Artistic & Production Staff
Bruce Simpson – Artistic Director
Maestro Leslie B. Dunner – Principal Guest Conductor
Harald Uwe Kern – Senior Ballet Master
Mikelle Bruzina – Ballet Mistress
Elena M. Fillmore – Director, Louisville Ballet School
Emily Bond van Bogaert – School Administrator, Louisville Ballet School
Michael Harris – Director of Operations
Michael T. Ford - Lighting Designer/Production Stage Manager
Dan Fedie - Costume Master
Leslie K. Oberhausen - Stage Manager
Ron Riall – Technical Director
Bruce Simpson – Artistic Director
Bruce Simpson joined the Louisville Ballet in 2002, bringing with him over 30 years of experience in the international ballet world. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Mr. Simpson studied at the Scottish Ballet School, making his professional debut with Scottish Opera. Upon joining the Wuppertal Dance Company, he toured throughout Germany and Belgium. In 1970, he joined South Africa’s State Theatre Ballet (previously known as the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal), which became his home for the next 30 years.
After his promotion to principal dancer in 1975, he performed an extensive repertory specializing in the great classical roles, including Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardée, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cinderella and La Sylphide. He danced leading roles in The Three Musketeers, Anna Karenina and Soft Blue Shadows by André Prokovsky; The Merry Widow, Rosalinda and Papillon by Ronald Hynd; Don Quixote by Rudolf Nureyev; and The Taming of the Shrew by John Cranko.
Appointed Ballet Master in 1983 and Senior Ballet Master in 1985, Mr. Simpson continued to perform with State Theatre Ballet until his retirement from the stage in 1998. He was also répetiteur, teacher and coach, refining productions of the Company’s repertoire of over 60 ballets. He has worked with some of the greatest dancers of our time, including Natalia Makarova, Sir Antony Dowell, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Ivan Nagy and Sir Fredrick Ashton.
Mr. Simpson has been a guest of the major dance companies and schools throughout the world. In 2000, he was invited to lead Texas Ballet Theater, where he was commissioned to create new productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Mr. Simpson was the jury co-chair at the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss.
Leslie B. Dunner - Principal Guest Conductor
One of the premiere American conductors of his generation, Leslie B. Dunner enjoys an international career distinguished by the breadth of his repertoire as well as his electrifying and critically lauded performances.
Following a six-season tenure as Music Director and Principal Conductor of The Joffrey Ballet, Leslie B. Dunner’s current season includes return concert engagements with Symphony Silicon Valley and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic, as well as concert debuts with the Illinois Philharmonic and Peoria Symphony Orchestras. He conducts Symphony Silicon Valley’s performances of Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess”, Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” with the University of Natal Opera School, and with the Louisville Ballet, he makes a triple debut as Principal Guest Conductor, leading productions of Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
Maestro Dunner’s United States concert engagements have included many major orchestras: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, to name but a few. He’s also conducted in Canada, Mexico City, Caracas, Russia, Estonia, South Africa, Italy, and the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid on tour in Portugal.
Ballet performances have included The American Ballet Theatre, The New York City, Washington, Orlando and Madison Ballet Companies, and tours with The Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Joffrey Ballet, both nationally and internationally. Additionally, he’s conducted London’s Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, The Birmingham Royal Ballet (in London and on tour throughout England), Michigan Opera Theatre, and The South African Ballet Theatre. Opera productions have included Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” with Opera Ebony in New York City, and Opera Africa’s production of Mziliazi Khumalo’s Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu at Den Norske Opera in Oslo, Norway.
Maestro Dunner serves on the Advisory Boards of Opera Vista in Houston, World Artist Experience in Annapolis, and The International Jordania Conducting Competition in Chattanooga.
His clarinet performances have been heard in the US and across Canada on CBC Radio. His compositions have been successfully performed in the US and abroad. Dr. Dunner’sMotherless Child Songs are available on the Innova label, and his1993 recording with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Magical Mystical Mouse (music from animated films), on the Pro Arte label. Dunner’s composition, “The Whirligigs of Time”, a work for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra, was commissioned and perfromed by the Prince George’s Philharmonic Orchestra in March, 2006.
Harald Uwe Kern – Senior Ballet Master
Born in Vienna, Austria, Mr. Kern studied with the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera and at the Academie de la Danse de Princess Grace, Monte Carlo.
He has received many awards, including the Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship Award, the Paris International Dance Competition – prix d’interpretation and an Award for Artistic Achievement from the New York International Ballet Competition.
Mr. Kern has performed as a soloist and principal dancer with the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Basel Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Internationale and Charleston Ballet Theater. He has danced leading roles in most of the major classical and romantic ballets and won critical acclaim for his interpretation of roles in ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, Cranko, Massine, Nureyev, Neumeier, Spörli, Balanchine, Kilian and many more.
Under the guidance of Irina Kolpakova and Vladilen Semyonov, he became a teacher and coach. He has been the Associate Artistic Director of the Channel Islands Ballet (California) and a guest instructor with schools, colleges and companies around the USA, Europe and Japan.
Elena M. Fillmore – Director, Louisville Ballet School
Elena M. Fillmore, a native of Fallon, Nevada, began her dance training at the age of 13. She studied with such distinguished instructors as George Zorich, Melissa Lowe, Jory Hancock, Michael Williams, Amy Ernst, Susan Quinn and Sam Watson. Ms. Fillmore graduated with honors from the University of Arizona, receiving both her B.F.A. and M.F.A. in dance. She has danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet, BalletMet (Columbus, Ohio), Colorado Ballet and, most recently, as a member of Moving Collective. Ms. Fillmore has also danced internationally with QuinnWilliamsJazz, with LaJAZDANZ and with the musical theatre production Space Dream (Berlin, Germany).
As a graduate student at the University of Arizona, Ms. Fillmore received the 2000- 2001 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. She has taught at dance schools across the country as a guest instructor and at Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts.
Ms. Fillmore was named Interim Director of the Louisville Ballet School in 2008.
Michael Harris – Director of Operations
Michael Harris, a native of Tennessee, is in his twenty-third season as Director of Operations. As such, he directs and manages all aspects of the production departments. He is also responsible for theatrical scheduling, music and repertory licenses, guest artist contracts, production rentals, and production and operations budget control. In addition, he serves as facilities manager for the Company and School locations and oversees the management of the scene shop and warehouse facilities.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Harris was Production Manager for nine seasons. Before employment with the Louisville Ballet, he served as production manager for several independent feature films, stage manager for Iroquois Amphitheater, and chief electrician at the Amphitheater and Stage One. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with degrees in English and journalism.
Michael T. Ford – Lighting Designer/Production Stage Manager
Michael Ford is a native of Louisville and an alumnus of Bellarmine College. He has worked with the Louisville Ballet since 1974 and has been Resident Lighting Designer and Stage Manager since 1978. Michael has served as Technical Director and/or Lighting Designer for Iroquois Amphitheater, Metroversity Dance Series, Miss Kentucky Pageant, Sphere One Dance Company, Stage One, Metroversity Summer Theater and Corning Summer Theater in Corning, New York. He has been Guest Designer for the North Carolina Dance Theatre and the American Ballet Theatre at the Met. Mr. Ford has designed dance productions for such well-known choreographers as Erik Bruhn, Choo-San Goh, Bruce Marks, Lynn Taylor Corbett, Robert Gladstein, Ron Cunningham, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Adam Hougland and André Prokovsky. He has also designed lighting for and toured with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Dan Fedie – Costume Master
A native of Wisconsin, Dan Fedie celebrates his twenty-second year as Costume Master. He earned his B.S. in speech and theatre from the University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse and an M.F.A. in costume design from the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana. Design credits include A Time To Remember; Gloria; If ya ain’t right, git right!; upon your held out hand; and continuum for the Louisville Ballet. Mr. Fedie has also designed for Stage One, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and 1900 productions in Chicago.
Leslie K. Oberhausen – Stage Manager
This is Leslie’s fifth season with the Louisville Ballet. She began her career twenty-five years ago as a stage management intern at Actors Theatre of Louisville and has been working professionally in the Louisville area ever since. For thirteen years, she was the Production Stage Manager for Stage One: Louisville’s Family Theatre, touring regionally as well as to New York City and Off-Broadway. Other local credits include the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, Derby Dinner Playhouse, Music Theatre Louisville, Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Kentucky Center. Leslie also teaches stage management classes at the University of Louisville.
Adminstrative Staff
Dwight E. Hutton – Executive Director
Nancy Tafel - Director of Development
Mollie M. Creason – Assistant Director of Development
Leslie A. Wilson – Director of Marketing & Communications
Delilah Smyth – Director of Education
Melanie Horn- Patron Services Manager
Nicole Sikora – Patron Services Assistant
Jordan Kelch – Group Sales Manager
Laura Sullivan – Accountant
Jason H. Raff – Assistant to the Directors
Dwight E. Hutton – Executive Director
Dwight Hutton’s career in dance spans over 30 years with two decades as a professional ballet dancer. He joins the Louisville Ballet having most recently served as the Managing Director of Smuin Ballet in San Francisco where he worked closely with the Company’s founder, the late Michael Smuin.
Prior to joining Smuin, he served as Company Manager for Pacific Northwest Ballet (Seattle) where he worked with Executive Director, D. David Brown, and Founding Artistic Directors, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, and most recently with, Peter Boal. Mr. Hutton has worked for several notable companies around the country including Milwaukee Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Tulsa Ballet.
Mr. Hutton holds a Business Degree from the University of Missouri which he completed while dancing full-time. He sits on the Board of Trustees of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance where he is active on the Trustee and Development committees.