A Leg Up

A good rep: The Pennsylvania Ballet's $10 million capital campaign will help expand the company's repertory to include more work like the upcoming Christopher Wheeldon-choreographed Swan Lake (represented here by principal dancer Arantxa Ochoa, who wears Jean-Marc Puissant's Odile costume).

The Pennsylvania Ballet, already $6 million toward its goal, announces a new capital campaign and plans for a new home.

by Janet Anderson

I t wasn’t very long ago that the words ballet and money used in the same sentence locally meant one thing only: Trouble.

No longer! On April 28, artistic director Roy Kaiser rolled out plans for a $10 million capital campaign, called "Raising the Barre," with unexpected news that $6.6 million already has been secured.

With beautiful costumes from the company's glamorous new Swan Lake on view like talismans of this new era of artistic growth and financial security, Kaiser and executive director Michael Scolamiero laid out a three-part plan which will move the troupe from the 15-year-old Broad Street site they share with the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet into their own facility. The campaign also supports "artistic initiatives," including expanding the company's size and acquiring new repertory. Finally it seeks "financial stability," by establishing a financial reserve and, most important of all, an endowment.

With two-thirds of the financial goal raised before the campaign went public, this is no pipe dream, nor is it what Scolamiero calls "sympathy money, which we've never had trouble raising. These contributions reflect the fact that people are convinced that once and for all the company is financially stable and they want to help build its future."

"Our goal was to have 60 to 70 percent of the campaign total before going public," he added. "This is unusually high, but given the company's credibility issues in the past we felt we needed to do this." Scolamiero was referring to PAB's dire financial straits in recent years, which led them to launch a "Save the Ballet" campaign in the early '90s. What the company is looking for in the public phase of the current campaign is contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. (Gifts of more than $250,000 already have come from the Independence Foundation, The LouAlan Foundation and William Penn Foundation, among others.)

Pennsylvania Ballet is already negotiating for its new home location and an announcement may come within the next three months. One thing is already certain: It will be in Center City. Scolamiero says, "We really believe in the viability of downtown Philadelphia, and more than that we believe the arts are a major catalyst in downtown's ongoing renewal. Less expensive quarters outside the city are not attractive to us." The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet will take over the Broad Street headquarters building they presently share with the professional troupe. The school and the company always have been separate operating entities, and this does not mean the Rock School students won't continue to fill out The Nutcracker casts and other big productions -- the Rock School kids will still be Christmas mice and Midsummer Night fairies.

But the capital campaign isn't aimed simply at more space (although anyone who has visited the present site and seen the cramped offices, multipurpose studios and overflowing costume department knows they need it). It's also intended to create a financial cushion to protect the company in the future. Specifically the plan calls for establishing an operating reserve (the company actually has had operating surpluses the last three years) to solidify its strong financial position, and the creation of an endowment, to give it long-term financial security.

From the audience point of view, the emphasis on artistic initiatives is especially exciting. The plan calls for continued repertory funding as bold as this spring's new Swan Lake being choreographed by the New York City Ballet's Christopher Wheeldon. Already on tap for the 2004-2005 season are company premieres of works by Twyla Tharp and Sir Frederick Ashton, as well as a return of John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. "Raising the Barre" also establishes a plan and funds for hiring more dancers to finally make PAB's size commensurate with its ballet-world peers. San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Zachary Hench just switched coasts to become a PAB principal. Kaiser is out looking for more talent to fill up his troupe, and he has a great eye.

The Miracle on Broad Street is going to have a new address. The miracle just got bigger.

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