Ballet Yuma

OUR MISSION

We invite you to invest in the cultural heartbeat of your community. Your generosity ensures the dance continues! As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, our artistry is made possible through a vital blend of fundraising, grants, and ticket sales. Ballet Yuma operates independently of tuition from its official training school, Yuma Ballet Academy. This makes your contribution the cornerstone of our sustainability. Your tax-deductible gift directly fuels Our Mission: to cultivate the art of dance through professional-caliber instruction for young dancers and to enrich our community through artistically exceptional productions.

OUR HISTORY

Ballet Yuma emerged from its rural desert community over 30 years ago to distinguish itself within the pre-professional dance community. The company began in 1994 with the unique artistic and creative vision of Kathleen Sinclair and her late partner, Jon Cristofori. It has maintained a high standard of excellence by infusing classical ballet with new expressive potential, building on ballet’s classical forms and techniques to develop strength and versatility in its young artists. Upon Ms. Sinclair’s retirement in June of 2025, her Co-Director, Emma M.K. Cong has since taken leadership as the company’s sole Artistic Director. Enhancing Ballet Yuma’s focus on maintaining purity in the art of ballet and contemporary dance, Emma M.K. Cong and her Artistic Assistant, Catherine Field, place a heavy emphasis on artistic growth. This involves offering its dancers opportunities with a wide range of guest artists and dance professionals, resulting in master classes, innovative choreographic works, exceptional staging and costuming, and prospects for exposure beyond their own community.

REPRESENTING YUMA & ARIZONA WITH EXCELLENCE!

Now in its 31st season, Ballet Yuma is recognized nationally as one of the best pre-professional ballet companies in the country. It is Arizona's sole Company Member representative in The Ballet Alliance. Graduates have gone on to dance professionally with highly regarded companies including New York City Ballet, English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, St. Louis Dance Theater, Sacramento Ballet, Houston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company, Boston Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Miami City Ballet, Trey McIntyre Project, Ballet San Jose, Texas Ballet Theater, Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Louisville Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, and City Ballet of San Diego.

PROVIDING EDUCATION, DEVELOPMENT, & EXPERIENCE

Ballet Yuma, through performance experience, company training, and development from the earliest stages at its official school, Yuma Ballet Academy, provides a learning experience which extends a positive influence far beyond the dance floor. From Early Childhood Development classes to upper-level training, from ballet to contemporary, students build personal discipline leading to a practiced professionalism in both preparation and performance. As evidenced by the numerous Ballet Yuma dancers who have been accepted to train with or have become members of professional companies, students are availed the opportunity to grow to the point that they are prepared to step into the professional world. Ballet Yuma has been recognized as a top-tier pre-professional ballet company with the Ballet Alliance as much for the education its students receive as for their acknowledged excellence in performance.

REACHING OUT TO AN EXPANDING COMMUNITY

The positive influence of the arts increases proportionally with the number of lives it touches. Beyond its dedication to its dancers, Ballet Yuma is committed to nurturing the next generation of artists and art patrons through impactful community outreach programs. Led by Artistic Director Emma M.K. Cong, the company’s Ballet Bound program introduces dance to third-grade students in Yuma schools, while the Making a Pointe program engages middle-school girls. These initiatives tap into a rich vein of untapped artistic potential. Furthermore, Project Pas de Deux, a partnership with the local Boys & Girls Club, exposes another demographic of young people to the art form, igniting passion in children who may otherwise lack opportunities to discover their artistic talents. During its 2025- 2026 season, Ballet Yuma presented special performances for over a thousand local students and showcased it's first ever sensory-friendly performance of "The Nutcracker" for families with children who have special needs. When possible, guest performers are presented, broadening the experience for local audiences and dancers alike.