This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Louisville Ballet" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Louisville Ballet is a ballet school and company based in Louisville, Kentucky and is the official state ballet of The Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is led by Artistic Directors Harald Uwe Kern and Mikelle Bruzina and CEO Leslie Smart, CFRE.

History

The Louisville Ballet was founded in 1952 and it achieved professional status and admitted its first students in 1975. It is the only regional company with which Mikhail Baryshnikov has performed in repertoire productions (He danced with the company during the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons).

The Ballet has more than 60 world premieres to its credit, with a repertoire of about 150 pieces choreographed by the likes of Sir Frederick Ashton, Erik Bruhn, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, John Cranko, Kurt Jooss, Choo San Goh, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, and others.

Governance and description

As of 2023 the company is led by CEO Leslie Smart, CFRE and Artistic Directors Harald Uwe Kern and Mikelle Bruzina.

The company presents several full-length ballets each year, which have included Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Giselle and Don Quixote. In addition to the regular subscription series, the Louisville Ballet presents The Nutcracker each winter.

Most of the company's productions are accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra. The company performs at three venues in the city: The Brown Theatre, The Kentucky Center, and the Louisville Ballet Main Studio.

The Louisville Ballet School is the official school and training center connected with the Louisville Ballet. The Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble is the student performing group of the School.

Alumni of the Ensemble have gone on to dance professionally with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, New York City Ballet, Peridance, Sarasota Ballet, and others.

The school also hosts a summer camp for aspiring dancers.

Building

The Louisville Ballet building, designed by Louisville architects Bravura Corporation, is a $2.2 million facility built in 1995 houses two large rehearsal studios and administrative offices. The Louisville Ballet Center received the Honor Award for Excellence in Architectural Design by the Kentucky chapter of the American Institute of Architects and was featured in the May 1997 edition of Architecture. It is located at 315 East Main St. in downtown Louisville.

References

External links

Dance companies in the United States

Dance companies in the United States
Ballet	Alabama Ballet Alameda Civic Ballet Alexandra Ballet Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Festival Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet Des Moines Ballet Fantastique Ballet Magnificat! Ballet Memphis BalletMet Ballet Minnesota Ballet Nouveau Colorado Ballet Quad Cities Ballet San Jose Ballet Theatre of Maryland Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Ballet West Ballez Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre Bay Pointe Ballet Boston Ballet California Riverside Ballet Carolina Ballet Cedar Lake Charlotte Ballet Chicago Ballet Chicago Festival Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet Colorado Ballet Complexions Concert Ballet of Virginia Dance Theatre of Harlem Dayton Ballet Eugene Ballet Folsom Lake Civic Ballet Greensboro Ballet Gwinnett Ballet Theatre Houston Ballet James Sewell Ballet Joffrey Ballet Kansas City Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet Miami City Ballet Morphoses Mystic Ballet National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet Richmond Ballet San Francisco Ballet Sarasota Ballet Suzanne Farrell Ballet Texas Ballet Theater Tulsa Ballet The Washington Ballet
Contemporary	Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater AXIS Dance Company Ballet Deviare Ballet Hispanico Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Dayton Contemporary Dance Company Dominic Walsh Hubbard Street Lar Lubovitch Martha Graham Momix Paul Taylor The Philadelphia Dance Company Pilobolus Ririe-Woodbury sjDANCEco Urban Bush Women Whim W'Him L.A. Dance Project
Other	Chicago Dance Crash Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater Ice Theatre of New York The LXD The Rockettes

Ballet companies

Ballet companies
Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet
Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Gwangju City Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China New National Theatre Tokyo Philippine Ballet Theatre Seoul Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet
Europe	Ballet Cymru Ballet Ireland Ballet Romand Ballet Zürich Les Ballets Persans Ballets Russes Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Charleroi Danses Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Royal Ballet of Flanders Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Grand Kyiv Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kyiv Ballet Kyiv City Ballet Kyiv Modern-Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet United Ukrainian Ballet Company Vienna State Ballet
North America	Alabama Ballet Alberta Ballet Company Alexandra Ballet Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Midwest Ballet American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Festival Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Fantastique Ballet Hispanico Ballet Magnificat! Ballet Memphis BalletMet Ballet Minnesota Ballet Quad Cities Ballet San Jose Ballet Theatre of Maryland Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Ballet West Ballez Bay Pointe Ballet Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens California Riverside Ballet Carolina Ballet Charlotte Ballet Chicago Ballet Chicago Festival Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet (1935 · 1972 · 2014) Colorado Ballet Complexions Contemporary Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dance Theatre of Harlem Dayton Ballet Greensboro Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Kansas City Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet Moscow Ballet (United States) National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet The Washington Ballet Tulsa Ballet Wonderbound
Oceania	The Australian Ballet Ballet Theatre of Queensland Queensland Ballet Melbourne City Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet
South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet National Ballet of Uruguay