James Sewell Ballet

It has been a remarkable journey.

James Sewell Ballet (JSB), currently in its 35th season, recently announced its final performances and cessation of operations at the end of its current season in March 2025. After a successful 35-year run, JSB is no longer able to survive, much less thrive, in the current environment. The decision was made after a decade of declining philanthropy for dance, a changed touring market, and the additional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts.

Although the company will begin winding down operations, it is excited and grateful to be able to finish out its current season, which includes a 35th Anniversary Retrospective, March 14-15, at The O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul.

“Now is the moment when an intentional, celebratory sunset can still take shape, with respect to timing of messaging and realistic fundraising goals to close out the season,” said Eve Schulte, executive director of JSB.

“We are immensely grateful to everyone along the way who has believed in us and supported us,” said James Sewell, founder and artistic director of JSB. “We hope you can join us in this farewell season as we celebrate 35 years of moving works.”

Read the full press release here.

JSB’s Role in the Dance Ecosystem

JSB dancers have gone on to careers with other top dance companies, including Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Andrea Miller’s GALLIM, and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo; to roles on Broadway and in television; and into communities locally and across the nation as leaders of their own dance companies and schools. The long-held company value to expand people’s notions about ballet was implemented in many ways, and was influenced greatly by the ambitions and pursuits of the ensemble members. JSB often hired and supported mid-career, mature artists, and often featured artists that did not fit the “ballet mold.” It regularly extended opportunities for its dancers and guest artists to set choreography as part of its Ballet Works Project, often debuts. Nearly 100 new works from artists other than the artistic director were supported in this model.

Before the pandemic, JSB was a reliable, salaried position for professional dancers in the Twin Cities, but is no longer able to line up the weeks at the pay level standard the company has valued with increasing reliance on highly competitive project-based grants. A typical contract was 28-32 weeks a season, 40 hours a week, with a robust seasonal itinerary involving class, rehearsal, performances, tours, and outreach engagements. In its heyday, JSB employed three year-round full-time administrators plus had professionals on retainer in marketing and financial oversight. Since the pandemic, it’s been operating with a lean administrative staff of two. The company has fostered long-term employees in both leadership and artistic staff over the years, a testament to its way of doing business and to the opportunities it was able to curate for its employees until recently.

Going smaller toward the pick-up company model would be a method for survival, but the leadership and board of trustees were resolute that too much of the company’s values would be lost selecting that route.

“An instrumentalist will purchase their instrument and carry it with them for life,” says Sewell. “In my craft, a dance company is my instrument, and I’ve been blessed to have folks make possible that investment every year for 35 years.”

The company will issue its current employed dancers holiday bonuses to help offset costs in the upcoming audition season. The company revives last fall’s choral ballet hit, Unfashioned Creature, with MPLS (imPulse) as part of the Westminster Performing Arts Series, November 15, 2024. It then travels to Tucson, AZ, for a three-performance run with True Concord Voices and Orchestra. Rehearsals resume in late January as JSB looks toward its final performance, a 35th Anniversary Retrospective, at two long-time venue partners: The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, MT, March 8, 2025; and The O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul, MN, March 14 &15, 2025. Special post-show receptions will follow each performance.

We thank you for being a valued friend in our artistic journey and wish you all the best this holiday season.

Consider a Last Hurrah Gift to JSB. Lead gifts - and gifts of all sizes - will help JSB meet a remaining budgeted goal of $140,000 to honor its 35th year of programming - and to support its people forward. Contact Tom McNamee at 612-672-0480 with any questions or to pledge your financial support offline. We thank you!