LEADERSHIP

Madeleine Scott

Founder, Executive Director, Artistic Director

Madeleine Scott is the founder & artistic director of South Dakota Ballet. She was raised in Beresford, South Dakota & began dancing at a young age. She fell in love with ballet after taking her first class at Dance Gallery in Sioux Falls where she continued to train until the age of 12. At age 13, Madeleine moved to Philadelphia, PA to train full time at the Rock School after earning a scholarship from competing & placing at the world’s largest scholarship ballet competition; Youth America Grand Prix. Madeleine attended many professional ballet intensives throughout her early training including those of the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Chautauqua Institute, Ellison Ballet & more. She also trained closely with ballet icons such as Gelsey Kirkland, Elena Kunikova & Patricia McBride.

In 2017, Madeleine earned her BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Utah. Madeleine has danced professionally with several companies including Ballet West, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, DanceAspen, Sacramento Ballet, LED Boise, Northern Ballet Theatre, & Yellowstone Ballet. As a part of DanceAspen, Madeleine performed at Vail Dance Festival in 2022, 2023, & 2024. In 2020, Madeleine co-founded Headlights Theater in Sioux Falls with Madison Elliott. During this time, Madeleine earned the title of “Performer of the Year” by 605 Magazine.

Throughout her career, Madeleine has performed works by internationally recognized choreographers such as George Balanchine, Matthew Neenan, Blake Krapels, Jamar Roberts, Penny Saunders, Yin Yue, Cayetano Soto, Ana Maria Lucacciu, Danielle Rowe, Caili Quan, & more.

Madeleine is passionate about creating meaningful experiences for young dancers across the state of South Dakota so that they can learn from professionals without having to go far from home. Madeleine is paving the way for South Dakota Ballet to develop into a full-time professional dance company that performs many times throughout the year presenting notable classical & contemporary ballet pieces for communities across the state. Madeleine strives to design a company that will become an example to others across the country, leading the future of ballet to a more inclusive culture and broadened vision for sustainable community impact.

Ruth Kern

Founding Board Member & Treasurer

Ruth Scott is the president of FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers Southeast South Dakota. Her first real exposure to ballet occurred when she was in her 20s embarking on her physical therapy career in Florida. She was sent to work with the dancers at Miami City Ballet and has been hooked since. She is a renowned dance medicine specialist and sought after by dancers around the country. Ruth has been to hundreds of ballets around the world.  Her favorite ballet is Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein” performed by San Francisco Ballet. 

Johna Kern

Founding Board Member & Secretary

Johna Kern is currently the manager of clinical services for Sanford World Clinics. She is a ballet connoisseur. Her favorite ballet to date is George Balanchine’s “Serenade”. 

Blake Krapels

Associate Director

Blake Krapels, a 2011 United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts, trained in New Jersey under the tutelage of Billy Larson and Jamie Salmon. In 2015 Blake graduated with a BFA from The Juilliard School, where he performed repertoire by William Forsythe, Merce Cunningham, Elliot Feld, Jose Limon, and Peter Chu. In addition to his core training, Blake participated in Summer Intensives at Nederlands Dans Theatre (2014 and 2016) and Springboard Danse Montreal (2013). After graduation, Blake has danced with BalletX where he was a part of 17 new creations, The Metropolitan Opera, Keigwin & Company, GroundWorks Dance Theatre, Emery LeCrone Dance and Konverjdans. Currently Blake is an artist with the newly formed DanceAspen where he has worked with choreographers Cayetano Soto, Matthew Neenan, Penny Saunders and Yue Yin. Blake’s choreography has been presented at The Kennedy Center, Cleveland DanceWorks 2017, The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, First State Ballet Theater, APAP and most recently DanceAspen’s winter program. This is Blake’s third year performing with South Dakota Ballet.

Mia Altenau

Technical Director

Mia Altenau grew up in Santa Clarita, California with sisters Samantha and Madeline Altenau. Growing up, both their sisters practiced ballet and contemporary dance, with Sammy going on to dance professionally. Mia managed to abstain from the world of tights and hairspray for two decades until they moved to Aspen, Colorado, where Sammy and Madeleine Scott were in the thick of Dance Aspen’s foundational process. While living in Aspen, Mia connected with Madeleine Scott and Blake Krapels and was ultimately swept up into the South Dakota Ballet’s Fourth Annual Gala Tour, where they debuted their skills as a stage manager, administrative assistant, and all-around extra able body. Mia is ecstatic to continue on with the company as Technical Director and Company Manager.