MoxieMoments brings you Robert Curran, Artistic Director of the Louisville Ballet, telling us about their personal inspirations.
Trained at The Australian Ballet School & having enjoyed an exciting & fulfilling career with The Australian Ballet as a Principal Artist, Robert took the passion & discipline he developed as a dancer & set his sights on diversifying his knowledge, skills & abilities.
With education and experience, he continually expanded his ability to move his own body on stage &, through this, move an audience through a wide range of emotions. Beyond his dancing career, he strives to move people towards a satisfying encounter with dance.
Robert is motivated by the form that a dancer gains from training in the traditions of classical ballet, where respect & discipline can facilitate breathtaking strength & freedom.
He is also inspired by the innovation that forms the function of any artist, that being to bravely & boldly express oneself through art for the greater good of a community.
As Artistic Director, Robert contributes to the Global Arts Community, enriching his knowledge of the art form to which he has devoted his life.
He is excited by & committed to the Louisville community with its great respect for the arts and its exciting perspective on the future.
MoxieMoments continue with Chef Dallas McGarity, the Executive Chef & Owner of The Fat Lamb Modern Kitchen & Bar & Portage House Restaurants, telling us about his biggest triumph.
More about Chef McGarity, He grew up in rural South Carolina; his mom & mamaw instilled a passion for food early. After going to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University & working in Charleston, SC, for many years.
In 2004, he moved to Louisville and was encouraged that the food scene had much to offer a young chef & fell in love with the city.
After working at several Louisville fine dining places as Executive Chef, he was ready to open a restaurant as Executive Chef & Owner. With the help of his wife, Laura, The Fat Lamb ModernKitchen & Bar opened in Nov. 2016. The small, open-kitchen concept has received a great response from the highlands neighborhood within which it is located & continues to serve both local patrons & visitors upscale comfort food with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.
In March of 2018, Chef Dallas was approached to purchase Portage House Restaurant in Jeffersonville, IN. The riverfront view of the old house that the restaurant sits in was so charming that he & his wife decided it was time to expand. As a result, Portage House re-opened on March 23rd, 2018, with a new menu & new owners.
Portage House & The Fat Lamb continue to provide exceptional cuisine & fantastic service with unique atmospheres.
Since then, Chef Dallas has also taken on the Louisville food service operations at Copper & Kings Distillery with Alex&nder, the 3rd-floor lounge/bar serving a creative menu that changes frequently.
With all these different projects going on & a family life to maintain, Chef Dallas continues to support the community by doing many charity events each year & trying to give back to the community whenever possible. Dallas has received such Honors and Awards as:
Charitable Contributions & events Dallas has contributed to are: Bourbon & Bowties, Taste of St. Raphael, Home of the Innocent Backyard BBQ, Cabbage Patch Settlement House, Conrad Caldwell house; Gilda’s club; Highland Presbyterian Weekday School, Mama-to Mama; JCPS Chef’s Club for Elementary Students, State Fair Cooking demonstrations; March of Dimes; APRON Inc; Bloom Elementary School; Louisville Leopards among many others.
Dallas & his lovely wife Laura & 2 children reside in Louisville.
Explore our first moxie moment with Rob Dietrich, the Master Distiller & Blender of METALLICA | BLACKENED™ American Whiskey, giving his best piece of advice.
A little “back-story” on how BLACKENED came to be as follows:
BLACKENED began as a collaborative effort between Metallica & Master Distiller & Blender Dave Pickerell.
Sadly, Dave passed away in late 2018, shortly after the launch of BLACKENED.
In 2019, Master Distiller Rob Dietrich joined the team as Master Distiller & Blender taking the helm as Master Distiller & Blender in Dave’s passing and guardian of Dave’s legacy blend.
As unapologetic masters of the craft in their respective fields, they’ve built world-renowned legacies by carving out new spaces and bringing their singular, incendiary perspectives to everything they touch. Unlikely collaborators on the surface, their shared creative fire and dedication to craft make them anything but.
Together, they’ve created BLACKENED – an unconventional whiskey of uncompromising quality.
Rob serves as the guardian of Dave’s original recipe and brand steward moving into the future. He’s widely known for his ability to fuse traditional distilling methods with unique artistry.
Rob is well-regarded for his unique limited-release, cask finish expressions such as Snowflake, Sherry Cask, and more.
Rob is responsible for every aspect of production and is committed to maintaining the original recipe, artisanal methods, and handcrafted approach to creating world-class whiskey.
Rob Dietrich initially learned the art and science of distilling from legendary Jess Graber, whom he proudly calls his mentor. His passion for music was honed across 10 years spent in the music business with Bill Graham Presents as a freelance agent for various venues like Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and The Fillmore in San Francisco and managing tours and festivals.
He is a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division and served from 1992 to 1995.
His two tours in Somalia and relief operations in Haiti helped shape his life-affirming philosophy.
Eric is deeply passionate about raising awareness of mental, physical, & sexual abuse within Independent Baptist Churches & is currently producing a documentary on the subject.
His accompanying podcast, Preacher Boys, launched in Jan. 2020, quickly surpassed 200k downloads in just 9 months!
As Host & Creator of The Preacher Boys, he sits down with brave survivors who shed light on DECADES of physical, mental, & sexual abuse within the Independent, Fundamental Baptist movement, as well as a 2nd Podcast called Film School’d-that has featured directors, actors, writers, academy award-winning FX artists, & more film industry experts.
Since 2013, he has fulfilled various media production roles, including as a videographer, photographer, writer & graphic designer. His work has taken him to over 20 states & 13 different countries & has included a documentary film, an 8-episode mini-series, several commercials.