Ballet West’s Adam Sklute's first encounter with Joffrey Ballet founder: 'Get out of my sight'

“Robert Joffrey had a great respect for history,” Sklute says. “And when I came here to Ballet West one of the things I was so proud of was to join a company that had a great history and legacy. I’ve worked very hard to try and respect that history and legacy, and (founding artistic director Willam Christensen’s) legacy and his own very theatrical brand of ballet, while mixing it with my understanding of contemporary work, which I learned a great deal with the Joffrey Ballet.”

Ballet West will take center stage in its own TV production when CW’s “Breaking Pointe,” a reality show on the Utah-founded company, begins its second season with new episodes to be telecast in the summer of 2013. Filming is scheduled to begin in January.

The network initially considered 15 other dance companies, including the San Francisco Ballet, the Boston Ballet and the Juilliard School, when it selected Ballet West for the documentary-style program. Premiering in May, “Breaking Pointe” was announced as an inside look at the competitive world of ballet, yet the resulting program was called by one critic “an ordinary relationship saga” of the company dancers.

But Sklute has set his sights on improving the direction of “Breaking Pointe” by focusing more closely on the company’s artistic endeavors. “This season we’re going to focus more on the dancing and the art form, and perhaps a little less on the interpersonal relationships,” he says.