Jane Victorine Wood

Born in Washington, D.C., Jane received her formative ballet training with Mary Day at the Washington School of Ballet, in Washington, D.C. At the age of 15, she was invited to perform with the Grand Theatre de Genève, in Geneva, Switzerland under the direction of Patricia Neary and George Balanchine.

She joined Ballet West, in Salt Lake City, and rose to the rank of Principal Dancer in 1988. Jane performed most every major role in the classical ballet repertoire, including the title roles in Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Coppelia, and Lady of the Camellias, as well as a full range of contemporary ballets created by world-renowned choreographers, including Frederick Ashton, John Neumeier, Ronald Hynd, Ben Stevenson, Bruce Marks, and Val Caniparoli, to name a few.

In 2000, Jane retired, after dancing for 21 years with Ballet West, graduated from the University of Utah with a B.F.A. in Ballet- Performance Emphasis, became the Faculty Coordinator for the Ballet West Conservatory, and also taught as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Utah.

Jane joined the faculty of Florida State University’s Department of Dance as a Visiting Assistant Professor, in 2002 where she taught for 2 years.

Returning to Utah in 2004, Jane continued teaching at the University of Utah as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, and was guest teacher for Ballet West company class, and at the Ballet West Academy. In 2004 and 2005, she was the Children’s Ballet Mistress for Ballet’s West’s annual production of The Nutcracker.

Between 2005 and 2012, Jane continued to guest teach for the Ballet West Summer Intensive and the main company, and she joined the staff of Ballet West as full time Ballet Mistress in 2012. In addition to teaching, coaching, rehearsing and resetting ballets in the Ballet West repertoire, she conducts Ballet West company and Ballet West Summer Intensive auditions around the country.

In 2017 and 2018, Jane was honored to work alongside Nicolo Fonte, resident choreographer for Ballet West, on his new production of Carmina Burana, working with the dancers of Cincinnati Ballet and Ballet West in a joint production.