About

Boise Ballet Academy aims to further the art of classical ballet through the commitment of excellent instruction, allowing all students to develop a love for the arts, confidence, and discipline that will last a life time. We believe ballet training starts with a developmentally appropriate curriculum. We are proud to offer American Ballet Theatre's National Training Curriculum, which focuses on training the whole dancer.

Our certified faculty promises to give their utmost attention to each student and instill the love of ballet in future generations. Whether you are dancing recreationally or pursuing a career in classical ballet, BBA is the ballet school for you.

Mads Eriksen grew up in Copenhagen Denmark, where he attended The Royal Danish Ballet School training under Niels Balle and Adam Luders. After his graduation in 2002, he joined The Royal Danish Ballet, where he danced numerous soloist roles including: Pas de six and Tarantella in August Bourneville's Napoli, 2nd movement in George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Officer in Alexei Ratmansky's Anna Karenina, Metacomet in Jose Limons The Unsung, Brabantino in Louise Midjords Othello, Handwerker in John Neumeiers A midsummer night's dream, Les Gentilles L'hommes by Peter Martins, Etudes by Harald Lander and Polacca by Anna Laerkesen and 2nd Piano Concert by Georges Balanchine. Mr. Eriksen has been lucky enough to originate roles in works by renowed choreographers such as John Neumeier, Alexei Ratmansky, Yuan Yuan Wang, Jorma Uotinen, Jo Stroemgren. From 2007-2009 Mr. Eriksen danced with Ballet San Jose, performing in roles such as: Baron von Rothbart in Dennis Nahat's Swan Lake, Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments and Serenade by George Balanchine.

Mads Eriksen was a founding member of the touring group: Made in Denmark a group of young dancers from The Royal Danish Ballet. He performed at prestigious dance festivals including: Jacobs Pillow Dance and Nerja Dance Festival in Spain. His repertoire with Made in Denmark includes Le Corsaire pas de trois by Marius Petipa and Jockey Dance and Napoli by August Bournonville.

Mr. Eriksen began teaching at Ballet San Jose School in 2008 and was promoted to Senior Faculty in 2012 and Principal Faculty in 2014. In 2016 Mr. Eriksen was named Principal of The New Ballet School in San Jose, where he taught and choreographed for all levels.

Mads Eriksen is a ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Since 2015 Mr. Eriksen has been a National Training Curriculum Fellow, successfully presenting students for exams from level 1 to level 7. Mr. Eriksen is a sought after guest teacher. Teaching at various schools such as, American Ballet Theatre's JKO, The Royal Danish Ballet School, The University of Utah, Regional Dance America's National Festival and Ballet West Academy.

Mads Eriksen has created several neoclassical ballets most notably:
Bachnias Brasilieres, Ballet San Jose School 2012
Lark, Ballet San Jose School 2013
Concerto No. 4, Ballet San Jose School 2013
Concerto Grosso, Silicon Valley Ballet School 2014
Influx, Spector Dance 2014
Salute to Bournonville, Silicon Valley Ballet School 2014
Serenade for Strings, Silicon Valley Ballet School 2015
Desdemona, The New Ballet Studio Company 2016
Canzoneta, Sacramento Ballet Youth Ensemble 2016
Day Dream, The New Ballet Studio Company 2016

Born and raised in San Jose, CA, she received her training from Diane Cypher and Robert Kelley with the Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, prior to joining the Silicon Valley Ballet (previously Ballet San Jose) School in 2004. She joined Silicon Valley Ballet as a trainee in 2006, was promoted to apprentice in 2007 and became a part of the Corps de Ballet from 2009-2016. She was on The New Ballet School faculty from 2016-2018 and is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Sarah Stein was featured in many roles at Silicon Valley Ballet (previously know as Ballet San Jose) including a Stomper in Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room, the Pas de Trois in Sir Frederick Ashton's Les Rendezvous, demi-soloist in George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, a Flower Girl in Wes Chapman's staging of Don Quixote, the Summer Fairy in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, and a cygnet in Dennis Nahat's Swan Lake. Her other repertoire has included Jorma Elo's Glow-Stop, Ohad Naharin's Minus 16, Dwight Rhoden's Evermore, Paul Taylor's Piazzolla Caldera, Merce Cunningham's Duets, Roland Petit's Carmen, Antony Tudor's Jardin Aux Lilas, and George Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Square Dance, Who Cares?, and Allegro Brillante. Ms. Stein has performed with Made in Denmark alongside dancers of the Royal Danish Ballet in the summer of 2008 and appeared as a guest artist with the Sacramento Ballet in their performances of Serenade during the company's 2011/2012 season.

Ms. Stein is also a certified teacher in GYROTONIC® Method. Having used the GYROTONIC® method herself since 2011 with trainer Catharine Grow, she has earned her GYROTONIC® certification in 2014 so she could share her knowledge with dancers and non-dancers alike. Ms. Stein taught The GYROTINIC® Method to inspire greater knowledge of the body at Urban Body San Jose. She is also certified to teach GYROTONIC® as a Musical Journey, which is the musical portion of the GYROTONIC® Expansion System.