Milwaukee Ballet

Milwaukee Ballet

Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker production is a classic interpretation, and is a keystone event in the region. Milwaukee Ballet is 50 years old this season. We are an international company of dancers, a thriving School & Academy and a force for change in the community through our engagement programs.

The Milwaukee Ballet was founded in 1969, and held its first performance on April 24, 1970 at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Less than a year later the company began performing in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, where it still performs today.

Milwaukee Ballet’s Studio was located at the Jodi Peck Center until Fall 2019 with the opening of their new studio, the Baumgartner Center for Dance. The Baumgartner Center for Dance is a 52,000-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. In 1975 the Milwaukee Ballet opened an affiliated school, the Milwaukee Ballet School.

On average the company holds 45 performances each year, which have an annual attendance of over 50,000 people. The Milwaukee Ballet produces at least one world premiere each year. Production of the Nutcracker has become a staple of the company, and has been performed annually since 1977.