The 2026 Ballet West Summit Festival made a creative mark on the Wasatch Back. The inaugural three-day festival that ran July 15-17 started off last Wednesday with a farm-to-table dinner and short performance at Ballerina Farm and continued with free film screenings of Jennifer Lin’s “About Face” and “Ten Times Better,” which examined Asian stereotypes and Chinese dancer George Lee in the history of the American and global ballet world. Those events set the stage for Friday’s finale, an evening of dance performed by Ballet West principal dancers Katlyn Addison, Jenna Rae Herrera, Adrian Fry and David Huffmire and pre-professionals from around the country who have been selected in the artÉmotion/Ballet West summer intensive choreographic workshop. The pre-professionals worked with renowned choreographers Phil Chan, Ingrid Silva, Garrett Smith and Rex Tilton, a former Ballet West principal and co-founder of the artÉmotion Ballet School, for only two weeks on these world premieres that captivated the audience Friday night. From left: Ballet West Principal Dancers Katlyn Addison, David Huffmire and Adrian Fry perform a revival of Michael Smuin’s “Quattro a Verdi” Friday night on the Canyons Village stage. The performance marked the finale of the inaugural Ballet West Summit Festival that ran July 15-17. Credit: Photo courtesy of Lauren Wattenburg “We’re here tonight performing for you, and we are just so grateful that you are here supporting all of the hard work that has happened these last two weeks,” said Allison DeBona, a former Ballet West principal dancer who is the Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy Peggy Bergman Park City campus principal and co-founder of artÉmotion. “It means more to us than you know. These dancers out here tonight are going to give you their hearts and their souls.”  The dancing kicked off with Silva’s “Unknown Wave” that showed off the pre-professionals’ lithe bodies through fluid and airy movements.  The work also featured a men’s breakout variation that showcased their grace and athleticism. “Quatro Verdi,” choreographed by the late Michael Smuin, was next out of the wings. Katlyn Addison, Jenna Rae Herrera, Adrian Fry and David Huffmire performed the work that took on the feel of a majestic opera. The four dancers, all Ballet West principals, performed pas de deux, pas de troi and solos with precision and character. The pre-professionals took the stage in “As We Are,” a galloping work by Utah native Garrett Smith. The dancers donned black tutus and lightly flared slacks, which gave them a sort of mythical-creature quality, as the piece mixed abstract visuals with movements of lines and emotion. Tilton’s “Le Quatre Amour,” also cast the group of pre-professionals, who put on an air of innocence in this work that took on a storybook quality.  One of the more poignant works of the night was Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain (Pas de Deux),” danced by Ballet West principals Katlyn Addison and Adrian Fry. Ballet West and artÉmotion pre-professionals perform “As We Are,” choreographed by Salt Lake City native Garrett Smith during the final night of the Ballet West Summit Festival at Canyons Village. Credit: Photo courtesy of Lauren Wattenburg The contemplative and meditative work captivated the audience with strong and tender holds and breathtaking lifts that highlighted tenderness and connection. Herrera and Huffmire returned to the stage for Gerald Arpino’s “L’air d’Esprit.” The two dancers absorbed this classically romantic work that is Arpino’s tribute to ballerina Olga Spessivtzeva, who danced with Vaslav Nijinski before the fall of Czarist Russia. Just as the audience took a breath, Phil Chan’s “An American in Bali,” which nodded its head to Gerswhin’s “An American In Paris,” romped onto the stage. Everywhere the audience looked, pre-professionals filled the space with movement. And the work, coming at the end of the evening, emphasized the dancers’ fitness and athleticism in fast-paced and precise lists and movement. Earlier that week, Chan told The Park Record that he selected the music, a 1936 composition called “Tabu-Tauhan” by Colin McPhee, because McPhee, who was an anthropologist and contemporary of Margaret Mead, was one of the first ethnomusicologists who didn’t treat Asian music as “exotic.” Phil Chan’s “An American in Bali,” performed by Ballet West and artÉmotion pre-professionals wrapped the inaugural Ballet West Summit Festival on a high-energy note Friday night at Canyons Village. Credit: Photo courtesy of Lauren Wattenburg “(McPhee) recognized it had merit and a culture worth exploring, understanding and unpacking and as valuable as anything coming out of Europe,” he said. “And inspired by Balinese music, structure and rhythm, he created his own interpretation of it and, being a white outsider, treated it with reverence, respect and scholarship.” “An American in Bali” wrapped with a standing ovation that also marked the end of the inaugural Ballet West Summit Festival. By the sound of cheers, the audience members seemed to express that they would very much like to see the festival return next year, which was something Ballet West Artistic Director Adam Sklute alluded to before the performances began. “This has gone so well that we are hoping to come back and bring an expanded version of this festival next season and moving into the future,” he said. 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