Cincinnati Ballet seeks an experienced, innovative, and collaborative Artistic Director to lead the Company. Cincinnati Ballet’s new leader must possess artistic excellence, a collaborative spirit, fresh ideas, and an authentic desire to connect with the local, regional, and global communities served by the organization. The Artistic Director is the leader of a talented company of dancers, as well as an experienced artistic team. This position coaches, mentors, and inspires artists through a holistic approach that supports the overall health of the dancers. As the Company stages both classical and contemporary works, a deep knowledge of the classical repertoire as well as contemporary dance is required. This position will report directly to the Cincinnati Ballet Board of Trustees and serve as the Company’s co-leader, working in tandem with the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
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Since 1963, Cincinnati Ballet has been the cornerstone professional ballet company of the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region, presenting a bold and adventurous array of classical, full-length ballets, and contemporary works, regularly with live orchestral accompaniment. Under the artistic direction of Victoria Morgan since 1997, Cincinnati Ballet became a creative force within the larger dance community, commissioning world premiere pieces and exploring unique collaborations with artists as diverse as Grammy award-winning guitarist Peter Frampton and popular, Ohio-based band Over the Rhine.
The mission of Cincinnati Ballet is as follows:
To enrich, expand, and excel in the art of dance through world-class performance, a high-caliber academy, and impactful education and engagement from local to global communities.
Cincinnati Ballet reaches beyond the stage in programs that allow every person in the region to be part of the continued evolution of dance. To that end, Cincinnati Ballet presents exhilarating performances, provides extensive education programs and offers top-level professional ballet training at Cincinnati Ballet’s Otto M. Budig Academy.
Cincinnati Ballet has long had a commitment to collaborating with artists and choreographers from underrepresented groups. For the 2023-2024 season, Cincinnati Ballet’s mainstage productions featured works created by women and/or BIPOC choreographers, as well as costume and lighting designers. Notably for the mixed repertoire production, Mercurial Landscapes, the Ballet commissioned Rena Butler, a rising Black dance artist, to create her work entitled, BLOOM, with a local Black costume designer. Mercurial Landscapes was featured as part of ArtsWave’s Flow Series, an African American Arts Experience, which celebrates BIPOC art in Cincinnati.
For more information about Cincinnati Ballet’s mission and history please visit https://cballet.org/mission/ and https://cballet.org/history/.
In recent years, Cincinnati Ballet has experienced growth organization-wide. Attendance numbers for the Company’s mainstage, professional productions have grown from 58,000 in 2015-2016 to nearly 70,000 in the 2023-2024 Season.
The Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance has dramatically expanded the Company’s ability to serve its mission. The size of the new ballet center is significantly larger than its previous home, providing ample space for the professional company, as well as the Otto M. Budig Academy, and other specialized programming. The 42,000 square foot building houses nine studios. Designed by the world-renowned architecture firm GBBN, the Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance features a sleek, streamlined exterior that boasts panoramic views of downtown Cincinnati from its two largest studios. The modern, innovative design is an iconic landmark in the landscape of the Walnut Hills neighborhood and Cincinnati as a whole.
The Aronoff Center for the Arts – one of the Company’s performance venues – is better known to Cincinnatians as simply the Aronoff, a nod to Senator Stanley Aronoff, whose vision for a performing arts center in his hometown came to fruition in 1995. Designed by internationally renowned architect César Pelli and fronting three streets in the heart of downtown (Walnut, Seventh, and Main), the Aronoff Center is just a block away from Fountain Square and many of the City’s finest restaurants and hotels.
The Aronoff Center is home to three versatile performance spaces. The 2,700-seat Procter & Gamble Hall hosts major performances including much of Cincinnati Ballet’s performance season, while the 437-seat Jarson-Kaplan Theater is the ideal setting for a variety of other local theater and dance presentations. The Ballet performs its annual production of The Nutcracker and at least one other full-length work in Music Hall, a stunning 2,500-seat venue built in 1878; it underwent a major renovation in 2017. Music Hall is also home to Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Opera.
The organization’s signature community education program, CincyDance!, introduces thousands of elementary-school students to dance, inspiring a love of movement while increasing their confidence, self-esteem, and physical fitness. CincyDance! is split into three components: in-school residences, CincyDance! Foundations classes, and scholarships to the Otto M. Budig Academy. The CB Moves program provides adaptive dance classes for youth and adults diagnosed with Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s and Dementia, among others. Cincinnati Ballet partners with Cincinnati Children’s and other health services organizations to create programming that is medically safe and supports the unique needs of each participant. Classes are facilitated by a dance instructor and often feature a physical therapist from Cincinnati Children’s, and students of physical therapy who assist participants.
Prior to COVID, Cincinnati Ballet operated on a $10.5M budget with an earned/contributed ration of approximately 57%/43%. Due to COVID, the FY21 budget was approximately $8.2M with an earned/contributed ratio of 38%/62%, with earned income largely coming from tuition at the Academy. As operations normalized in FY23, the budget was $12.8M which included the last of COVID-related funding. Looking ahead to FY25, the budget will be approximately $12.4M, with an earned/contributed ratio of 64%/36%. The company recently completed a $30M capital campaign to realize the Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance, and once multi-year campaign gifts are received, the Company will own the building without underlying long-term debt. The Company has an endowment of approximately $14.5M as of 5/31/2024. Cincinnati Ballet has a subscriber base of approximately 800. There are 31 full-time employees. The professional company consists of 29 dancers (including four apprentices) on a 35-week contract. The Second Company consists of 12 dancers, performing both on its own as well as with the professional company. Cincinnati Ballet has collective bargaining agreements with AGMA, AFM, and IATSE.
The Cincinnati Ballet Board of Trustees appointed Deborah S. Brant President and CEO of Cincinnati Ballet in March 2024. She had served as Interim President and CEO after assuming the role on an interim basis from Scott Altman in January 2024. For many years, Debbie has fostered a deep and meaningful relationship with Cincinnati Ballet and has been one of the organization’s biggest supporters. Debbie is the former Chair of The Cincinnati Ballet Foundation, former chair of the Cincinnati Ballet Board of Trustees, and led the capital campaign committee that secured funding to construct the 42,000 square foot, $32 million Cincinnati Ballet Margaret and Michael Valentine Center for Dance in Walnut Hills.
Ballet has been an important part of Debbie’s life since her childhood in Akron, Ohio. She started ballet lessons at age nine, beginning a life-long love of the artform. Debbie stopped dancing in high school before attending Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where she studied American Studies and Art History. She went on to create a successful fundraising career that included work in Washington, D.C. and New York City as a fundraiser and grants writer for The Kennedy Center | National Symphony Orchestra, as well as a fundraising consultant for New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Jacob’s Pillow, among others. Debbie moved to Cincinnati in 1998 where she continued as a fundraising consultant for Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Prospect House, and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. As much as Debbie loves the arts, she also values the Cincinnati community. Philanthropy is a family tradition, one Debbie learned from her parents and grandparents who were themselves dedicated volunteers. In addition to her tireless philanthropic work for Cincinnati Ballet, Debbie is also a former Board Chair of the Mayerson JCC, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and Most Valuable Kids of Cincinnati, Inc. (MVK). Brant is a past recipient of The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Women of the Year Award, the 2021 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Cincinnati Chapter, and Volunteer of the Year Award from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Ballet is governed by a 31-member Board, populated with key community and business leaders, philanthropists, and volunteers. The Chair of the Board of Trustees is Emerson Moser. The Artistic Director search is co-chaired by Faith Whittaker, Vice-Chair of the Board and Kristin Fishbaugh, Treasurer of the Board. The endowment is stewarded by the Ballet Foundation Board, a separate entity.
Also known as The Queen City, Cincinnati was settled in 1788 on the banks of the Ohio River and is now home to a metropolitan population of over two million. The city has emerged as a major economic driver for the entire region. A higher education hub, the region boasts four major universities: Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University, Miami University, and the University of Cincinnati, including the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Cincinnati also has a rich arts and culture landscape. In addition to Cincinnati Ballet, the city is home to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which provides live musical accompaniment to Cincinnati Ballet productions, as well as Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Cincinnati Art Museum. The Playhouse and Museum are also located in the Walnut Hills Neighborhood near Cincinnati Ballet’s new home. Further information on Cincinnati is available at the following: https://cincinnatiusa.com and https://cincinnatiexperience.com.
The next Artistic Director will bring inspiration, creativity, and engagement to the organization, articulating a creative picture of what ballet can be in the 21st century. Cincinnati Ballet is an organization open to – and in fact, expects – an Artistic Director who can articulate an inspirational vision that will align with the organization’s existing commitment to its community.
The people who comprise Cincinnati Ballet – dancers, staff, faculty, and trustees – bring a passionate commitment to its success. The next Artistic Director will join an organization with a strong financial foundation and business model. Among the opportunities for Cincinnati Ballet are these:
Along with these opportunities, there are challenges the next Artistic Director must embrace in collaboration with the President & CEO and Board:
The Artistic Director and President & CEO serve in a co-leadership structure, each reporting directly to the Board. The Artistic Director is responsible for conceiving, developing, and implementing the artistic vision and focus of Cincinnati Ballet and the Otto M. Budig Academy – and, importantly, articulating this vision internally and more broadly to Cincinnati Ballet’s community. Working in partnership with the President & CEO, the leadership team will conceive, plan, and execute the Ballet’s productions, education, and training programs. The next Artistic Director will possess a clear understanding of and commitment to the heritage of classical ballet while having the ability to move and mold the art form into the future, building greater audience engagement.
The expectation is that the next Artistic Director will bring a breadth of artistic perspective. The Committee will consider candidates who have not previously held Artistic Director positions, but strong preference will be given to applicants who have experience in artistic management and/or artistic administration. The primary responsibilities of the Artistic Director are the following:
Although no one individual will likely meet all criteria below, these qualifications will guide and inform the Search Committee in determining its next artistic leader:
Cincinnati Ballet provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, creed, religion, gender, gender identification, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state, federal, or local law.
The salary and benefits will be highly competitive with other ballet companies of comparable stature and size. The Search Committee of eight Cincinnati Ballet board members and other stakeholders hopes to make its decision by late 2024, with the new Artistic Director onsite by Q1 of 2025. Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to apply in complete confidence by providing materials requested below with these guidelines:
Questions about this search may be submitted to: HRCB@cballet.org with ‘Cincinnati Ballet Artistic Director Search’ in the subject line.
Thank you for your interest in Cincinnati Ballet.
