Kansas City Ballet

Kansas City Ballet presents dazzling full-length classics and modern world premieres

Lovers of dance will enjoy all the most popular classical ballets performed by the Kansas City Ballet in the Kauffman Center’s Muriel Kauffman Theatre, designed with sightlines and acoustics to be one of the most perfect theatres in the world. Audiences will love experiencing their favorites including Swan Lake, Billy the Kid, Afternoon of a Faun, Firebird, An American in Paris, Apollo, Carmen, Carmina Burana, Carnival of the Animals, Giselle, Les Sylphides, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. But there will also be plenty of fireworks with modern ballets including ZuZu Lounge, Company B, and Filing Station.

In the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the company performs four mixed repertory “seasons” per year from October through May. The ever-popular Nutcracker is performed in December and annually draws thousands of families to experience the wonders of dance.

The Kauffman Center’s 1,800-seat Muriel Kauffman Theatre offers amazing new opportunities for the Kansas City Ballet. The flexibility of the stage allows equal justice to an intimate pas de deux and a grand classic with the entire 25-member troupe on stage. Staging will also be greatly enhanced with room for entire sets in the fly space above the stage.  Read what Jeffrey Bentley, executive director of the Kansas City Ballet, has to say about moving to the Kauffman Center.

The organization’s artistic focus was founded by Todd Bolender, a former dancer with New York City Ballet and protégé of George Balanchine, and is being further developed by the current artistic director William Whitener who was a former principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet. Mr. Whitener strives to diversify and expand the repertory to a point that is reflective of the rich history of American ballet with choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Agnes DeMille, as well as introducing new choreographers in the ballet field to Kansas City audiences.