NYC Ballet celebrates 75th anniversary as it attracts larger, younger crowds

• New York City Ballet, one of the world’s leading dance companies, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
• Affordable prices have been a big factor in attracting a younger generation to the show, with some evenings featuring post-show receptions targeted at young professionals.
• New York City Ballet’s 2024 budget is about $102 million, up from $88 million in 2019. Audience capacity is above pre-pandemic levels.

Alice McDermott was looking forward to sitting in her seat at the New York City Ballet on a recent Friday night and seeing her first ballet performance. The 31-year-old Manhattan recruiting professional had been out for a girls’ night that began with dinner with three friends she’d met through work.

“I was told I would love ballet,” McDermott says. She was also excited to discover that she already knew one of the night’s performers, Tyler Peck, from the dancer’s popular Instagram posts. “I was told I’d be immersed in another world, wearing a beautiful dress and marveling at what the human body can accomplish.”

Apparently they were right: At the end of the night, McDermott, a new fan, went home and watched a documentary about ballet.

How many ballerinas can dance on their tiptoes at once? The world record is 353, set at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Perhaps we should call it “Ballet and the City.” Whatever name McDermott gives to her ballet evening with friends, the scenario will surely be music to the ears of the company, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in style this year, especially its artistic leaders for the past five years, Jonathan Stafford and Wendy Whelan.

For the duo, both former dancers with George Balanchine’s legendary theater company, attracting younger audiences is a key goal to ensure the long-term health of the company and, more broadly, to preserve the vitality of the centuries-old art form.

It seems to be working. While some of the efforts have been in place for some time, the past five years have seen a notable shift, according to numbers provided to The Associated Press. In 2023, 53% of ticket buyers will be under 50, with those in their 30s making up the largest age group by decade. Five years ago, in 2018, 41% of ticket buyers were under 50, with those in their 60s making up the largest age group.

Now, longtime ballet fans know that when they look down from the first ring at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on a busy Friday night, they don’t just see a sea of ​​gray.

“Young professional generation”

A big factor in attracting young audiences, especially those under 30, is the affordable price. There are also evenings, such as post-show receptions, targeted at young professionals. There are also collaborations with visual and musical artists who have young fans. For example, musician Solange was commissioned to compose ballet music for 23-year-old choreographer Janna Leisen in 2022.

Collaborating with Solange was a meaningful moment, Whelan and Stafford said in a recent interview, reflecting on the past five years as the sounds of bouncing dancers’ footsteps echoed across the ceiling of Stafford’s office.

“The shows were all sold out,” Whelan said. “It was a little treasure, but a memorable one.”

Perhaps even more important, Stafford said, is the fact that about 70 percent of ticket buyers were first-time customers, contributing to “a generation of young professionals in the city who are now coming to our theaters every night.”

Katherine Brown, executive director of the company, said the company surveyed its theaters, significantly reduced the price of certain seats, and they filled up. She also pointed to the “30 for 30” program, which allows members under 30 to purchase any seat in the theater for $30. “The program has exploded,” Brown said. Membership has grown from about 1,800 in the company’s last season before the pandemic shutdown to about 14,000 now.

Wendy Perron, a longtime dance writer and former editor of Dance magazine, says it’s hard to ignore the “pure economic benefits” of going to ballet, especially for young people: “When I was in New York in the ’70s and ’80s, I couldn’t afford to go to the ballet,” she says.

Becoming closer

Also, the effect of social media in promoting dancers as unique people cannot be ignored.

“We have a group of dancers who are incredibly exciting, yet friendly and approachable, and through social media, audiences can connect with them in ways that they couldn’t when we were dancing,” says Stafford, who retired from dancing in 2014.

Consider Peck, one of the company’s most popular ballerinas and an up-and-coming choreographer. Even before McDermott saw her dance, her Instagram posts had caught his eye. Peck posts short, poignant videos to her half-million followers about everything from her 10 favorite dance roles to how to apply makeup for theatrical performances. Peck’s videos often feature her on-stage and off-stage partner, rising principal dancer Roman Mejia.

This is a far cry from the days when ballerinas, like Odette in “Swan Lake,” were mysterious and, above all, silent.

Social media, whether used by the company or via the dancers’ own feeds, answers questions. If you attended a performance of “The Nutcracker” a few seasons ago, you might have wondered why dancer Mira Nadon, playing the Sugar Plum Fairy, suddenly disappeared from the stage during a key moment. The answer later emerged on her Instagram: Her pointe shoe had fallen off.

“You know, Instagram has all the answers now,” jokes Whelan, who has an active feed of her own.

Establishing partnerships

A few months ago, Whelan, a much-loved former New York City Transit principal who retired in 2014, received a morning message of congratulations from Stafford, exactly five years after the pair took the helm following a tumultuous period marked by scandalous #MeToo allegations.

Historically, the company had been led by one man, first Balanchine and then Peter Martins, until 1983, when the board tried a new initiative called Duets: Stafford was already interim president and Whelan had applied for the job.

“They put us in a room and closed the door, and we were like, ‘Hello?'” Whelan says. “They were like, ‘Figure it out!’ And we did.” Stafford, as artistic director, acts as the bridge between the creative and business sides; Whelan, as associate artistic director, focuses on the delicate task of programming.

Company insiders say the atmosphere is different from the days when one big, all-powerful figure ruled from above. For one thing, the two men say they now hold annual status-check meetings with each dancer.

Diversity — ballet is slowly changing but remains overwhelmingly white — is also a priority, they say, and that includes diversifying the “pipeline,” meaning students at the affiliated School of American Ballet.

Recently, the company debuted its first two black dancers, India Bradley and guest artist Alexandra Hutchinson from Harlem Dance Theatre, in the role of Dewdrop, the second principal female role in “The Nutcracker.” It also features a Black Sugarplum Fairy. The company says 26 percent of its dancers are people of color, up from 13 percent a decade ago. Stafford and Whelan have commissioned 12 ballets from choreographers of color in the past six years, the company said.

“We know where the gaps are and we’re taking them seriously,” Whelan said.

She says she and Stafford are also paying more attention to their health, whether that be physical training to avoid injuries, healthy eating or more open discussions about mental health.

Click here to get the FOX News app

Brown said the company’s finances are strong, even four years after the pandemic cost it tens of millions of dollars in losses. Its 2024 budget is roughly $102 million, up from $88 million in 2019. Capacity is above pre-pandemic levels.

As a new fan, McDermott plans to make more visits with friends.

“I think we’ve got a new tradition between the four of us,” she said. “We’re definitely going to make this our own little ritual.”