Production
KT Graham, Smuin’s longtime Production Director, passed away in early November 2025. She joined Smuin Ballet in 1997 after working as Production Stage Manager and Lighting Designer for Lewitzky Dance Company in Los Angeles, as well as Technical & Lighting Director for Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C. with whom she toured extensively both nationally and internationally. She also engages in freelance projects and has particularly enjoyed serving as Production Stage Manager for Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, Dances from the Heart benefits for The Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, and for the National Dance USA showcase in 2012.
Remembering KT Graham
KT (Kathryn Tagg) Graham of Vallejo, CA died 11/06/2025 following a car accident and extensive hospital stay. KT was born in Richmond, VA on 6/13/1958 to Rev. Randolph W. Graham and Janis Smith Graham. She is predeceased by her parents and her brother, Randy. She is survived by her sister, Stella Graham-Landau (Mary), her brother, Jack, her nieces, Brittany Graham, Savannah Ramirez (Peter), and Ellie Graham-Landau, Savannah’s children, Isabelle, Watson, and Bode, her former partner, Leslie Ann Jones, and her cats, Missy Sparkle and Binx. KT leaves behind a wonderful family of friends with Smuin Ballet and dance companies and women’s music across the country.
KT majored in philosophy and theater arts at William and Mary College. She began working in sound and lighting design right out of college, including jobs with Washington Ballet, Lewitzky Dance Company, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, and women’s music festivals. She joined Smuin Ballet in San Francisco in 1997 where she worked as production director.
KT was generous and feisty with a mind for detail. She was a chef extraordinaire and loved to cook for friends. She was a writer, a voracious reader, and a knitter who loved making gifts for dancers’ new babies. She drew and designed full-sized labyrinths. She briefly ran a used book store in Oakland, CA, loved libraries, and collected Encyclopedia Britannica sets.
Thank you to everyone who helped KT navigate her life and hospitalization following her accident. KT was very grateful for your support. And, to all her friends, she loved you fiercely.
Celebrations of KT’s life will be held in Richmond, VA on Dec. 6, 11AM, in the fellowship hall at St, Mark’s Episcopal Church, 520 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The church is accessible and has free parking in the back. Friends are invited to share your thoughts and memories about KT. As soon as they are available, details about San Francisco celebrations will be posted at https://www.smuinballet.org/people/kathryn-t-graham/.
The performance of Smuin’s The Christmas Ballet on Friday, December 19, at 7:30 pm, at the Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA will be dedicated to KT. For more information, please contact Ellen Gaintner, Marketing Director, at egaintner@smuinballet.org.
To remember KT, please become an organ donor, adopt an animal, donate to animal charities, support the arts, and give a book to a library.
David Justin is a multidiscipline artist focusing on the collaborative performing arts of dance, opera, music, theatre and design. Before returning to the Bay Area, David served in academia for seventeen years between the Conservatory of Music and Dance, UMKC and as a tenured professor at University of Texas at Austin, TX where he was head of the BFA program, co-producer of the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival, and founding Artistic Director of the American Repertory Ensemble. David has also held posts as Ballet Master in Residence at Kansas City Ballet, Executive Artistic Director for NWA Ballet Theatre and Artistic Director of Ballet Wichita. Formerly a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, a soloist with San Francisco Ballet and beginning his career with Boston Ballet, David holds a Master’s degree in Dance in Education and the Community from the University of Birmingham, England.
Michael is a professional lighting designer for dance, theatre, operas, and musicals. Since joining Smuin Ballet in 2004, he has designed the lighting for The Christmas Ballet, The Turntable, Be Here Now, If I Were a Sushi Roll, Tutto Ecceto il Lavandino, Oh, Inverted World, and Fly Me to the Moon, as well as many other Smuin productions. He also designs lighting for other performance companies throughout the Bay area, where his designs have won a Theatre Bay Area award and a Shelly Award. His past designs have also been nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award and BATCC Awards. www.Michaeloesch.com
