Claire Kretzschmar Appointed Artistic Director of Ballet Hartford

Ballet Hartford has announced that Claire Kretzschmar will be joining the company as Artistic Director in August 2024! Leyna Doran, who has directed the company since 2019, will be stepping into the role of Executive Director at Ballet Hartford. Together, Kretzschmar and Doran will continue to promote the creation of art that is true, good, and beautiful.

Having danced with New York City Ballet from 2010-2022 and risen to the rank of Soloist during that time, Claire Kretzschmar now teaches and choreographs ballet. She has previously worked with Ballet Hartford twice - last spring to re-stage Duncan Noble’s “Peter and the Wolf” and this past fall to create “A Ceremony of Carols”. Currently, Claire is choreographing ‘Venus’ on Ballet Hartford dancers for their upcoming show “Planets” on May 3.

As Artistic Director, Claire Kretzschmar aims to deepen Ballet Hartford’s roots in the Hartford community and to continue to create “Art for the City” while expanding the company’s presence throughout New England. “Ballet Hartford is one of the most joyful and hard-working dance environments I’ve experienced,” remarks Claire, “I want more people to come to see our beautiful performances, take our open adult classes, and bring their children to our school.” 

About Claire Kretzschmar 

Claire Kretzschmar is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, podcast host and former soloist with New York City Ballet (NYCB). She trained at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of American Ballet prior to joining NYCB as an apprentice in 2010.

At NYCB, she performed several featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck, and Kyle Abraham, and she rose to become a soloist dancer in 2018. Since retiring from the company in October 2022, Ms. Kretzschmar now shares her love of ballet through teaching, choreographing, speaking, and occasionally dancing.

Her choreography credits include Rachmaninoff Variations and Rhapsodie for the New York Choreographic Institute and A Ceremony of Carols for Ballet Hartford. She regularly teaches creative movement to NYC public school students and co-hosts NYCB’s podcast, “The Rosin Box”. 

Ms. Kretzschmar also co-founded Arthouse2B, a Catholic arts organization in NYC that seeks to restore culture by restoring the heart of the artist. She has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Fordham University and is the recipient of the 2017 Janice Levin Award and the 2015 Martin E. Segal Award for rising artists.