ADAM SKLUTE

Artistic Director, Ballet West, The Willam Christensen Artistic Director Chair, Sponsored by Peggy Bergmann

Since 2007, Adam Sklute has expanded Ballet West’s outlook, repertoire, and visibility with exciting company premieres, increased touring, heightened public exposure, and a greater focus on the Ballet West Academy.

Sklute began his training in Oakland, California and was with The Joffrey Ballet for twenty-three years, starting in New York as a dancer where he was one of the last two artists personally chosen by Robert Joffrey for his company. He became Ballet Master in 1995 and was part of the team that moved the company from NY to Chicago. In 2004 he became the Associate Director of the Joffrey Ballet. Sklute has extensive television and film credits and is an Adjunct Professor at The University of Utah as well as a teacher, lecturer, coach, and judge for ballet schools, competitions, and companies worldwide.

Sklute was listed as one of the 25 Movers and Shakers of the Utah Arts Scene in 2007. In 2014, he was named one of Utah’s Enlightened 50, and he received the Utah National Guard’s Bronze Minuteman Award for outstanding service to Utah and the nation. Sklute was awarded the Utah Diversity Connection’s Business Award for “Outstanding Commitment to Diversity Initiatives,” and Westminster College’s MLK Unsung Hero Award for his ongoing work to promote inclusivity and diversity in ballet and in our community. Most recently, Sklute was included in Deseret Magazine’s 25 Changemakers of the West for his efforts to build greater equity and inclusion in classical ballet. In 2016, Sklute took on the dual positions of CEO and Artistic Director of Ballet West for the year.