Dance/USA's Board Chair Michelle Ramos is committed to breaking down silos in the dance community through programming that focuses on diversity, equity and intersectionality. And in her spare time she just earned her PhD, runs marathons and takes class. Read more in Leadership Corner.
In her five years with Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company, Isabel Miranda increased the budget from $5,000 to $150,000. I ask: 'What are the golden dreams?' She says, 'We have to dream big to succeed.' Read on.
Charlotte Ballet Executive Director Douglas Singleton speaks to Dance/USA about his dance epiphany, touring with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, re-branding, navigating organizational development, using data, and keeping his job fresh.
Rosemary Johnson of Alabama Dance Council advises young arts leaders in this month's Leadership Corner: "There’s a lot that you can learn in school, but that’s just the beginning. My learning has been primarily on-the-job training. Seek out new opportunities, try to get a variety of experiences, and avoid job hopping every year.
Every leader needs a fundamental understanding of how each part intersects and works together in their organization, whether it’s operations, marketing, production, business, they all serve, ultimately, the mission, said Oregon Ballet Theatre Executive Director Dennis Buehler. Read more on leadership here.
Melanie Rios Glaser of The Wooden Floor, which offers dance training and academic and social service support to at-risk youths, discusses collaborative leadership, which is essential in managing her growing Santa Ana-based dance organization as it expands its reach across the country.
"Arts leaders have gone through a period of professionalization in the past decade or more,” said Sixto Wagan, director of the Center for Arts Leadership, University of Houston. Read on for more on leading in the 21st century.
From the Green Room's Leadership Corner continues with a conversation with KEIGWIN + COMPANY's Executive Director Andrea Lodico Welshons. Read about how Welshons and Artistic Director Larry Keigwin view their working relationship as symbiotic and collaborative and Welshon's recipe for relatively accelerated, high-visibility growth for the company.
Leadership Corner continues with this conversation featuring Brian Williams, founder and director of Step Afrika! the Washington, D.C.-based troupe dedicated to bringing step dance to the concert state here in the United States and around the world. Williams says: "First came the artistic opportunity, then came the business. For me, the
question was, ‘How do I make this happen? What do I need to do and what
are the first steps?’ I wanted to share stepping with the world. Making money really wasn’t the idea. If money had been the primary
motivation, then I am sure I wouldn’t have gotten too far. Instead … it
was the idea to step all across the continent of Africa, learn
traditional dances, and explore the nexus between stepping and
traditional African culture that really motivated me to launch Step
Afrika! The question became: ‘How do I make that happen? And what are
the opportunities?’" Read on for more.
With this interview, From the Green Room inaugurates a new series, the Leadership Corner, featuring one-on-one conversations with top leaders in the dance field. Katherine Brown is executive director of New York City Ballet, and in that capacity oversees the management and administrative functions of the ballet and the David H. Koch Theater and manages a budget of approximately $77 million.
