Search For Jones Successor At Louisville Ballet Underway

By Henry C. Mayer

The Louisville Ballet is a busy place these days: in addition to planning for the forthcoming season, the unexpected resignation of Alun Jones, effective May 31, 2002, has put a Search Committee hard at replacing him. Bruce Marks, a nationally respected figure in ballet and a close friend of Jones, heads the Committee. He hopes to have a successor in place by the summer, 2001. No statement about possible candidates was available at this time.

At the announcement of his resignation, Jones commented, "I have taken the company as far as I can. It now needs new blood to take it further."

Louisville Ballet highlights of the Jones years include - but are not confined to - the following: two appearances by Mikhail Baryshnikov; a world premiere of Jack Carter's "The Natives Of Dreamland"; several appearances in New York, the American premiere of "La Fete Etrange" and two grants from the National Endowment For The Arts. In addition, the Louisville Ballet is the only U.S. Company to have all three Tchaikovsky ballets in its repertoire.

Jones also choreographed forty-three programs, designed costumes for fifty-nine productions and assisted with the scenery designs for twenty productions.