Founders
Rodney Gustafson | Founding Director
Rodney Gustafson, Executive Director, founded State Street Ballet in 1994 after a successful performing career with American Ballet Theatre. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Business Administration and Organizational Management, and combining these skills with the experiences of a performing career has allowed him to build a successful ballet company respected for its versatility, artistic excellence, and intelligently-designed productions. His innovative approach, mastery of the classics, and business savvy have empowered State Street Ballet to become an internationally acclaimed dance company that tours throughout the world.
As a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Gustafson worked with many of the greatest dancers and choreographers of the time, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Rudolph Nureyev, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor. He appeared in the films The Turning Point and Baryshnikov's Nutcracker and performed in several Live from Lincoln Center specials airing on PBS. During his tenure as Artistic Director of State Street Ballet, Mr. Gustafson has created many original full-length ballets for the company, including The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Jungle Book.
Allison Jones Gustafson | Founding Director
After receiving her BA in Foreign Languages from Southern Methodist University, Ms. Gustafson earned her MA in Sociology from the University of Arizona. Her strong belief that a dance studio should provide a healthy environment where both learning and personal growth can occur stems from her academic research concerning the connection between the environment of the dance studio and a dancer’s self-esteem. Ms. Gustafson has many years experience teaching ballet to all levels of children and adults. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National training Curriculum. Ms. Gustafson continues her work as a college level professor of Sociology. In addition, she is a both a Founding Director on the State Street Ballet Board of Directors, as well as a Director on The Ballet Alliance Board of Directors.