Louisville Ballet, the official ballet of the commonwealth of Kentucky, was founded in March 1952 as a civic ballet company. At that time, the Louisville Ballet employed guest artistic directors and choreographers on a production-by-production basis. In 1965, Larry Gradus was engaged as a full-time resident artistic director, overseeing a group of temporary dancers. Ten years later, under the direction of Richard and Cristina Munro, the Company achieved professional status by employing eight contracted dancers to form the ensemble company.
The Academy of the Louisville Ballet, now the Louisville Ballet School, opened the same year (1975), with Alun Jones as associate director. In 1978 Jones became Louisville Ballet’s Artistic Director, a position he held until his retirement in 2002. In addition to his duties as Artistic Director, Mr. Jones choreographed numerous works for the Company and did a great deal of costume and scenic design during his tenure with the Louisville Ballet. In addition, the Louisville Ballet saw the great distinction of being 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, after which the Louisville Ballet supported his performances in Dallas and Houston.
