As Maria Konrad prepares for a new artistic chapter, Dmitri Kulev steps into leadership of NB2—signaling both continuity and renewal for one of Nashville Ballet’s most important creative pipelines

At Nashville Ballet, the future of dance is often shaped before the spotlight finds it. It begins in rehearsal rooms, in the demanding daily work of young artists learning how to turn technique into presence and discipline into expression. That in-between space—part school, part company, part proving ground—is the world of Nashville Ballet’s Second Company, better known as NB2.

This season, that world enters a moment of transition. Maria Konrad, who has led NB2 through a period of artistic growth and expanding community engagement, will step away from her role as Director of NB2 at the end of the 2025–26 season to pursue artistic projects nationally and internationally. Her departure is not a severing so much as a shift: she remains connected to the company through choreography, future collaborations, and the works she has already left in its repertory.

Konrad is currently creating DEA, a new ballet for the main Company that will be paired with Sherlock as part of Nashville Ballet’s annual Attitude series, along with community programming planned for later this spring. It is a fitting coda to her tenure: an artist whose work has long traveled across stages and institutions placing one more creative imprint on the company she has called home.

“Stepping into the role of Director for NB2 has been so meaningful for me as an artist and mentor,” Konrad said. “After creating work all over the world, being able to make art at what has been my home for the last three years, where I’ve invested so much of myself, carries a unique weight and significance. I am thrilled to have planted seeds and be part of Nashville Ballet as they move into the future.”

For NB2, Konrad’s influence has been felt not only in choreography but in atmosphere. During her tenure, the second company strengthened its role as a bridge between advanced training and the professional stage. Colleagues describe a studio culture in which dancers were pushed toward rigor while also being encouraged to develop individuality, curiosity, and ownership of their creative voices.

A graduate of A.W. Dreyfoos High School of the Arts with a BFA from The University of the Arts, Konrad has built an international choreographic profile. Her work has been commissioned and presented by institutions including the International Nervi Festival in Italy and the Spoleto Festival, as well as by companies such as Nashville Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet II, and Kansas City Ballet. She has also received multiple Outstanding Choreography honors from Youth America Grand Prix and is widely regarded as a teacher, mentor, and advocate for emerging dance artists.

“Maria has been an extraordinary partner in shaping NB2 into a dynamic, artist-centered program,” said Nick Mullikin, Artistic Director and CEO of Nashville Ballet. “Her leadership, generosity and creative vision have elevated our dancers and our organization in meaningful ways. While we will miss her day-to-day presence, we are incredibly grateful for her contributions and excited to continue collaborating with her on future projects as her artistic journey expands.”

Into that evolving role steps Dmitri Kulev, currently Co-Director of the School of Nashville Ballet, who will become Director of NB2 at the conclusion of the 2025–26 season. Kulev will continue leading the Young Men’s Scholarship Program and remain an active faculty member at the School, giving the transition a sense of continuity across the organization’s training and professional pathways.

Kulev’s résumé connects Nashville to one of ballet’s most storied traditions. Trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School, he performed internationally with the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre before dancing as a principal with Ballet Arizona, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. As an educator, he is known for a charismatic teaching style rooted in the Vaganova method, and his students have earned honors and scholarships at elite training institutions around the world.

The appointment matters because NB2 is more than a junior company; it is one of Nashville Ballet’s most consequential cultural engines. Company statistics indicate that more than 55 percent of Nashville Ballet company members and apprentices began their careers with NB2, many after training at the School of Nashville Ballet. In a city whose arts ecosystem increasingly depends on nurturing talent from within, the second company serves as both incubator and threshold.

That broader educational ecosystem will also see a clarified leadership structure. Jennifer Kulev will serve as sole Director of the School of Nashville Ballet, bringing focused leadership to its training programs. A former principal dancer with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, she trained at the School of American Ballet and with distinguished teachers across the country. Her repertoire spans classical and neoclassical works by choreographers including George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, and Stanton Welch, and her teaching is known for its emphasis on precise technique, turnout, and artistry.

“This transition reflects both gratitude and excitement,” Mullikin said. “We honor Maria’s remarkable contributions and look forward to the leadership, continuity and vision that Dmitri and Jennifer Kulev bring as we continue to invest in the future of Nashville Ballet and its artists.”

In the language of ballet, transition is rarely abrupt. It is prepared for, carried through the body, and completed with attention to line. Nashville Ballet’s latest leadership change follows that same logic: one artist extending her reach outward, another stepping forward from within, and a company reaffirming its belief that the future of the stage begins long before opening night.