ERICA DE LA O, Artistic Director

Salt Creek Ballet has selected Erica De La O as the new Artistic Director, following a national search. Ms. De La O was born in East Los Angeles, CA, and is a Principal Artist with The Louisville Ballet.

Ms. De La O’s repertoire has included leading roles in much of the classical canon, including La Sylphide, Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo, and Juliet), Cinderella, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Lady of the Camellias, and The Nutcracker. She also has performed leading roles in works by Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Adam Hougland, Lucas Jervies, Val Caniparoli, Ben Stevenson, Dave Ingram, Harrison McEldowney, Helen Pickett, Ma Cong, and many others.

Beyond ballet, she has also forged a career as a choreographer and collaborative artist in music, film, and graphic design.  Her honors include the Sono Osato award, the John Orr Award from the Pasadena Arts Council, an award from the Kentucky Women Foundation to shed light on social topics, a fellowship from Hadley Creatives, and a silver medal at the Los Angeles’ Music Center Spotlight Awards.

She created Bunhead Talks, an educational vehicle for dance history, female empowerment in ballet culture, and parent/student dance education.

Ms. De La O holds an MFA from Hollins University. She earned an EMBA from the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky Schools of Business.

KRISTOPHER WOJTERA, Associate Ballet Director

Joining Erica is her husband, Kristopher Wojtera, born in Poland.  Mr. Wojtera began ballet studies at the National Ballet School in Gdansk at age ten. He joined the Polish National Theatre in Warsaw and worked with prominent choreographers such as Lorca Miasin, Emil Wesolowski, Yuri Grigorovich, Krzysztof Pastor, and Mats Ek.  

During Mr. Wojtera’s 28 year career, his repertoire as a Principal artist included leading roles in Giselle (Albrecht), Swan Lake (Siegfried), Nutcracker (Cavalier), The Three Musketeers (D’artagnan), Don Quixote (Basilio), The Lady with the Camellias (Armand), Le Patineurs (Blue Boy), Theme and Variations, Billy The Kid, as well as contemporary works by Ma Cong, Val Caniparoli, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, Harrison McEldowney, and many others.

While still performing, he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Hollins University in association with the Forsythe Lab and the Mousonturm in Frankfurt, Germany. He earned an Artist’s Diploma from The National Ballet School of Gdańsk in Poland and certificates in Vaganova Teaching methodology (levels 1 – 5) from Bryn Mawr College. Mr. Wojtera’s awards include the Carolina New House Scholarship, the Sono Osato Award, and the Hollins University Fellowship.

Mr. Wojtera joins the SCB family as the “Associate Ballet Director.” As ABD, he will be teaching a mix of classes with the Artistic Director, coaching, and implementing the artistic vision of SCB.  He looks forward to working together to advance the mission of Salt Creek Ballet.