Los Gatos Ballet

08/28/2026

🎄✨ Nutcracker Registration is Open! ✨🎄

Be part of the magic this holiday season! Production participation is an essential part of the Los Gatos Ballet experience, giving dancers the opportunity to develop both their technical skills and artistry through the rehearsal and performance process. 🩰

Registration is due Friday, September 4!

📌 Important Dates & Info:
✨ Eligibility: Pre-Ballet 3–Level 8
✨ Level 6–8 Nut Auditions: September 4
✨ Mandatory Rehearsals: November 7 & 14
✨ Theater Week: November 17–22
Photo by Annarose Monroe Photography

08/26/2026

📣 Back to Dance Parent Meeting
Mark your calendars! Join us Wednesday, August 26 at 7:00 PM at the LGB Amphitheater, 125 Alerche Dr. for our Back to Dance Parent Meeting. 🩰
We’ll go over important details for the upcoming season, answer questions, share what’s ahead, and connect with our LGB families. Your feedback and participation are always welcome!
Please note: All Youth Program classes are cancelled Wednesday, August 26 so that at least one representative from each family can attend. Dancers are welcome to join the meeting as well!
We’re looking forward to kicking off a wonderful new season together! ✨

08/23/2026

Happy Birthday Margot Aknin ✨

Join us in welcoming Company Artist Margot Aknin to the Smuin studios! And while we’re at it, let’s wish her a happy birthday!

⭐️ Margot Aknin (she/her) grew up in San Jose, CA, where she trained at Los Gatos Ballet under Marcie Ryken for ten years. After high school, she spent three years in the Graduate Program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, where she performed roles including the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Nikiya in La Bayadère, and also performed with the main company in Terrence Orr’s Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast. As a member of BalletMet 2, Aknin performed corps and soloist roles in ballets by Edwaard Liang, David Nixon, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Gerard Charles, and George Balanchine. She joined Dayton Ballet in 2016, performing many principal roles, including Daisy in Ron Cunningham’s The Great Gatsby, Odette in Septime Webre’s Swan Lake, Lucy/Mina in Karen Russo Burke’s Dracula:Bloodlines, and other notable works by Jiří Kylián, Amy Seiwert, Jessica Lang, among others. Aknin joined Newport Contemporary Ballet in 2021, where she danced principal and soloist roles in ballets by Danielle Genest, Miki Ohlsen, Nicolo Fonte, Kristopher Estes-Brown, Amy Hall Garner, Takehiro Ueyama, DaYoung Jung, and others. Following her performances with Smuin in French Kiss, Aknin will join Golden State Ballet in San Diego.

We are so excited to have Margot join us on stage for our first performances of the 26/27 season! We hope you’ll join us for a show to see all of our artists share their stage together.

📸 Margot Aknin in rehearsal with Smuin Contemporary Ballet, photo by Maximillian Tortoriello.

08/21/2026

✨ The Nutcracker returns to Los Gatos Ballet! ✨
Join Clara on a magical journey through the Land of Snow and into the Kingdom of the Sweets. ❄️✨ Experience Tchaikovsky’s beloved score, beautiful dancing, stunning costumes, and holiday magic for the whole family.
📅 November 21 & 22
🕐 1PM & 6PM
📍 McAfee Performing Arts Center
🎟️ Tickets are ON SALE now! Make Los Gatos Ballet’s Nutcracker part of your holiday tradition. ❤️

https://losgatosballet.org/nutcracker/

Photos by Annarose Monroe Photography

08/19/2026

Looking for a way to keep moving, build strength, refine your technique, and enjoy dancing in a welcoming environment? Our Drop-In Program offers classes for a range of levels and experience.

🩰 Mixed Level Ballet
💫 Dance Lab
🔥 Flamenco — Beginning & Intermediate
Whether you’re returning to dance, continuing your training, or simply looking for a new way to move, there’s a place for you at Los Gatos Ballet.

📍 Los Gatos Ballet
✨ Drop in anytime — no long-term commitment required.
Save this schedule & join us in the studio!

08/17/2026

It all begins in first position. ✨ Our young dancers are back in the studio and ready to step into a new season of growth, artistry, and connection. Welcome back, dancers! 🩰

08/14/2026

✨ LAST CHANCE TO JOIN US! ✨

Move with Ease Workshop

🗓️ Saturday, August 15
⏰ 9:00am–2:00pm

Join us this Saturday for an immersive day designed to help you move with greater ease, awareness, and confidence. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced dancer, this workshop offers practical tools to deepen your understanding of your body and your movement. 🩰

Workshop Schedule
9:00–10:30 | Technique
10:30–11:40 | Conditioning with Props
11:40–12:00 | Lunch Break
12:00–1:00 | Progressing Ballet Technique
1:00–2:00 | Gyrokinesis

✨ Featuring faculty Shaina Leibson, Joanna Ramos, Marcie Ryken, Lila Salhov & Mariana Sobral.

$175 | All Levels

Come move, explore, and discover new possibilities in your dancing. We’d love to have you with us! 🤍

08/12/2026

Summer may be winding down, but there’s so much to look forward to! Mark your calendars for these important August dates:

🩰 AUGUST 1
✨ Nutcracker & Ballet Alliance Registration Opens
🎟️ Nutcracker Tickets Go On Sale!

💪 AUGUST 10–14
Pre-Season Prep Week

🍂 AUGUST 17
Fall Classes Begin!

👨‍👩‍👧 AUGUST 26
Back to Dance Parent Meeting
From preparing for a new season to getting ready for the magic of The Nutcracker, we can’t wait to dance into fall with you! 🤍✨
Save this post, share it with your fellow LGB families, and get ready for an exciting season ahead!

08/10/2026

✨ Summer at Los Gatos Ballet ✨

What a summer it was! ☀️🩰 From our youngest dancers discovering the joy of movement to our advanced dancers challenging their technique, strength, and artistry, our studios were filled with energy, creativity, and inspiration.
This summer brought new skills, new friendships, challenging choreography, and so many moments to be proud of. We were especially thrilled to welcome an incredible group of guest faculty who shared their unique knowledge, experience, and perspectives, inspiring our dancers to see movement in new ways. ✨

A huge thank you to our dancers, families, year-round faculty, guest teachers, and everyone who made Summer at Los Gatos Ballet so special. 🤍
Here’s to the memories, the growth, and all the dancing still to come! 💫