DANCE DATA PROJECT® WELCOMES ADAM SKLUTE TO ITS ADVISORY COUNCIL
Ballet West Artistic Director brings decades of leadership, artistic excellence, and commitment to equity in ballet to DDP’s data-driven mission.
Northfield, IL | July 13, 2026 | Dance Data Project® (DDP), the national research and advocacy organization advancing gender equity in dance through metrics-based analysis, today announced that Adam Sklute, Artistic Director of Ballet West, has joined DDP’s Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council brings together leaders across the arts, research, philanthropy, and business to help inform DDP’s work, strengthen its field-facing resources, and support its mission to promote equity and transparency across the dance industry.
Sklute has served as Artistic Director of Ballet West since 2007, expanding the company’s repertoire, visibility, touring profile, and commitment to training through the Ballet West Academy. Before joining Ballet West, he spent 23 years with The Joffrey Ballet, rising from dancer to ballet master and, ultimately, to Associate Director.
“Adam’s career reflects the kind of rigorous, field-wide perspective that is invaluable to Dance Data Project®,” said Elizabeth “Liza” Yntema, DDP President and Founder. “His experience building institutions, championing artists, and expanding access to ballet will help inform our research, programming, and advocacy as we continue working toward full gender equity in dance.”
“Dance Data Project® has helped the field ask better questions by grounding conversations about leadership, opportunity, and representation in data,” said Sklute. “I am honored to join the Advisory Council and support DDP’s efforts to make the dance industry more transparent, inclusive, and forward-looking.”
In addition to his artistic leadership, Sklute is an internationally sought-after teacher, lecturer, coach, and adjudicator. He has been recognized for his commitment to diversity and inclusion in ballet, including honors from Utah Diversity Connection and Westminster College, and was named among Deseret Magazine’s 25 Changemakers of the West.
DDP’s research examines gender distribution in artistic and administrative leadership, choreography, compensation, programming, and related areas across ballet, classically based, contemporary, and modern dance organizations. By pairing public data with field knowledge, DDP creates resources that help artists, administrators, boards, funders, and audiences better understand where inequities persist and where progress is being made.
About Adam Sklute
Adam Sklute is Artistic Director of Ballet West and holder of The Willam Christensen Artistic Director Chair. Since joining Ballet West in 2007, he has led the company through significant artistic growth, broadened its repertory, expanded visibility and touring, and strengthened the Ballet West Academy. A former dancer and Associate Director with The Joffrey Ballet, Sklute is also an educator, speaker, coach, and judge for ballet schools, competitions, and companies around the world.
