Susan Baker-Dillingham

Susan Baker-Dillingham was born in Abilene, Texas where she grew up studying dance at the Abilene Civic Ballet Company under the direction of Ellen Rutherford. Susan completed her senior year of high school and one year of college at the highly acclaimed North Carolina School of the Arts. From there Susan danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet, Balletmet in Columbus, Ohio, the Eglevsky Ballet in NYC, the modern troupe Michael Mao Dance in NYC, and Ballet Austin. During her 20 year professional career Susan worked with many world renowned choreographers including, Lou Conte, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, James Kudelka, John McFall, David Parsons, Kirk Peterson, Michael Smuin, and Glen Tetley. Susan has performed in a wide range of balletic works from the absolute classicism of Marius Petipa and the neo classic George Balanchine, to the modernism of Paul Taylor.

Susan spent three years as the artistic director of Dance Arts Los Alamos before branching out to form the New Mexico Dance Theater and Performance Company in August of 2004. Her current students have been accepted to and studied at such prestigious summer dance programs as American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Ballet West, Burklyn Ballet, Jillana, Joffrey Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, and Long Beach Ballet.

In the spring of 2004 Susan was chosen as a New Mexico Woman of Distinction. She was honored to be one of ten women celebrated at the Governor’s mansion in Santa Fe. In the fall of 2005, NMDT was chosen as the “Most Successful New Small Business” in Los Alamos, and was honored to be one of seventeen people from the state of New Mexico celebrated on the floor of the NM House of Representatives.

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