Helen Wilkins 

Artistic Adviser

After thirty years as the Founder and Artistic Director of Olympic Ballet Theatre with her late husband, Helen Wilkins, now retired, is working as a freelance consultant, master teacher, and choreographer in the greater Seattle area.

After a professional career in ballet and musical theatre, Wilkins was Ballet Mistress of Fort Wayne Ballet, Assistant Director of Delaware Regional Ballet, and School Director of Canton Ballet before founding Olympic Ballet Theatre. At OBT she established a graded syllabus utilizing her Advanced Degree from the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, and introduced master teachers, summer school programs, emerging choreography workshops, with classical, contemporary, and dramatic ballets. As well as many more choreographies, she commissioned a score from the late composer, Michael Cava, with new sets and costumes for her premiere in 1996 of Eleutheria – A Journey to Freedom at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

Wilkins was Treasurer for Regional Dance America / Pacific, taught at three RDA Festivals, and directed the 2003 RDA / Pacific Festival in Everett with 700 participants. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, and was honored by a Proclamation from the Mayor of Edmonds for her work in the performing arts.

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