Louisville Ballet

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.