Artistic and Executive Director Kathleen Breen Combes Shares Her Daily Routine
Kathleen Breen Combes, now in her fourth season as artistic and executive director of Ballet RI, has a one-word answer for the biggest challenge she faces in her job: “Time.” Managing all aspects of the company leaves less time for what she sees as the most important thing, being in the studio with the dancers. “To make meaningful change in the art world right now, you need to be where the art is being made. I need to know what’s going on in the studio and to be a part of the culture to be able to change it positively,” she says.
Breen Combes sees ballet as a “family passion.” She and her husband, Yury Yanowsky, are both former principal dancers from Boston Ballet. Yanowsky is Ballet RI’s artistic curator and resident choreographer, and their 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son are taking ballet classes at the School of Ballet RI. “We talk a lot about work at home, but we also try to talk about normal, human stuff so it’s not overload!” Breen Combes says.
Below, Breen Combes takes us through her typical day.
6:45 am: Wake up. “Right when I wake up, I usually check ticket sales, especially leading up to a performance,” she says, “Then, I check my email for any major fires I need to put out.” She will also take a shower before waking the kids up at 7:15 and taking them to school at 8:15.
8:45 am: Upon arrival at Ballet RI’s studios, Breen Combes heads to her office. “I catch up on emails, maybe look at the budget and catch up on anything that’s forward-looking,” she says. Right now, she is preparing for the beginning of Ballet RI’s season, which opens with a free outdoor performance, and the company’s Art & Literature Meet Ballet program in November.
9:30–11 am: Company class. “I try to teach at least once a week,” she says. After class, Breen Combes will stick around for a few minutes to “check in with the dancers or choreographers who we might have in.” If she doesn’t teach class, Breen Combes uses this time to work in her office or take meetings.
11 am–4 pm: While the dancers are in rehearsal, “I have a variety of meetings throughout the day, which include artistic and executive staff meetings, budget meetings, marketing and social-media strategy discussions, and meetings about our community engagement,” she says. When she’s not in meetings or working on other items, Breen Combes tries to coach or watch rehearsal. “I sneak out of my office and sit in a chair that I keep by the door—the dancers know that’s my spot,” she says. “My office also has a big window that looks into the studio, so it’s nice to be able to look up and watch.”
4 pm: Some days, Breen Combes picks up her daughter and brings her to the studio for ballet class. “I get to see her for a second and then I get back to work!”
5 pm: Rehearsals conclude. “I check in with the choreographers or artistic staff to see what we need for the next day,” she says. She will then put together the next day’s schedule and continue to work until 6:30 pm.
6:30 pm: Breen Combes and her daughter return home. “Then it’s the usual nighttime routine: dinner and homework,” she says.
9 pm: After the kids go to bed, Breen Combes and Yanowsky debrief about the day. “We talk about what’s going on in rehearsal, what the dancers might need, what’s coming up,” she says.
11:30 pm: Bedtime.
Performance Days
Performance days start off similarly—Breen Combes still wakes up at 6:45 and checks her email for ticket-sales information. “That would usually be when I see emails or messages from the artistic staff or the dancers about injuries or illnesses,” she says. After taking the kids to school, she will work in her office before heading to the theater at 11 am. “I’ll either teach warm-up at 11:30 or check in with front-of-house and start making the rounds,” Breen Combes says. That includes speaking with the production team, lighting designer, and choreographer(s) about what needs to be done in rehearsal or any issues that arose in the last rehearsal or performance. After class, she will give notes to the dancers before they begin either a tech rehearsal or a full run-through. After the rehearsal ends around 4, Breen Combes goes home for a break to see her family, change, and get ready for the evening.
“At 5:30, I head back to the theater, check in with front-of-house again, and usually before the show we have some kind of donor or board events, or I might have dinner with a board member,” she says. By 7:15, she is backstage wishing the dancers and crew good luck before heading into the audience for a 7:30 performance. “I like to sit in the back row on the side, near the stage access door.”
After the show is over, she will go backstage one more time to congratulate everyone or give notes, and then return home around 10:30. “When I get home, I’m hoping the kids are already asleep, but sometimes they wait up for me because they’re excited. They know performances are a big deal.” Like the weekdays, she finishes her performance days rehashing the show with Yanowsky and unwinding before heading to bed at 12:30 am.
Time Off
On days off, Breen Combes says, “I sleep in as long as my children will allow. My husband knows to take the kids and let me sleep.” She spends the day doing laundry, meal prepping, and reviewing the family’s weekly schedule. Breen Combes values the time she gets to spend with them on days off. “I try to spend as much time as I can with the family to make up for the time I’m gone during the week,” she says.
She and the family take two vacations a year. “It’s really about sustainability,” she says. “I have to remember to take the time off and make sure that I’m not going to get worn out.” They travel to Spain annually to visit Yanowsky’s family during the dancers’ summer layoff. Then, after the Nutcracker season in the winter, “I always plan an all-inclusive resort somewhere warm, like Mexico,” she says. “My ideal thing to decompress is a good book and a beautiful view.”
