How Texas Ballet Theater Mastered its Expanding Archive

A legacy of dance and storytelling

Since 1961, Texas Ballet Theater (TBT) has grown from a small regional company into an internationally recognized institution. With a mission to present world-class ballet and foster appreciation across all ages, TBT manages a wide range of performances, schools, and donor events. As its programming expanded, so did the sheer volume of photos, videos, and creative content. To keep pace, TBT needed a modern solution to protect, organize, and distribute visual assets to dancers, choreographers, donors, and media partners.

The challenge: Bringing order to a growing collection

Monica Sheehan, Director of Marketing & Communications, oversees TBT’s brand storytelling and media distribution. Her daily workflow requires balancing performance coverage, donor events, press needs, and supporting creative partners. Without a centralized system, handling these demands quickly becomes difficult to manage efficiently.

Key challenges included:

• Fragmented content storage slowed work. Assets were scattered across Dropbox, internal servers, and photographers’ personal devices. Former marketing staff noted, “We have this vast amount of content that we generate on an annual basis, and the prior methodology was, ‘Let’s stick it all on Dropbox, or in folders on our internal servers.’” Without a unified platform, finding assets was “inefficient and frustrating,” making it “hard to find the right assets for campaigns, donor events, or press.”
• No approval or permissions workflows. With dancers unionized and choreographers requiring sign-off, TBT lacked a system for approvals and usage tracking. The absence of watermarking, privacy controls, and metadata further complicated sharing.
• Inefficient partner collaboration. Donors, media, and agencies needed access, but there was no secure or streamlined way to provide it. Manual processes slowed down storytelling and delayed promotion.

The solution: A system of access and control

Before PhotoShelter, TBT’s content was scattered, hard to access, and nearly impossible to manage consistently. Now, the team has a single, organized hub where every asset is stored with the right metadata, permissions, and workflows.

• One library for all creative assets. Every asset is now uploaded into PhotoShelter, complete with metadata and usage rights. There it is categorized, indexed, and metadata remains intact along with usage rights from photographers.
• A functional archive with high ROI. TBT can now use its archive more effectively. “Archival assets are clearly categorized,” explained Sheehan. “this season, we were able to quickly locate Swan Lake production images from 2018 within the PhotoShelter archive and use it for reference to help shape the artistic vision and creative direction for updated marketing materials. It’s important to note that this season, Swan Lake surpassed its financial goal by 21% and that doesn’t happen without marketing (and marketing doesn’t happen without solid assets and strategy).”
• Streamlined press and PR distribution. Instead of scrambling to share assets, media outlets now receive direct links for performance coverage. Press can quickly download high-resolution, approved images without delays.
• Approval workflows and controlled access meet union requirements. PhotoShelter’s tools support choreographer and dancer approvals, ensuring compliance while keeping reviews efficient. Unionized dancers now have secure, watermarked access to their performance photos for archival use or portfolios. TBT retains ownership while fulfilling union obligations.

• Workspaces for collaboration. For large performance shoots, Workspaces make it easy to filter thousands of photos, gather input from choreographers and dancers, and finalize selections. Sheehan notes, “The rating system allows for a quick first pass when reviewing incoming photography and allows us to move past and return to the ‘maybes’ which we set at a lower rating initially.”

“PhotoShelter serves as a central hub for the entire team and partners to best represent TBT internally and externally. The platform offers quick, easy access to assets and keeps everyone on-brand.”

Monica Sheehan, Director of Marketing & Communications, Texas Ballet Theater

Expanding creative impact

PhotoShelter gave Texas Ballet Theater the structure it needed to manage a growing archive and meet the demands of dancers, choreographers, donors, and media. The team can now access past seasons, prepare campaigns with confidence, and share content without delays. TBT strengthened its storytelling and built a visual foundation that will support its performances and community for years to come.

“At its core, Texas Ballet Theater is about storytelling, and PhotoShelter helps us tell those stories more effectively. By making our visual assets accessible, organized, and secure, the platform empowers our team and partners to share the artistry, dedication, and impact of our work with audiences across North Texas and beyond.” 

Monica Sheehan, Director of Marketing & Communications, Texas Ballet Theater