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History
San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet was originally founded in 1983 as San Antonio Dance Theatre by Patricia Delaney. During this same period, Susan Beil Connally founded The Moving Experience. SADT and The Moving Experience performed independently and collaborated in joint performances until the Fall of 1987. At that time, Ms. Delaney moved to California and Susan B. Connally became the Artistic Director of the two merged companies under the name of San Antonio Dance Theatre. In the Fall of 1988, Mrs. Connally took SADT to a Regional Dance America/Southwest directors' meeting to audition for membership. Accepted as an Intern Company, SADT attended its first RDA/SW Festival in the Spring of 1989.
SADT assumed the name of San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet in the Fall of 1995. SAMet hosted RDA/SW Festival in 1999 bringing more than 600 dancers, directors, choreographers and master teachers to San Antonio at which time our spring performance became an official Fiesta San Antonio event. SAMet became an RDA/SW Honor Company in the Spring of 2001. At the 2004 Festival, held in Abilene, TX, Susan B. Connally was elected President of the RDA/SW region, where she was involved with coordinating a collaborative choreographic work for the 2006 International Ballet Competition RDA performance as well as the RDA National Festival in Pittsburgh, April 2007.
During these years, SAMet has given performances to benefit the San Antonio Zoo, KLRN-TV (Public Television), Institute of Texas Cultures, San Antonio Dance Umbrella and many other charitable organizations. SAMet produces two major performances each season. The winter performance is usually a full-length story ballet such as "Cinderella," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Coppelia," and the spring performance, "Dance Kaleidoscope," features mixed repertoire by various choreographers. Outreach programs include free student performances and complimentary admissions to charitable and service organizations. During the 2004-2005 Season, SAMet offered over $42,000 worth of free tickets to various community service organizations including Ronald McDonald House, Respite Care, Seton Home, Medina Children's Home and a number of San Antonio area Title I schools. In 2005, SAMet became the first official ballet company of the Lyric Opera of San Antonio, collaborating with Artistic Director, Mark Richter for such productions as "Don Giovanni" and "The Merry Widow."
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