The Minnesota Ballet is a ballet company and school located in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1965 by Donna Harkins and Jan Gibson as the Duluth Civic Ballet, the company has since expanded into a touring company with seventeen professional artists. From 1992 to 2007 the Artistic Executive Director of the Minnesota Ballet was Allen Fields, who retired to become Artistic Director Emirtus. Fields acquired rights to works by master choreographers like Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, and George Balanchine. He was succeeded by Robert Gardner. In 2019, Minnesota Ballet welcomed a new Artistic Director, Karl von Rabenau, to lead the company. The Minnesota Ballet is entering its 54th season in 2019/20.
History
Before the Minnesota Ballet existed, Donna Harkin was a ballet teacher with a studio in Duluth. In spring 1965 she choreographed and produced the first all-ballet performance featuring area amateur dancers. The show proved so popular that Northlanders wanted to encourage the young dancers. In December 1965, twenty ballet supporters in the Duluth area formed a board of directors, with Jan Gibson as the first president, establishing the Duluth Civic Ballet with the intention of providing instruction in ballet and using the area's students to form an amateur performing company. The first budget was $1,000.
The Minnesota Ballet expanded into an internationally touring company in 1995 with a performance in San Salvador, El Salvador. Since then the Ballet regularly performs their Nutcracker production in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Minnesota Ballet also brings its productions to other cities in Minnesota and the surrounding region.
School of the Minnesota Ballet
Classes range from Pre-Ballet through Ballet VII and pre-professional training; pointe, jazz, modern and tap are also offered. Additionally, the School offers creative movement classes to accommodate those with special needs. The School offers annual opportunities for students to audition and perform in The Nutcracker with the professional company. The ballet company has a community outreach program designed to introduce the world of ballet to children throughout the region.
Company
Karl von Rabenau: The Artistic Executive Director of the Minnesota Ballet
A Duluth native, Karl von Rabenau is delighted to return home to Minnesota, where he began his ballet career. Karl started training in the School of the Duluth Ballet, now Minnesota Ballet. He continued his training at Minnesota Dance Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet School, and the Boston Ballet School, where he was asked to join Boston Ballet II and, shortly thereafter, to apprentice with the Boston Ballet company. Karl joined the Omaha Ballet in 1987. In 1988, he accepted the invitation of renowned Balanchine ballerina Patricia Wilde to join the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under her direction and with whom he toured to the famed National Theater & Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Karl danced his final 10 seasons as a soloist with the Milwaukee Ballet, most of those years under the direction of Michael Pink. His wide repertoire included soloist and principal roles in dance masterworks by such ballet luminaries as Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Jean-Paul Comelin, John Cranko, Agnes de Mille, Lisa de Ribere, Choo San Goh, José Limón, Eugene Loring, David Parsons, Marius Petipa, and Bruce Wells.
Jennifer Miller: Ballet Master, School of the Minnesota Ballet
Ms. Miller joins the artistic staff of the Minnesota Ballet as Ballet Master after completing nearly 30 years with the Milwaukee Ballet. Ms. Miller danced for the Milwaukee Ballet Company, rising through the ranks to the level of Principal Artist. She has had the privilege of dancing a wide range of featured roles in such ballets as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Scheherazade, Giselle, Coppélia, Midsummer Night's Dream, Sleeping Beauty; and works by Trey McIntyre, Choo San Goh, David Parsons, George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Peter Anastos, Antony Tudor, Lila York, Margo Sappington, Alvin Ailey, Bruce Wells, and Michael Pink. In the summer of 2005, Ms. Miller was invited to dance for the inaugural season of the Trey McIntyre Project, performing in Vail International Dance Festival and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.