Norbe Risco

Artistic Director

Sponsored by Terry and Rainey Hayes

Norbe Risco has served as Artistic Director of Kentucky Ballet Theatre since 2001.

Mr. Risco began his dance training in Camaguey, Cuba, in 1980. He graduated in 1988 from the Professional Art School. Upon graduation, he was invited to dance as a guest artist at the Teatro Nuovo in Turin, Italy. On his return from Italy, Mr. Risco was invited to join the Ballet de Camaguey under the direction of Fernando Alonso. In 1990, he became principal dancer and toured to Greece, Cyprus, Brazil, Venezuela, Jamaica, Mexico, Martinique and Guadeloupe Islands.

In 1993 he joined the Ballet de Monterrey, Mexico, under the direction of Ann Marie D’Angelo and Fernando Bujones (1995-1996). Mr. Risco has also worked with choreographers and dancers such as Melissa Haydn, Cynthia Gregory, Kevin McKenzie, and Ivan Nagy. He has been a member of Ballet Theater of Chicago and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

His repertory includes roles such as Albrecht in Giselle, Franz in Coppélia, Colin in La Fille Mal Gardée, Dracula in Dracula, Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, Siegfried in Swan Lake, and Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. He has also performed principal roles in Paquita, Raymonda, Napoli, Three Preludes (Ben Stevens), Le Corsaire (pas de deux), Don Quixote (pas de deux), Diana and Acteon (pas de deux), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux), Nutcracker, and others.

Mr. Risco staged Kentucky Ballet Theatre’s 2000–2001 season productions of Les Sylphides and Beethoven. He also choreographed a new Nutcracker based on the original version. Other choreographic works include Don Quixote and Degas, as well as his original ballets: Hoops, a comic tribute to Kentucky basketball, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, and for Halloween, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, and The Witches of Doon.

Since 2002 Mr. Risco also has directed Ballet Under the Stars at Woodland Park.

Norbe and his wife, KBT principal dancer Rafaela Cento Muñoz, live in Lexington.