Festival Ballet Theatre

About The Company:

Founded in 1988 by Salwa Rizkalla, Festival Ballet Theatre is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the artistic enrichment of the Orange County community through professional productions, educational programs and by providing a nurturing and intensive artistic home base to some of Southern California's most talented dancers. Under the direction of Salwa Rizkalla, Festival Ballet Theatre has grown to become one of Southern California's most vibrant and accomplished regional ballet companies, boasting a roster of impressive up and coming local talent as well as internationally acclaimed guest artists from the American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Boston Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet.

Festival Ballet Theatre also features a world-renowned guest and resident choreographers that have received critical acclaim and prizes for original work around the globe. Valuing past masterpieces but with an eye on the future, Festival Ballet Theatre presents a repertoire of full-length classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia and Don Quixote as well as an annual Contemporary/Classical repertoire evening that presents new works by some of the nation's most sought-after choreographers.

Festival Ballet Theatre aspires to be a beacon of artistic excellence in the Orange County area, simultaneously attracting the best in professional dance to its home while sending its own dancers out as artistic ambassadors to the nation. In 2001 Arts Orange County awarded FBT "Outstanding Arts Organization of the Year".