Indiana Ballet Theatre Nw Inc

"The body says what words cannot.  -Martha Graham"

Welcome to Indiana Ballet Theatre Northwest Inc. (IBT)! 

IBT was founded 41 years ago by Gloria R. Tuohy out of the basement of her home in Lakes of the Four Seasons.  This all began when she was looking for a ballet dance class for her daughter, Amanda.  As a mother and dancer finding a school that taught proper ballet technique was important to her.  Mrs. Touhy trained as a dancer in England with Madame Rochelle from the Paris Opera Ballet.  Mrs. Tuohy had a very specific level of training that she wanted for her daughter; this is what started the legacy that is Indiana Ballet Theatre.  

Through the years Mrs. Tuohy, affectionally referred to as Mrs. T by her students, alumni, and their families, has taught more than 10,000 students.  She has provided the opportunity for over 120,000 school children and over 100,000 more community members to experience a full-length ballet.   

Indiana Ballet Theatre is a 501c3 not-for-profit school of dance and performing company.   IBT’s mission states that they are “dedicated to transforming lives and enriching the community through the world of dance.  We do this through performance, outreach, and the finest classical dance education.”  

Traditionally, Indiana Ballet Theatre has provided the community with two full- length ballet productions twice a year and our modern-contemporary concert, Kaliedoscope.   In addition to these core performances, there are a number of opportunities to see us perform throughout the region at galas, fundraisers and town festivals like Crown Point’s Octoberfest and DeMotte’s Touch of Dutch, among many others in the northwest Indiana area.  

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain..."

Like many businesses, Indiana Ballet Theatre has been affected by the current pandemic.   In March we were moving along with our spring production of Coppelia.   We held auditions for the production, cast parts, and began rehearsing.  When Indiana contracted its first positive Covid-19 case, Mrs. Tuohy and Ms. Amanda, along with the senior teachers, office staff and our Executive Board, developed a plan to keep Indiana Ballet Theatre in business.  Just as important, they developed a strategy to continue services to our students, who were having their world upheaved by the need to shelter in place.   To be able to continue to provide dance education would give our dancers a constant in their lives, a sense of normalcy, an anchor to help them see that while the world was in chaos around them, parts of it were staying the same.  They could have hope that life would once again return to “normal.”  

Through a generous donation from our Executive Board, three smart TVs with carts were given.  Then we began our new and exciting way of providing dance classes to our students safely and virtually.  Instructors were thrilled to see their students, students were thrilled to see their instructors, and friends and parents were thrilled that their children were able to continue something that was as normal as it could possibly be.  

Covid has brought a strain on our school with cutting back on our Nutcracker Production and limiting class sizes to ensure the safety of our instructors, dancers and their families.  Through all of this, our amazing families, donors and sponsors have rallied with us to safely keep our doors open and continue in studio dance classes, rehearsals and even a scaled back Nutcracker.  Our Artistic Team has worked tirelessly to give the dancers and the community a little taste of normalcy with a re-envisioned Nutcracker that has been re-choreographed to allow social distancing to bring a safe version of the timeless holiday classic to the stage this year.  Typically 6000+ community members, school aged children through seniors, enjoy our wonderful dancers in this amazing show however this year we will be limited to 300 in person audience members.  This challenging year will also bring growth for IBT.  We will be videotaping the Nutcracker at a local venue that generously has donated their space.  We will be using local talent as the dancer and videographer while adhering to all Covid-19 safety mandates.  

We hope that you will consider donating to and supporting IBT and our projects.  Your generous donation will help our students and families and their continued education that have been affected by the pandemic.  You donation will also help  to  support the next 10,000 students, the 120,000 school-age audience members who see our productions as a field trip, and the 100,000 other community audience members.  You will be transforming lives and enriching your community through giving the gift of dance.   

You can learn more about Indiana Ballet Theatre by visiting us on the web at www.ibtnw.org or emailing info@ibtnw.org

Thank you.