Dance slate has U.S. feel

The Dance at the Music Center program will bring five American companies to the center’s stages in the 2009-10 season.

The lineup, announced Tuesday, consists of Pilobolus (Oct. 23-25), the Joffrey Ballet’s “Cinderella” (Jan. 28-31), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (April 9-11), Merce Cunningham Dance Company (June 26-28, 2010) and American Ballet Theatre (July 15-18, 2010).

Last season, the harsh economic climate forced the Dance at the Music Center series to lower its expectations and cancel performances of the Nederlander Dance Theater I, dropping the number of companies from six to five. Renae Williams Niles, director of dance presentations for the center, said that during the planning of the 2009-10 season in January, the center could only cross its fingers that it would be able to proceed with its hoped-for lineup.

But Williams Niles said that philanthropist Glorya Kaufman’s $20-million donation to the Music Center’s dance endowment, predicted to generate $1 million to be used for dance presentation and educational and community programs, provided a cushion that allowed the Music Center to breathe a sigh of relief and ensured that the center could commit to its plans.

Specifically, Williams Niles said that the Kaufman funds ensured that the center could afford to bring in the Joffrey’s production of Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Cinderella,” which calls for a live orchestra rather than taped music.

Williams Niles said that even though the center’s dance program was feeling a little more economically sound since Kaufman’s gift, the global effect on the dance world made it prudent to create a season of American dance. “The frequency of touring of European companies has changed,” she said.

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diane.haithman@latimes.com