New Louisville Ballet leadership announced on heels of series of cost-saving changes

Lexington-native Mikelle Bruzina and Harald Uwe Kern were named Louisville Ballet's new artistic directors after former artistic director Robert Curran's abrupt resignation earlier this year after nearly 10 years with the ballet.

Bruzina and Kern have been part of Louisville Ballet for more than 15 years and their combined time in the company brings 36 years of experience to their roles, according to a news release. Lousiville Ballet also stated that Helen Daigle was promoted to principal repetiteur and senior rehearsal director of the company.

“Louisville Ballet is committed to fostering growth and opportunity, particularly within our own organization, where exceptional talent resides to propel the company forward,” CEO Leslie Smart said in the release.

Bruce Simpson and Helen Starr, former artistic director and associate artistic director, respectively, served as interim artistic advisors until the roles were filled. Simpson and Starr "emphasized the value of generational and institutional wisdom within Louisville Ballet," according to the release.

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Bruzina has been a part of Louisville Ballet for 28 years as a member of the Corps de Ballet, principal dancer, and in the role of Senior Ballet Mistress. Bruzina has also served as co-associate artistic director of The Louisville Ballet Studio Company.

Kern joined the company in 2005 as a Ballet Master and has also been a Senior Ballet Master. "Over thelast 18 seasons with Louisville Ballet, Kentucky audiences enjoyed his stagings and choreography as well as his stagecraft as a performer," the release stated.

Daigle served as rehearsal director of the company and has been part of Louisville Ballet for 20 years. She has performed in productions including "Lark Ascending," "Sleeping Beauty," "Giselle," and "Don Quixote."

The leadership changes come after the Louisville Ballet announced a series of cost-saving changes to its 2023-24 season aimed at pulling itself out of a financial hole. Smart previously told the Courier Journal it has set an unprecedented fundraising goal of $3 million in contributions for this year to help buoy the struggling organization, which was seen massive loses post-COVID shutdown.

The most notable change is that the Louisville Orchestra will not perform alongside the ballet during "The Brown-Forman Nutcracker," which takes place in December, the Courier Journal previously reported.

“For a dancer to be on stage and to have the orchestra in front of them, that is where we want to be, but it's a significant cost,” Smart previously told the Courier Journal. “It's $330,000 for us to have the orchestra perform during 'The Nutcracker,' and so it was a very difficult decision for us to make.”

The 2023-24 season continues with "Distilled" Nov. 10-12, "The Brown-Forman Nutcracker," Dec. 8-24, "#CHORSHOW," Jan. 24-28, and Feb. 2-4 and "Romeo & Juliet," March 1-2. Tickets can be purchased at louisvilleballet.org.

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Features reporter Maggie Menderski contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Ballet artistic directors: Mikelle Bruzina, Harald Uwe Kern