Ballet San Jose at risk of shutting down Ballet San Jose said Wednesday that it needs to raise $550,000 by March 14 or it may shut down mid-season, according to Millicent Powers, chair of the Board of Trustees. The leadership of Ballet San Jose is committed to financial transparency. Ballet San Jose is a small but well-respected troupe that was founded as the two-city troupe San Jose Cleveland Ballet by Dennis Nahat, in 1986. In September 2013, a new board hired artistic director José Manuel Carreño, the dashing Cuban-born leading man with American Ballet Theatre, who had been a guest soloist in “Don Quixote” at Ballet San Jose. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.