Julie Kent to direct Washington Ballet

Julie Kent, one of the most iconic ballerinas of her generation, has been appointed as the new artistic director of The Washington Ballet. Effective July 1, her new position will require her to step away from her role as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre’s 1,400-student summer intensives, which she started after retiring from the stage last year following a 29-year career at ABT.

Kent will take the reigns from longtime leader Septime Webre, who announced last month that he’d be stepping down in June. Webre, 54, told The Washington Post, “I’m excited and scared. I’m so proud of all that we’ve accomplished at The Washington Ballet for the past 17 years, and to all that the company has ahead, but I’m also looking to my next adventure.”

Kent, 46, will manage all aspects of The Washington Ballet organization. She’ll direct its 21-member company and trainee programs; its educational components at the Washington School of Ballet, which affects more than 1,000 students; and all of its community engagement activities.

The company is also gaining a new associate artistic director – Kent’s husband, Victor Barbee. Barbee, 61, also a former ABT principal, has been ABT’s associate artistic director since 2003. He’ll bring his 13 years of experience to The Washington Ballet as Kent becomes one of the few women in the nation to head a ballet company.

“We would like to build The Washington Ballet so it can take its place as an artistic jewel in the nation’s capital,” Kent said to The Washington Post. “There’s no reason why it can’t be the absolute, quintessential chamber ballet company.”

Kent will reportedly come alongside the Washington Ballet Board’s laid-out strategic plan for now through 2023. Amongst many other exciting initiatives, the board wants to expand the company in size and build public knowledge and engagement with the school. By 2023, the organization aims to employ 40 more dancers, adding at least two a year.

Many of Kent’s fellow ABT dancers and professional colleagues have expressed their support and confidence in her. Perhaps David Hallberg, the famous ABT principal and Washington Ballet Board member, said it best: “She was a dancer of extreme dignity and taste and restrained class. I think the way Julie handled her career as a ballerina is the way she’ll handle her career as an artistic director.”

Photo (top): On June 20, 2015, ballerina Julie Kent took a bow after dancing in Romeo and Juliet for her final performance with ABT. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor. Photo (left): Kent. Photo by Fabrizio Ferri. Photo (right): Kent teaching at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in 2010. Photo by Matthew O’Haren.