Many Troupes Share Ballet Pacifica’s Financial Woes

The financial crisis that forced Orange County’s Ballet Pacifica to cancel its spring season is emblematic of the struggle that dance companies nationwide find themselves in as the unstable economy of the past several years has gouged fundraising sources.

The hard times have led to canceled and shortened seasons by troupes big and small, from New York and Boston to Cleveland and Knoxville. According to Dance/USA, a Washington, D.C.-based national service organization, 60% of the large dance companies it surveyed finished 2002 with their budgets in the red -- the most in at least a dozen years.

Anecdotal evidence, the group said, suggests that 2003 wasn’t any better, and that 2004 looks grim too.

“Things are pretty terrible,” said Patricia McCarthy, executive director of the Dancers’ Group, which helps support 75 dance companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its budget, made up of state and foundation grants and a percentage of ticket sales, has dropped 15% in the past three years.

In one sense, dance is having to tango with the same problems that arts programs across the board face in the wake of cuts to programs such as the California Arts Council, which suspended all grant programs last year after lawmakers all but gutted its budget.

But balancing the books has always been particularly tough for dance troupes. The art is often a tough sell to general audiences -- and potential donors.

“There’s the elusiveness of the art,” McCarthy said. “I love dance. It’s my first love. But many times I’ve gone to a dance concert and leave saying, ‘What’s that about?’ ”

A survey by Dance/USA of 28 companies in 2003 found that eight were “struggling,” while respondents overwhelmingly pointed to funding shortages as their biggest challenge.

All the traditional funding sources for dance companies -- foundation and corporate grants, individual donations and ticket sales -- shrank during the recent recession and have yet to bounce back, observers say.

“In the last year and a half, this has directly affected companies across the nation,” said Andrea Snyder, executive director of Dance/USA. “There’s been a shortening of seasons, cancellation of productions, a pulling back in order to survive. In rare instances has a company stuck to their original plans.”

Orange County’s Ballet Pacifica, which was forced to cancel its spring season and a nationally regarded summer project for developing new works, illustrates the challenges and choices facing medium-sized troupes, which have been particularly hard-hit.

The company, founded in 1962, hired a consultant four years ago to assess its future. A plan to create a “world class” dance company emerged. Ballet Pacifica’s annual budget grew by about $600,000 over three years. Its staff and marketing efforts were beefed up and performances added.

The company’s board of directors felt confident that a higher profile would attract more donations.

“You have to have something that people want to invest in,” said board President Janet Ray.

But subscription and fundraising goals weren’t met, and when the company’s largest donor pulled his support last summer, Ballet Pacifica found itself with a $200,000 shortfall in its $1.7-million budget.

Meanwhile, a disagreement over whether the company should focus more on edgy contemporary work or offer some traditional ballets to boost ticket sales prompted its longtime artistic director to quit last year.

Still, the company borrowed $150,000 to put on “The Nutcracker” during the Christmas holiday because it always fills seats -- a pragmatic decision faced by many troupes that speaks volumes about the economic realities of dance.

According to Dance/USA, the 19th century ballet accounts for about one-fifth of the annual revenue of companies that perform it.

Though it might not satisfy the artistic hunger of an ambitious choreographer, “The Nutcracker” will put a smile on the face of a dance company’s business manger.

“The pool of people that supports dance financially is really, really small,” said Janice Plastino, a professor and former chairwoman of UC Irvine’s dance department, who once ran her own company.

“Every ballet company does ‘The Nutcracker’ because it’s a breadwinner, and that’s a fact of life.”