Battleworks: A Column By Robert Battle
You’ve seen it in the news, but maybe you’re not aware of how this economic crisis is affecting you in unexpected ways. Funding for the arts is the first thing cut during financial crises, and your ability to choose from a selection of high quality dance performances (or gallery openings, concerts, and theater shows) will dwindle as the economy takes its toll on the arts. As the Artistic Director of a young modern dance company in New York City I would like to take a moment to talk about how dance is being affected by this current financial predicament, and throw out a couple of ideas about how dance could change to fit into the new climate.
The vast majority of modern dance companies are not-for-profit. The product we are providing is not returned in earned income, which basically means the box office receipts and presenting fees we receive cover only a fraction of the costs of producing a show. The majority of our income comes from individual donations and institutional funding from grants and corporations.
In the last few years, government and corporate sponsors have...
