You may have heard that Canton has a ballet. If not, we do. The organization is celebrating 60 years this season, and the scope of what they produce rivals many professional companies in larger cities. Hundreds of thousands of people over the years have enjoyed annual traditions and productions like The Nutcracker or cheered on a child in a performance.
Cultural Organizations Matter
If I’m being honest, I’m not a ballet guy. I’m also betting that many people reading this would say the same thing. So, why keep reading? The fact is that very few people stop to consider why cultural organizations like the ballet matter, or what it actually takes to keep an organization like this alive.
What’s not immediately obvious is that Canton Ballet is a school at heart. It has a real and profound impact on kids and families. Canton Ballet isn’t just teaching dance. It’s shaping lives. Advanced-level students in the pre-professional division train 20 to 30 hours a week while maintaining an average GPA of 4.4. They learn discipline, time management, and resilience at a level that sets them apart. They gain exposure to global artists and ideas, including national and international master teachers and choreographers, often traveling internationally for dance festivals, workshops, and tours.
Their alumni go on to succeed in ballet, Broadway, film, and television, but also in law, medicine, business, and education, carrying with them the skills and confidence that come from being part of something bigger. Indirectly, this impacts our community. This impacts you.
Investing in Artists and Innovators
For parents, the ballet becomes a second home. It’s where kids find mentors who challenge them, friends who understand their passion, and experiences that shape the rest of their lives.
For our community, this can also be a point of pride. It’s proof that our city has invested in producing artists, innovators, and community leaders of the highest caliber. Organizations like the ballet can be the seed that makes this possible.
In a city like Canton, where sports naturally dominate the headlines, arts organizations can feel like they’re playing from behind. Yet, they’re just as essential to a thriving community.
I once saw a T-shirt that said, “Art Is Hard.” Running a regional ballet school and pre-professional company is hard. Running one at the level of Canton Ballet is even harder. The scope of what Canton Ballet produces rivals professional companies in larger cities. Twenty performances are on the calendar. Guest choreographers are brought in from around the world, like Zarina Stahnke from Semper Ballet in Dresden, Germany. Collaborations with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Summit Choral Society, and Canton Museum of Art fill out a very rich season.
That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens with long nights, high costs, and a constant push for funding and support.
Take The Nutcracker as an example. It’s not just a holiday show, it’s a cornerstone event that costs between $125,000 and $150,000 to stage. Professional sets, costumes, lighting, and guest artists from New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet elevate the production. Ticket sales alone don’t cover those costs. Only 50% of Canton Ballet’s annual budget comes from tuition and ticket sales. The rest depends on grants, donors, and sponsors willing to invest in something they believe will benefit and enrich the entire community.
Support the Arts in Our Community
Many people who contribute to the arts in our community assume that if they give to a major arts organization like ArtsInStark, the ballet is automatically covered. This is a great start and something that I’ve personally done to make an impact, but in reality, it’s only a fraction of the support that the ballet needs.
Canton Ballet has endured challenges most organizations would never recover from. An arson fire destroyed their building, sets, and costumes in 1981. They’ve faced shifting cultural priorities, dwindling arts funding, and the challenge of bringing suburban families downtown. Still, they’ve grown in size and ambition. They’ve trained dancers who went on to perform at the highest levels. They’ve partnered with institutions across the region. They’ve brought global artistry into our backyard.
All of this requires more than passion. It takes resources, leadership, and community buy-in. Co-founders Suanne Ferguson and the late Jane Bingham Fawcett were told it wouldn’t be possible to have a ballet school in a football town. Leaders like Jennifer Catazaro Hayward, the executive artistic director, carry forward this legacy built by other visionaries such as Jeanne Coen and Artistic Director Emeritus, Cassandra Crowley. That legacy has also been sustained by local foundations that understood that investing in the ballet was also an investment in Canton itself.
The truth is, organizations like Canton Ballet exist because people fight for them. They exist because donors give, boards govern, teachers mentor, and audiences show up. This improves all of our lives.
The arts don’t survive on talent and dreams alone. They survive on the willingness of a community to say: We’re not one-dimensional, and this too is an important part of who we are.
Even if you’ve never set foot in a theater to experience Canton Ballet, it directly and positively impacts your life. It shapes the culture of the city you live in for the better. This helps attract the kind of talent that fuels the local economy. It raises the next generation with discipline and creativity. It shows the world that Canton values more than just Friday night lights—we invest in the arts because they lift the human spirit, enrich our daily lives, and weave the cultural fabric that holds our community together.
And in times like these, that’s not just nice to have. That’s essential.