1949-1988
Ballet was Michael Cappara’s life and joy. He began dancing when he was five years old. His talent was so large that he won scholarships to study at some of the nation’s leading dance academies, including the American Ballet Theatre School in New York City and the National Ballet of Washington, D. C.
His career took him across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, and Europe. He danced with both the Oakland and San Francisco Ballet Companies, then moved to San Diego, where he founded the National Ballet Academy and Company. In 1978, he worked to establish the City Centre Ballet Company in San Diego. Cappara was a popular dance partner with women dancers for his strength and technique.
In his professional life, he not only was a dancer, but also a choreographer and a teacher. As Noel Baron, his dance partner in San Diego for more than ten years, remembered, “He was a gift to all dancers in the region,” a man “so giving that he would go to extremes to assist and find opportunities for dancers.” As a teacher, he “made ballet live for elementary and high school students.” A man of true generosity with his talent and his time.