Pointe Breakthrough
As the Sioux Falls metro area blossoms and grows, there’s one particular fine arts element that the community still appears to be missing. And it’s one that dancer and Sioux Falls native Madeleine Scott hopes to remedy in the very near future.
“Sioux Falls and the state of South Dakota are really America’s best hidden gems. Let’s build something to last,” Scott said.
That thing is a professional ballet company right here in the state of South Dakota. And it’s an endeavor that South Dakota Ballet executive and artistic director Scott is embarking upon in earnest in 2020.
“South Dakota is the last state in America to have a professional ballet company,” she said. “I see it as a huge opportunity for us. We have the freedom to build a company in a way that is unrestricted to expectation—a contemporary mindset that’s rooted in traditional values and traditional culture.”
Scott herself is no stranger to the ballet scene in-state and well beyond. A dancer since the age of 10, she moved to Philadelphia at age 13 to begin her rigorous training. She followed it up with work throughout Boston and New York City, even residing in a convent for a time while studying ballet.
Pictured: Madeleine Scott
“My mom said, ‘I’m letting you go to New York City by yourself—you’re living with nuns,’” Scott said. “Fair trade, if you ask me!”
It wasn’t long before the then-teenage Scott accepted a position with Ballet West, a company based out of Salt Lake City. “By god’s grace, I made it to the final cut and was one of the dancers allotted an interview with the artistic director.”
Since that period, Scott has had the privilege of dancing such pieces as George Balanchine’s Serenade, a world-premiere production of Cinderella and The Nutcracker.
But after being drawn back to Sioux Falls in 2018 to help care for an ailing relative, she took what she had most recently learned about arts administration from her time at the Sacramento Ballet to heart—it was time for her to find a new challenge.
“I’ve been watching several important variables that would determine the success or potential failure of an organization of this type—one of which is very obvious,” Scott said of the Sioux Falls area. “Population growth.”
The big kickoff to South Dakota Ballet’s arrival in Sioux Falls will be a gala event at the Washington Pavilion, June 12, which will include performances from acclaimed artists from companies the world over, such as San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet, as well as talent who received their starts in the area, such as Vermillion native Rebecca Ford.
“The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the upcoming season and introduce the community to the caliber they can expect from South Dakota Ballet moving forward,” Scott said.
Beyond the gala, Scott hopes to grow the company over the ensuing years, including funding the payment of full-time dancers by hosting summer seasons over the next three years. The organization plans on hosting auditions for trainees in the company in late 2020.
“I think it’s just really important that people realize that it is time for us to have our own professional ballet company,” she said. “The artistic organizations in a state describe what a state is all about—its personality, its culture.
“Coming to Sioux Falls should be the highlight of a dancer’s year—the community is unparalleled, the theatre is astounding, the hospitality is great.”
To find out more about South Dakota Ballet, the upcoming gala and how you can contribute to the organization, go to SouthDakotaBallet.org.