A Milwaukee Ballet School alumna is joining the company roster as a leading artist for the upcoming 2025-26 season, announced artistic director Michael Pink in revealing the company roster. Jennifer Hackbarth, a Milwaukee native, will also be joined by three new company artists, including a second company graduate.
Hackbarth trained at the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy from 2002 to 2013 before going on to dance professionally for New York City Ballet, Germany’s Dresden Semperoper Ballet and Florida’s Sarasota Ballet. Some of her notable principal roles have included Odile in Swan Lake, the titular role in Giselle, Marie in The Nutcracker, and, most recently, Aurora in Pink’s Sleeping Beauty, which brought her back to the Milwaukee Ballet as a guest artist this past spring.
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“Jennifer is a brilliant artist, both technically and emotionally, and I know Aurora was just a glimpse into her potential as she steps into her new position,” Pink said. “We are thrilled to have her talent with us now full-time.”
Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy director Kristin Dimmer described Hackbarth as a “gifted dancer whose skill and artistry exemplifies the best of MBSA’s education and training. … Her path is one that many of our current students hope to take, so I’m certain she will be an inspiration to them all.”
One of the three new company artists, Jackson Mitchell, spent the 2024-25 season in Milwaukee Ballet II after training with City Ballet School San Francisco and The Joffrey Ballet.
“Milwaukee Ballet II continues to develop the next generation of company talent, with seven of our artists having come up through the program in the last three years alone,” Pink said. “I’m delighted to promote Jackson, who demonstrated great potential in his year as an MBII dancer.”
The two other artists joining the company this fall are fresh faces from the Sarasota Ballet. Ivan Spitale has danced there since 2018 and Mihai Costache since 2019. The two hail from Italy and Romania respectively and have each found success in international ballet competitions.
The company will return to the studio on Sept. 8 in preparation for the season’s first production, Pink’s Giselle, which runs Oct. 17-19 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. This production marks 10 years since Giselle was performed in Milwaukee and features five Milwaukee Ballet musicians on stage in addition to the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra in the pit. The onstage violinist will play an instrument once owned and played during the Holocaust, in partnership with Violins of Hope and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The remainder of the season includes the third year of Pink’s The Nutcracker: Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium from Dec. 6-26, the mixed repertory performance Encore from Jan. 30-Feb. 8, the biennial choreographic competition Genesis from March 13-15, and the family-friendly ALICE (in wonderland) from May 1-10. Individual tickets are on sale now for each production.
Milwaukee Ballet’s roster for the 2025-26 season is as follows:
Leading artists: Parker Brasser Vos, Randy Crespo, Marize Fumero, Alana Griffith, Jennifer Hackbarth, Marie Harrison Collins, Lizzie Tripp-Molina and Lahna Vanderbush
Artists: Josiah Cook, Mihai Costache, Eric Figueredo, Garrett Glassman, Amanda Lewis, Raven Loan, Kristen Marshall, Emery Meroni, Marko Micov, Jackson Mitchell, Nanaho Nakajima, Flynn Stelfox, Ivan Spitale, Jacqueline Sugianto and Ben Zusi
