Fallon Gannon with Syracuse city ballet | Featured Artist Series
FEATURED ARTIST SERIES
Photo by Tricia Pompilio Photography
Join us Friday, July 31st 2026 at 6:00pm for the culminating performance of Dance in the Village, a week-long residency and workshop presented by Arts at the Palace and Syracuse City Ballet. Featuring original choreography and performances by Syracuse City Ballet artists alongside dancers from the residency and youth workshop, this evening celebrates a week of learning and collaboration under the direction of Fallon Gannon and Jayson Douglas.
Fallon Gannon and the Future of Syracuse City Ballet
Written by Hongo David Robertson
The rehearsal studios at SaltSpace in Syracuse are quiet during the summer break, but the work of building a ballet company never really stops. While dancers rest, recover, teach, travel, or prepare for the next season, Fallon Gannon is already focused on what comes next.
As Associate Artistic Director of Syracuse City Ballet and soon-to-be Executive Director, Gannon finds herself at the center of an exciting period of growth for one of Central New York’s most enduring arts organizations. What began nearly three decades ago as a regional ballet company is evolving into something larger, a professional organization with a growing reputation, an expanding educational mission, and an increasing presence throughout New York State and beyond.
Speaking at SaltSpace, Gannon radiates the energy of someone who understands both the artistic and practical realities of keeping an arts organization alive and thriving. Ballet may happen on stage, but behind every performance is an enormous amount of planning, fundraising, administration, education, and community building. It is a challenge she embraces wholeheartedly.
“We’re growing,” she says simply. “And because we’re growing, we have to grow the organization itself.”
Gannon rehearsing "Thriller" with the dancers for the Annual performance at Destiny Mall. Photo by: LaTrenda Carswell
That growth has led to a significant leadership transition. In the coming months, Gannon is expected to move into the role of Executive Director, while current Executive Artistic Director Jayson Douglas will focus exclusively on artistic leadership as Artistic Director.
The decision reflects the reality of a company that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Syracuse City Ballet has nearly doubled the size of its professional roster, broadened its touring schedule, and increased its outreach efforts. What was once manageable for a single leader now requires a division of responsibilities.
“Jayson is incredibly strong artistically,” Gannon explains. “My education and experience have increasingly moved toward administration, development, and organizational leadership. It makes sense for us to split those responsibilities while continuing to work very closely together.”
The partnership between Gannon and Douglas has become one of the driving forces behind the company’s recent momentum. Interestingly, the two did not know each other before she joined Syracuse City Ballet in 2024. Douglas had already begun shaping the company’s artistic direction when the organization created a new leadership position to support its growth.
Gannon applied, interviewed, and was hired. Looking back, she describes it as a pivotal moment in her career.
Gannon (center) leading youth workshop at Arts at the Palace
At the time, she was completing a Master’s degree in Arts Administration through Northeastern University. The program provided intensive training in nonprofit leadership, grant writing, fundraising, budgeting, and strategic planning. What made the experience particularly valuable was that she could immediately apply what she was learning in the classroom to the realities of running a professional arts organization.
“It felt like everything I was studying was happening in real time,” she says. “I’d learn about nonprofit leadership or development strategies, and then I’d be working on those exact issues at Syracuse City Ballet.”
Yet administration was not where her journey began.
Originally from Rome, New York, Gannon’s story is rooted in dance itself. Like many professional dancers, she discovered her passion at a remarkably young age. Her introduction came through her grandmother, who loved the arts and had been a tap dancer herself. Family stories tell of a very young Fallon attending a performance of The Nutcracker and dancing in the aisle. Inspired by what she saw, her grandmother attempted to enroll her in dance classes, only to be told she was still too young.
Not long afterward, she began training. From those first classes, dance quickly became more than an extracurricular activity. By the time she was in elementary school, she already knew she wanted to pursue it seriously. She trained through the Royal Academy of Dance system and spent summers studying with prestigious programs including Boston Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre. Her dedication eventually led her to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School before attending the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance.
Gannon with dancers from our Sugar Plum Fairy Tea
Philadelphia became home for nearly fifteen years. There, Gannon built a professional dance career while also developing a passion for education. She performed, taught, choreographed, and immersed herself in the broader dance community. Like many professional dancers, however, she also experienced the physical realities of the profession.
Dance careers can be short. The physical demands are relentless. Years of training, performance schedules, and repetitive movement place enormous stress on the body. Injuries become part of the profession. For Gannon, recurring hip and ankle issues gradually influenced her thinking about the future. “At a certain point, I was already starting to feel like it might be time to shift,” she says.
Returning to Central New York offered an opportunity to reconnect with family while exploring what that next chapter might look like. The transition was not without uncertainty. Moving from performer to administrator represents a dramatic shift in identity for many artists. Yet Gannon discovered that leadership could be every bit as fulfilling as performing. “It keeps me connected to dance,” she says. “Just in a different way.”
That connection remains evident in the culture she helps foster within Syracuse City Ballet. The company currently employs eleven professional dancers, with artists coming from across the United States and around the world. Recent company members have represented states including California, Minnesota, Florida, and Pennsylvania, as well as countries such as Kenya and Japan. Recruiting talent involves a highly competitive audition process. Dancers submit reels and performance footage for review before being invited to take company class and audition in person.
But technical skill is only part of the evaluation. “The dance world can be incredibly competitive,” Gannon says. “One thing that’s very important to both Jayson and me is creating a positive environment.”
That commitment to kindness, professionalism, and mutual respect has become a defining characteristic of the company. “We always ask ourselves, yes, this person is a good dancer, but are they a good person?” For a small company whose members work closely together every day, the answer matters. The result is a culture that values collaboration over ego and community over competition. It is a philosophy that extends beyond the studio walls.
Gannon with youth cast in rehearsal. Photo by Sarah Badowski
One of Gannon’s primary goals is to make Syracuse City Ballet more deeply integrated into the communities it serves. While the company continues producing major works such as The Nutcracker and Dracula, it is also expanding its educational and outreach programming. A particularly exciting development has been Syracuse City Ballet’s partnership with the Syracuse City School District.
Working with the city’s new STEAM School, where the arts are integrated alongside science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the company has become directly involved in dance education. Students have attended performances, collaborated with company artists, and participated in special projects that bring professional dance into their everyday learning environment.
The partnership has already expanded into residency programs at local schools and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. “We want this work to be consistent,” Gannon says. “Not something that happens once and disappears. We want students to know we’re there.” The commitment to accessibility also influences the company’s touring strategy.
Recent years have seen Syracuse City Ballet perform in communities including Oswego, New York City, and Cornwall, Ontario. Future plans include bringing Dracula to Rome, New York, while continuing performances throughout Canada and other regional destinations.
What makes these tours especially meaningful is the inclusion of local youth performers. Each city develops its own youth cast, allowing local children to rehearse and perform alongside professional dancers. For many participants, it is a transformative experience. In communities such as Oswego and Cornwall, some students had never seen a professional production of The Nutcracker before becoming part of one. Others had never worked with professional dancers. Watching those young performers discover ballet firsthand has become one of Gannon’s favorite aspects of the job. “You can see how much it means to them,” she says. “It’s their first experience with professional dance, and sometimes their first exposure to ballet at all.”
This summer, another important outreach initiative will unfold in Hamilton, New York. Developed in partnership with Arts at the Palace and Henry Howard, the week-long residency will combine professional artistic creation with community education. Advanced dancers and adults will participate in the creative residency process led by Jayson Douglas, while younger students and community members will attend classes and workshops designed to introduce them to professional dance training.
The residency reflects many of the values Gannon hopes will define Syracuse City Ballet’s future: artistic excellence, accessibility, education, and community engagement.
For Gannon, the project carries an additional personal connection. She spent many summers growing up near Hamilton and never imagined that one day she would return with a professional ballet company. “It feels special,” she says. “It’s exciting to bring this work to a community that means something to me.”
Gannon (blue shirt) directing Dance in the Village youth workshop.
As Syracuse City Ballet approaches its 30th anniversary season, there is no shortage of ambition. Upcoming productions include Dracula, a touring production of The Nutcracker, and a spring presentation of Carmina Burana featuring live musicians and choir performers. The company also plans a major anniversary gala celebrating its history while showcasing its future direction.
For Gannon, however, success is measured by more than productions or attendance numbers. The larger goal is creating meaningful connections through the arts. Whether she is talking about professional dancers, school partnerships, youth programs, community residencies, or touring opportunities, her vision remains remarkably consistent: ballet should belong to everyone.
Under the shared leadership of Fallon Gannon and Jayson Douglas, Syracuse City Ballet is proving that world-class dance can thrive far beyond major metropolitan centers. It can flourish in Syracuse, inspire students in local schools, reach audiences in small towns, and create opportunities for artists throughout the region.
As the company enters its fourth decade, that vision is becoming increasingly clear. Syracuse City Ballet is not simply producing performances. It is building relationships, nurturing future artists, and strengthening the cultural fabric of Central New York. And Fallon Gannon is helping lead the way.
If you'd like to learn more about artists living and working in Central New York, visit www.hongoart.net/featured-artists
