Ballet West will cut four positions, freeze salaries, request furloughs and reduce pension contributions for its 35-member administrative staff, as part of a plan to reduce $1.2 million from the dance company's operating budget for the 2009-2010 season.

"Obviously, the economic condition of the world right now is not something we can ignore," artistic director Adam Sklute said on a break Monday evening from rehearsal for the company's upcoming "Innovations." "We thought long and hard about the best way to do what we were doing, and not affect the quality of what we are presenting on stage."

In addition, the dance company is seeking concessions from its three unions representing dancers, stagehands and musicians, and will make minor modifications to programming. "But nothing that will affect what I call 'the meat' of our programming," Sklute said. For example, Sklute had hoped to stage an additional Ballet West premiere, but will instead produce a more affordable work.

Company officials called the reductions a proactive move, in an effort to cut the annual budget from $7.5 million to $6.3 million, required due to reductions of up to 60 percent in some corporate and foundation contributions, said Jóhann Jacobs, executive director.

"We haven't let any dancers go," Jacobs said of the 37-member troupe, although four company dancers have already announced they are leaving for other reasons. "Sustainability and survival are now the order of the day. It's very important to us that our product remain intact, and that it remains as well received as it has been for the last two years."

The upcoming cuts are in addition to April 13-17 furloughs for Ballet West staff, which saved about $50,000 from the current year's budget. And the economic challenge comes on the heels of an April announcement of a budget shortfall at the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, where administrators and musicians took pay cuts of 10 percent or more and made programming cuts, to slice nearly $1 million in operating costs from its $19 million budget.

For next season, Ballet West is currently at 38 percent of its subscriber tickets sales, on par with expectations. The company receives 40 percent of its revenue from ticket sales, and it relies on contributions for the other 60 percent of its budget.

"We're in better shape than many other ballet companies in America today," Sklute said, noting record-breaking tickets sales this season, including the fall production of "The Tempest" and the annual holiday run of "The Nutcracker." In addition, the March repertory program "Treasures of the Ballet Russes" sparked a Dance magazine cover and rave reviews from The New York Times . ""There is not an arts organization, certainly in this country, that isn't having to do something to bridge very real gaps."

ellenf@sltrib.com