Kalamazoo Ballet
Press & Media
Founded in Kalamazoo in 1970, Kalamazoo Ballet carries forward a longstanding tradition of ballet performance, education, artistic opportunity, and community partnership.
About
Kalamazoo Ballet
A longstanding part of Kalamazoo’s cultural life.
Kalamazoo Ballet Company is a Michigan nonprofit arts organization incorporated in 1970, carrying forward a tradition of ballet performance, education, and community engagement spanning generations in Kalamazoo.
In 2026, Kalamazoo Ballet entered a new chapter under new board leadership. Building on the organization’s longstanding charitable mission, Kalamazoo Ballet supports opportunities that strengthen ballet in our community — including performance, financial assistance, guest artists, educational experiences, and initiatives that expand access to serious classical ballet training.
Kalamazoo Ballet works in close collaboration with Tye Chua Dance, whose history begins in 1960, when Thérèse Bullard founded the Bullard School of Ballet in Kalamazoo. In 2016, Tye Chua Dance acquired the school and the Bullard School of Ballet name from Thérèse Bullard, continuing a ballet tradition that has now served the Kalamazoo community for more than six decades.
Kalamazoo Ballet and Tye Chua Dance are independent organizations. They remain legally and financially distinct while sharing a commitment to preserving and advancing ballet in Kalamazoo.
This description may be used as Kalamazoo Ballet’s official organizational boilerplate in media coverage and press materials.
Leadership
Carrying a Kalamazoo tradition forward.
Angi Polderman
President
Angi Polderman leads Kalamazoo Ballet’s renewed nonprofit operations, with a focus on organizational stewardship, artistic opportunity, community relationships, and preserving the company’s institutional history for a new generation.
Aimee Tye
Director
Aimee Tye brings decades of experience in ballet education and artistic leadership in Kalamazoo, helping guide the relationship between Kalamazoo Ballet’s charitable mission and the artistic opportunities it supports.
August
Director
August contributes a contemporary perspective on classical ballet training, artistic development, and the opportunities Kalamazoo Ballet can create for dancers and the broader community.
Kalamazoo Ballet is governed by an independent Board of Directors. Additional governance information is available upon request.
History &
Archive
More than six decades of ballet in Kalamazoo.
Kalamazoo Ballet’s story is part of a larger ballet tradition in the city — one documented through newspaper coverage, photographs, programs, performances, and community partnerships spanning generations.
Bullard School of Ballet founded
Terry Bullard establishes the Bullard School of Ballet in Kalamazoo, beginning the teaching tradition later continued by Tye Chua Dance.
Kalamazoo Ballet incorporated
Kalamazoo Ballet Company is incorporated in Michigan, establishing the nonprofit organization that continues today.
A teaching tradition continues
Tye Chua Dance acquires the Bullard School of Ballet and its name from Terry Bullard, preserving a school history beginning in 1960.
A new chapter
New board leadership assumes stewardship of Kalamazoo Ballet, renewing the organization’s active role in supporting ballet performance, education, access, and artistic opportunity in Kalamazoo.
The Archive
Preserving Kalamazoo’s ballet history.
Kalamazoo Ballet is actively preserving an extensive collection of historic newspaper coverage, photographs, programs, and other materials documenting ballet in Kalamazoo from the 1960s forward. These records illuminate decades of performances, dancers, teachers, collaborations, and community life — and help connect Kalamazoo Ballet’s history with the work still happening today.
News &
Press Releases
The latest from Kalamazoo Ballet.
News, announcements, partnerships, performances, and other developments from Kalamazoo Ballet.
Kalamazoo Ballet begins a new chapter as historic nonprofit returns to active operation.
Kalamazoo Ballet Company, incorporated in Michigan in 1970, begins a renewed chapter supporting ballet performance, education, access, and artistic opportunity in the Kalamazoo community.
Release forthcoming
Media
Assets
Images and materials for editorial use.
Approved logos, current photography, and selected historical materials are available to members of the media covering Kalamazoo Ballet.
Kalamazoo Ballet logos
Primary Kalamazoo Ballet identity files suitable for digital and print editorial use, including transparent-background versions.
Current photography
Current images representing Kalamazoo Ballet programs, performances, dancers, leadership, and collaborative work are available with captions and photo-credit information.
Historical photographs & programs
Selected archival photographs, programs, and other materials documenting Kalamazoo Ballet and ballet in Kalamazoo from the 1960s forward may be available for editorial use.
Archival research
Kalamazoo Ballet can assist journalists researching historic productions, artists, collaborations, organizations, and milestones represented in the surviving institutional archive.
Usage Notes
Kalamazoo Ballet will provide available captions, dates, and credit information with media materials whenever known.
Historical newspaper clippings and other third-party archival materials may be displayed for historical and research purposes but are not automatically cleared for republication. Journalists should contact Kalamazoo Ballet regarding the source and usage status of specific archival materials.
Quick
Facts
Kalamazoo Ballet at a glance.
Media
Contact
Let’s tell the story.
Kalamazoo Ballet welcomes media inquiries about the organization, its programs, performances, partnerships, and the history of ballet in the Kalamazoo community.
Inquiries Welcome
- Interviews & organizational news
- Performances & programs
- Photography & media assets
- Historical research & archives
- Community partnerships
For historical inquiries, please include any known names, productions, organizations, or approximate dates. Kalamazoo Ballet continues to document and preserve archival materials and welcomes opportunities to help reconnect this history with the community that created it.