Kansas City Ballet Tickets

The Lure of the Dance: A Glimpse into KC Ballet’s Enchanting World

The Genesis of Grace: Kansas City Ballet’s Rich Heritage.
Wrapped inside the cultural aura of the city of Kansas City, Missouri, the center of a vast agricultural region sits the Kansas City Ballet (KCB). Founded in 1957 by the Russian emigrant Tatiana Dokoudovska, and today considered a premier professional ballet company with an annual season of five central ballets and an eagerly anticipated annual performance of “The Nutcracker“, the KCB continues to thrill audiences.

The Todd Bolender Centre for Dance and Creativity, its home since three years ago this month, is a true crucible, a place where the future is forged, a building but also a breeding ground for innovation – the former seven-studio ballet facility, renovated and expanded to an 80,000 sq ft complex of dance studios, labs, classrooms, gyms, offices, and a library. The spectacular Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, downtown Kansas City’s cultural beacon and performing arts jewel that opened in September 2011, stands just across a Broadway sidewalk, KCB’s house. Bringing together inspiration, collaboration, passion, commitment, and creativity is an accomplishment in itself for any ballet company; accomplishing it while surviving what Johnson calls ‘this lean economic time’ places Kansas City Ballet on the cutting edge of how ballet companies should structure themselves for the future.

The Art of Attendance: Navigating Ticketing for the KC Ballet

A luxury beyond reach for some, tickets to see the Kansas City Ballet dance can be had for as little as $34 for certain previews and the same price for seats in the second balcony ($53 for the first balcony) of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and no more than $125, or an average of $88. These affordable prices make the ballet an accessible indulgence for the millions of people throughout the state of Kansas and the Midwest trying to live out their dreams of seeing the dance. For every individual and family that embraces the complementary tiers of middle-class cost and entry-level, world-class entertainment – and for the throngs who spend hundreds of dollars for the ‘best’ seats – the Kauffman Center, named for Kansas City-born entrepreneur turned Missouri state senator and turn-of-the-21st century benefactor mega-millionaire Mary Sue Kauffman, is a temple of high Victorian arts and entertainment: a grand return to the unabashed spectacle of lavishly talented classical dance. The challenge will be for the Kansas City Ballet to meet the impressive expectations of the venue.

A Global Pirouette: The Houston Ballet’s Ticketing Tapestry

Although KCB is an important part of the Kansas City ballet world, its sister in Houston is audience- and critic-admired nationally. General Admission prices range from $35-$190, and VIP experiences go as high as $200. The average fan might spend $220 for the privilege; the most devoted patrons can shell out as much as $530 on their premium encounter.

Architectural Elegance and Audience Experience at the Kauffman Center

It is a performance venue, to be sure, but also the kind of finely detailed work of art that brings to mind a wealthy patron commissioning one of Michelangelo’s masterful sculptures. Architects Moshe Safdie and Carter Soles designed every detail of The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts with the audiences of Muriel Kauffman Theater and Helzberg Hall as the ultimate benefactors of their talents. The architecture is the first gift, tailored specifically for the arts: the vineyard-style seating of Muriel Kauffman Theater, which puts acoustics first because of its long narrow shape, recalls the grand opera houses of Europe. Meanwhile, Helzberg Hall’s oval shape creates a more intimate experience by putting the performers right in front of the audience, no matter where they are seated within its embrace.

Altogether, whether it’s watching the Kansas City Ballet in its iconic halls or ballet in Houston in its large-scale settings, professional ballet offers a journey of experiences for balletomanes and neophytes alike – where rich threads of gravity, talent, and creativity are spun as companies’ stories of grace, light and emotion invite us to become more deeply engaged in the ancient dialogue between the artist and the audience.