Danielle Cesanek trained with South Jersey Ballet Theater in New Jersey under the direction of Andrea Duffin. She later danced with the School of Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia and at the age of seventeen, performed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker with Pennsylvania Ballet. Cesanek continued her dance training by studying at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Ballet. During her time at Indiana University, she studied under the direction of Violette Verdy and worked with numerous repetiteurs of the George Balanchine Trust. Some of the Balanchine repertoire she covered included: Emeralds, Tarantella, and Divertimento No. 15.
In 2017, Danielle was invited to join Ballet Tucson as an apprentice and in 2018 joined the main company. She has enjoyed dancing roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, “Man I Love” in George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, and the First Violin in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco. She has also appeared in principal roles in Balanchine’s Serenade, Walpurgisnacht, and Donizetti Variations. Ms. Cesanek is a teacher at The School of Ballet Tucson and is an avid choreographer. In 2021, Ms. Cesanek’s piece Noirwon audience favorite at Ballet Tucson’s Footprints at the Fox Performance. In 2022, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. Cesanek is also an avid choreographer. In May of 2022 she choreographed two pieces, “Sunset Dances” and “Jubilant Dance” on students in BT2 for their Showcase. She continued choreographing ballet works on students for the 2022 Summer Workshop performance as well.