On December 31, 2011, the Park Armory in New York was filled with a wet-eyed crowd of modern dance lovers bidding farewell to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Never before had a legacy company, one that made its mark over 58 years and changed the way we understood and created dances, shut its doors in such an abrupt but planned manner. Cunningham was an iconoclast from beginning to end.

Earlier this month the Merce Cunningham Trust released a case study detailing the extensive Legacy Plan crafted by the Cunningham Dance Foundation. The 88-page report provides details on the controversial arrangement that dismantled the Cunningham Dance Company, shut down the Cunningham Dance Foundation, as well as closed and sold off of the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York City.

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Not necessarily, but an honest comprehension of and deep appreciation for dance and dancers is, for most, what compels them to commit to the mission of running a dance company. Read on to hear from directors about their experiences.  

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Three years ago, Nashville Ballet moved from a traditional non-profit leadership structure (artistic and executive directors, a board president) into one that looks more like a for-profit company. Artistic Director Paul Vasterling assumed the title of CEO while remaining artistic leader, and reports that the results have been only positive:  better communication, efficiency, and cohesion throughout the company. Dance/USA spoke with Vasterling about how it works.

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Times have changed significantly since George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein joined forces in the 1940s to create the New York City Ballet. Yet the model those two men established for the administration of the American dance company remains: an artistic director reigning over the creative wing of the organization, an executive director administering the business side of things, and a board of directors to ensure fiscal responsibility, remains. Too often an imbalance between those arms of a company develops especially when the push-pull dynamic between the innately challenging AD and ED positions becomes overwrought. But like a strong marriage or a grand pas de deux, many such partnerships do thrive. They take hard work, skillful communication, and an evolving collegial relationship.

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Many dance companies find that merchandise sales rarely amount to much in the way of profits. But with creativity, resourcefulness, and commitment, performing-arts organizations can turn merchandising into serious money. See how San Francisco Ballet turned its Ballet Shop into a profitable and distinctive representative of its company brand.

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On September 5, 2012, the seven-member New York Court of Appeals heard Nite Moves’ legal challenge to the Tribunal’s decision that exotic dance was not a live choreographed performance and consequently exempt from taxation as stated in law. Read Judith Lynne Hanna’s account of this intriguing case and the ramifications it could have on the dance community.

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Rooted in Middle Eastern belly dance and an American tradition of parody, namely American burlesque, striptease and exotic dance are a form of dance and theater art. While somewhat “risqué” or “naughty” with its adult play and fanciful sexualized teasing that transgresses social decorum and dress codes, exotic dance is, like all dance, communication and a learned skill with its own aesthetic. So the question arises: how far removed is exotic dance from the world of artistic and concert dance? For a discussion of the recent Night Moves exotic dance court case read on here.

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It’s been a week since Hurricane Sandy left its mark on many dance companies and theaters in the New York and New Jersey area. We hear accounts of lost rehearsal time, cancelled shows, destroyed offices, lives altered. While the New Jersey and New York areas bore the brunt of the storm, we in the dance field will be experiencing the after-effects of this natural disaster for months and years to come. What have we learned from other events, like Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav?

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While the damage from Sandy is unprecedented and a complete picture of the losses the dance community in New York and New Jersey have suffered won’t be fully evident for weeks to come, Dance/USA’s From the Green Room has reached out to its colleagues and constituents in the affected region via social networking, email blasts, and personal messages to put together an anecdotal report of some of the damage.

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Can “Breaking Pointe” do for ballet what ballet companies have been struggling to accomplish for decades now? That is, lure newer, younger audiences to theaters for live classical ballet?

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