From Cancer and Closure to Creating New Ballet: A Ballerina’s Journey | Trailer

In today’s episode, Dalia Rawson, executive and artistic director of the New Ballet in San Jose, California, shares her remarkable journey from principal dancer to company founder—navigating cancer, bankruptcy, and reinvention through passion, recovery, and innovation.

Rawson reflects on her time performing with the San Jose Cleveland Ballet and the life-altering diagnosis that abruptly ended her dancing career.

“One week I was dancing the lead in The Nutcracker, and the next week, my career was over,” she says.

However, her love for ballet remained strong. She went on to choreograph and teach with Ballet San Jose, which went bankrupt in 2016. Out of that closure, she founded the New Ballet—a company rooted in classical tradition but built for the future.

“We’re a classical ballet school—but in a new way,” she explains, emphasizing dancers’ health, diversity, and the enduring power of live performance in a digital age.

Join us for a powerful conversation about rebuilding from loss, reshaping tradition, and why ballet still matters in today’s culture.

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