Sacramento Ballet Announces New Artistic Director

The Sacramento Ballet announced Tuesday the appointment of a new artistic director. 

Amy Seiwert was a dancer with the ballet in the 1990s. That played a role in her selection, says Andrew Roth, who is on the ballet's board of directors.

"Amy was a former principle dancer with the Sacramento Ballet for a number of years. And one of the things that really drew us to her, in addition to her impressive body of choreographic work and artistic achievements, was the fact that she's really a part of the Sacramento Ballet's history," says Roth.

Seiwert will replace the company's longtime co-directors Ron Cunningham and Carinne Binda. Roth says Seiwert sees Cunningham and Binda as a part of her artistic DNA. 

"Amy's talked a lot about what she sees for Sacramento Ballet and it's building on the rich legacy that Ron and Carinne have created," says Roth. "We'll absolutely continue presenting classical works, we will always have a Nutcracker and exciting new works and new choreographers as well ."

Seiwert also worked with the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco and with dancers from the New York City Ballet.

"This is somebody who left the company, went on to achieve a high level of success in other parts of the dance world and is now coming back to help lead the company," says Roth. "So we're very excited about that."

Seiwert was selected from a candidate pool of more than 30 directors, choreographers and dancers.