Dancer Kayla Rowser, a performer with Nashville Ballet since 2007, announced today that she will retire at the end of the 2019-2020 performance season.

Rowser’s tenure at the ballet has included a number of lead roles for the company – including the filmed and live Fortuna in Carmina Burana at the Schermerhorn this past spring. She also created the title role in Paul Vasterling’s internationally acclaimed Lucy Negro Redux.

In an interview with 91Classical last winter about taking on the role of Lucy, Rowser expressed that the whole idea of the piece felt surreal at first.

“My initial reaction was just, “Wait, really? There’s going to be a poet on stage… and Rhiannon Giddens is doing the music? And my character is actually a black woman? This can’t be real,’” Rowser said. “But also, I was excited to be able to just step into the studio and the first thing that is required of me is absolutely who I am.”

Kayla Rowser (right) in Nashville Ballet’s Lucy Negro Redux.Karyn Photographycourtesy, Nashville Ballet

The role itself was historic – one specifically written to be performed by a black ballerina. Rowser could not think of another part planned with that in mind in the entire history of ballet. She was ready for it to challenge audience members.

“A character that very explicitly does not look like, you know, maybe most of our audience members. But I hope that will get new audience members in the door, and I hope that our current audience will still love and support and encourage works that require something different.”

Other roles at Nashville Ballet have included some of the classics of the repertoire, such as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, which she described in a video for the company as “the greatest of the classical ballets.”

Rowser trained in her hometown of Conyers, Georgia. In an interview with Pointe magazine, she expressed that she found it important to balance life as a high schooler with taking time for training. She said that now that her friends have seen her onstage, they understood why she may have skipped some social gatherings.

“I had some friends growing up who didn’t necessarily understand what I was doing. Now they’re still coming to see me dance, and they look back and they say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s why you had to leave early.'”

Rowser eventually joined Nashville Ballet’s second company NB2 and worked her way through the ranks all the way up to company dancer. Artistic Director Paul Vasterling said that Kayla represents everything Nashville Ballet stands for.

“She exemplifies strong technique, grace and professionalism, and throughout her career she’s always shown a passion for connecting with our audience and sharing her craft with others,” Vasterling said.

Rowser, who plans to stay in Nashville as she pursues a degree in communications, credits Nashville Ballet as a rewarding environment for artistic growth.

“I am profoundly grateful to have found a home in such a vibrant artistic community,” Rowser said. “I will always treasure this time of my life and the bonds I’ve made along the way, and I am excited to see what the next chapter of life holds.”

Rowser will dance in her final main-stage production for Nashville Ballet on April 24-26 at TPAC in the company’s Modern Masters series.