About Us

The Ithaca Ballet, under the direction of Cindy Reid, is Upstate New York’s only repertory company and is the resident ballet company at the beautiful State Theatre in downtown Ithaca. Founded in 1961, it is also the oldest continuously performing arts group in Tompkins County. The Ithaca Ballet’s mission is sharing the art of classical dance with the widest audience possible in upstate New York.

In its over 50 years of existence, the ballet has trained over 2,000 young people in the art of dance and enriched the lives of thousands more. The quality of instruction and performance experience provided by the ballet is of a caliber that alumni of the Ithaca Ballet have gone on to professional careers as professional dancers in prominent companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, the Joffrey Ballet, the Miami City Ballet, Merce Cunningham Company, and the San Francisco Ballet.

We perform four productions a year in the State Theater of Ithaca, Hangar Theatre (Ithaca), and tour the Finger Lakes area. Our performances include dancers from our resident company, advanced guest children from the Ballet Center of Ithaca, as well as guest artists from around the United States.

Our Mission

Ithaca Ballet is dedicated to promoting ballet in Upstate New York for the enrichment of audiences of all ages through performance of a repertoire of classical and contemporary works and to supporting the many lifelong benefits of dance through exceptional professional training of a diverse student community.

Board of Directors (2024)

Jennifer Jolly, President

Amy O’Brien, Vice President

Ryan Dickson, Michael Lausell, Rebecca Lerch, Ann Lynn, Rachel Myers, Cindy Reid, Lindsey Staley, Aoise Stratford