Ballet Ensemble of Texas

The Ballet Ensemble of Texas was chartered in May 2001, with the goal of presenting quality ballet performances for local communities and to train pre-professional students for careers in dance. It is the official company of the Ballet Academy of Texas in Coppell. Since its inception, in addition to The Nutcracker, the Ballet Ensemble has presented ambitious spring performances to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, dancing or premiering works by noted choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, August Bournonville, and Fernando Bujones.

Our 2018 NUTCRACKER review from Theatre Jones stated “…Ballet Ensemble featured an entirely home-grown cast, filling the coveted roles with their own highly trained dancers”! We are very proud that we have the talent and quality of dancer to present this level of performance without guest dancers. Our dancers are recognized with acceptance and scholarships from prestigious training facilities across the country.

We are also proud to boast that we have four alumni dancing with the American Ballet Theatre, America’s National Ballet Company. The Ballet Ensemble of Texas performed as an “Honor” company with the Regional Dance of America/Southwest organization and hosted the RDA/ SW Festival in 2008 at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts. They have represented Coppell and the North Texas area internationally at performances in Montreal, Canada in 2012, and performed at the 2013 Young! Tanzsommer dance festival in Austria.

Thom Clower joined the company beginning with the 2018-19 season as Artistic Director. He has a long history with BET as a guest artist, staging George Skibine’s Coppelia, Firebird, and most recently his own Diamonds. Former Joffrey Ballet dancer Lisa Slagle is the Founder and Executive Director of the company. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the company is funded solely by donations, and is grateful to the City of Coppell, Texas Commission on the Arts, Irving Arts Center and the City of Irving through the Irving Arts Board for their support.