater Company and Best Dance Lessons in the Capital Gazette Best of Anne Arundel (2024, 2025, 2026), Best Camp in the same awards (2025, 2026), Best Dance Studio and Best Nonprofit Organization from What’s Up? Annapolis (various years from 2023 to 2026), and Annapolis Moms Thumbs Up in 2024 and 2025. One reviewer, Lynne Menefee, wrote that “the entire musical ensemble created a beautiful ballet experience…danced above and beyond anything previously seen.”
Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance is part of a non-profit performing arts organization that partners with numerous local organizations and is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. Each season, the organization performs educational school assemblies in Maryland K–12 schools, outreach performances at local libraries, senior centers, and community centers, and 10 mainstage mini-performances for students and seniors. It also serves community partners such as Casey Cares, Boys and Girls Club, GiGi’s Playhouse Annapolis, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis, Seeds 4 Success, and others through dance workshops, and it teaches and performs a 10-week Arts Integration Residency with participating Anne Arundel County Public Schools while collaborating with other local arts organizations to expand its artistic repertoire, influence, and reach.
Last updated July 19, 2026.
The organization’s 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 eclectic works that express American and Maryland culture, educating the community through a complete training program and services for under-served audiences, and preserving classical ballet while promoting the evolution of dance as an art. Founded in 1978 as Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, it achieved professional status in 1996, changed its name to Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 2000, and acquired Jean Marie Dance Studio in Grasonville in 2021. Leadership has included Artistic Director Edward Stewart from 1980 to 2002, Artistic Director Dianna Cuatto from 2003 to 2020, and current Artistic Director Nicole Kelsch, appointed in 2020 after serving as a Principal Dancer, School Principal, and Ballet Mistress over a 14-year career. The organization has been recognized as Maryland’s premier professional ballet company by many distinctions and awards, including by the Governor’s Proclamation, and has received honors such as Best Theater Company and Best Dance Lessons in the Capital Gazette Best of Anne Arundel (2024, 2025, 2026), Best Camp in the same awards (2025, 2026), Best Dance Studio and Best Nonprofit Organization from What’s Up? Annapolis (various years from 2023 to 2026), and Annapolis Moms Thumbs Up in 2024 and 2025. One reviewer, Lynne Menefee, wrote that “the entire musical ensemble created a beautiful ballet experience…danced above and beyond anything previously seen.”
Ballet Theatre of Maryland Conservatory of Dance is part of a non-profit performing arts organization that partners with numerous local organizations and is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. Each season, the organization performs educational school assemblies in Maryland K–12 schools, outreach performances at local libraries, senior centers, and community centers, and 10 mainstage mini-performances for students and seniors. It also serves community partners such as Casey Cares, Boys and Girls Club, GiGi’s Playhouse Annapolis, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis, Seeds 4 Success, and others through dance workshops, and it teaches and performs a 10-week Arts Integration Residency with participating Anne Arundel County Public Schools while collaborating with other local arts organizations to expand its artistic repertoire, influence, and reach.
Last updated July 19, 2026.
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