Festival Ballet Providence is debuting a new Nutcracker this December—an unexpected move when the ballet is many companies’ most financially reliable warhorse.

A new training program at Festival Ballet Providence called Leap Year is welcoming pre-professional and professional dancers who don’t have a studio or company to dance for this season. The endeavor is the brainchild of Kathleen Breen Combes, FBP’s executive and artistic director. “I kept getting these emails of dancers saying they just need a […]

We all know dance careers are temporary. But this season, it feels like we’re saying goodbye to more stars than usual. Many have turned to social media to share their last curtain calls, thoughts on what it feels like to say farewell to performing, and insights into the ways that dancing has made them who […]

When star dancers retire from the stage, it’s not uncommon to see them step into a new kind of spotlight as an artistic director. But Kathleen Breen Combes is making a more surprising move. After the longtime Boston Ballet principal gives her farewell performance on June 9, she’ll start a second career as executive director […]

Kathleen Breen Combes moves like silk across the stage. But although it appears effortless, the Boston Ballet principal is constantly at work, maintaining her strength and keeping injuries in check. Because she is hypermobile, Combes says she has a tendency to pull muscles and overstretch ligaments. Currently, she is working around a labral tear in […]