Nashville Ballet

In 1974, a group of dancers and teachers opened the Dancers Studio, which offered ballet and other dance classes. After several productions following their 1981 debut, the group became the Nashville City Ballet, which became a professional performance company in 1986. Dane LaFontsee was the first artistic director. A year later, the company was renamed to Nashville Ballet. In 1999, the group traveled abroad for the first time to perform in Basel, Switzerland. Among other international tours, they went to Buenos Aires and other cities across Argentina. In 2000, the company purchased and renovated its current home on 3630 Redmon Street. In 2009, the Company debuted their first original production of Carmina Burana. In 2014, Nashville Ballet launched its ELEVATE Capital Campaign to help expand their facilities. Following a large fundraising initiative, Nashville Ballet completed $5.2 million worth of expansions to the Martin Center. In 2017, the group performed at The Kennedy Center, which received two TELLY Awards and an Emmy Award. ==Performances==

Nashville Ballet presents five to seven mainstage performances each year. The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville. Nashville Ballet has performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2017 The company has performed internationally in Basel, Switzerland, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the spring of 2022, the company will tour Paul Vasterling’s Lucy Negro Redux to Denver, Colorado, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Kansas City, Missouri, and Norfolk, Virginia. Vasterling’s 2019 Lucy Negro Redux in collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens examined themes of otherness, equality, and self-worth; it was dubbed a “Nashville miracle” by The New York Times. == Music director ==

In 2022, Nashville Ballet named frequent guest conductor Ming Luke as music director and principal conductor. ==References==