Following years of loss, $3M in donations needed to 'sustain future of Louisville Ballet'

The Louisville Ballet is making some hard changes to its upcoming season.

And it hurts.

In a way, the ballet’s leadership says the changes are like an injury to a calf muscle. You can still dance, but it doesn't mean it's not painful.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the “cancel everything” movement forced theaters to close and canceled performances, rattling many often already struggling arts organizations throughout the country. The Louisville Ballet's board opted to keep paying company dancers throughout the crisis, even though they couldn’t perform, but without ticket sales, that payroll was a crippling expense.

Then last season, when being in a theater finally started to feel normal again for performers and audiences alike, an arctic storm hit, canceling three sold-out performances of "The Brown-Forman Nutcracker," which Ballet CEO Leslie Smart said caused another $250,000 in lost revenue.

Louisville Ballet update: Have tickets to the Louisville Ballet this season? You'll need to know about these changes

The ballet desperately needs community support to regain its footing and ensure its survival. The organization last week began rolling out a series of cost-saving changes to its 2023-24 season aimed at pulling itself out of a financial hole, but cutting back on spending alone won't fix the problem.

"What we need is the community to come forward, and provide their support as patrons as well as their gifts, in order for us to sustain the future of the Louisville Ballet," Smart said.

'A very difficult decision'

The ballet hasn’t released a figure on how much it's lost over the past three years, but Smart says it has set an unprecedented fundraising goal of $3 million in contributions for this year to help buoy the struggling organization. Tax documents from 2010-2020, which are the most recent available from the IRS, show that's an optimistic number, and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the ballet garnered annually in gifts in the past decade.

Season ticket sales, too, still haven’t returned to what they were before the pandemic, Smart told the Courier Journal, lending to the organization's revenue downfall.

She is, however, hopeful that with community support, in-kind donations, reaching out to a new generation of balletgoers, and some pointed cost-saving measures, the Louisville Ballet will recoup its losses within the next two or three years.

This year, the ballet is drawing on talent already in-house rather than bringing in outside choreographers. When "Giselle" hits the stage in November, the ballet will be using costumes and scenery it has used before rather than building something new.

The most notable change, perhaps, is that the Louisville Orchestra will not perform alongside the ballet during "The Brown-Forman Nutcracker," which takes place in December.

It’s a move that’s already caused some disappointment from the community, Smart said.

“For a dancer to be on stage and to have the orchestra in front of them, that is where we want to be, but it's a significant cost,” Smart said. “It's $330,000 for us to have the orchestra perform during 'The Nutcracker,' and so it was a very difficult decision for us to make.”

These changes come on the heels of artistic director Robert Curran’s abrupt resignation on July 14 after nearly 10 years with the ballet. Former Louisville Ballet artistic director Bruce Simpson and Helen Starr, who has nearly four decades with the company, are filling in the gaps, while the organization conducts a global search for its next artistic director. That search is expected to take eight months to a year.

'A gut punch'

The ballet certainly isn’t alone in its financial struggles. Andre Kimo Stone Guess, president and CEO of Fund for the Arts, estimates somewhere between 40-50% of Louisville arts organizations still haven't recovered from pandemic-related losses.

The problems, though, go much deeper than the pandemic.

“The pain isn’t just from 'cancel everything' that would have been the gut punch,” Guess said. “There was pain before then.”

One major challenge comes from the new wealth in the country, he explained. The billionaires in areas like the Silicon Valley tech industry are choosing different causes to support than their parents and grandparents, Guess said. As that generation dies off, the dollars many of them funneled into the arts disappear, too. The same thing is happening in Louisville, too.

More Louisville Ballet news: Louisville Ballet's 2023-24 'Season of the Commonwealth' celebrates Kentucky. What to know

Subscription models are also down across the board as society has shifted to an on-demand mentality. Streaming services have completely changed how audiences view entertainment. Fifteen years ago, people were comfortable rearranging their schedules to fit in four or five performances a year. Now, that’s too much of a commitment, and people are conditioned to enjoy entertainment when it’s convenient for them.

“The organizations that we see that are doing well are the ones who are adapting what they do to get to people where they are,” Guess said.

Building a deeper connection to the community

Part of the ballet’s long-term strategy, in addition to recouping its financial losses, involves building a deeper connection with the community.

During the first week of August, Louisville Ballet dancers will perform at Central Park in Kentucky Shakespeare’s production of "Lady M," which is free to the public. In the past three years, the ballet has also offered free classes for young dancers through its Ballet Bound program. This year, more than 100 local children auditioned for a chance at free dance classes and the materials needed to participate.

Another way to connect with the community is to invite patrons into the ballet's home. This season's production of "Distilled" will be performed in Louisville Ballet’s studio on West Main Street, rather than in the Brown Theatre as originally imagined. That’s certainly a cost-saving measure, but it also gives the community an opportunity to see dancers in their environment and experience the performances in a more intimate way.

As the ballet rethinks its leadership, Starr, Simpson and Smart are all hopeful the incoming artistic director will help position the ballet to tour throughout the state and expand the ballet’s reach and audience throughout the commonwealth.

“Touring is really critical,” Simpson said, "because it gives people the opportunity to have access in their hometown, to art and that's very important.”

The changes to the "Season of the Commonwealth" certainly, haven’t been easy, but Simpson says the whole company has been resilient. They’re all eager to carry on the ballet's 72-year legacy in the community.

“If you have a calf injury, you can still dance,” Simpson said. “The Louisville Ballet, we have somewhat of an injury at the moment — but we can still dance.”

Reach reporter Maggie Menderski at mmenderski@courier-journal.com.

Contribute to the Louisville Ballet

For more information on specialized giving opportunities or to make gifts of property, real estate, stocks and securities, contact Kateryna Sellers at 502-583-3150 x 267 or ksellers@louisvilleballet.org.

Please make checks payable to Louisville Ballet and mail them to: Louisville Ballet, 315 E. Main St., Louisville, KY 40202.

To become a season ticket holder visit louisvilleballet.org/subscribe/

Want to go?

WHAT: "Lady M," a Macbeth Ballet by Roger Creel

WHO: Kentucky Shakespeare, Louisville Ballet, and The Louisville Leopard Percussionists

WHEN: Aug. 2-6 at 8 p.m. with a pre-show at 7:15 p.m.

WHERE: Central Park 1340 S. Fourth St.

COST: Free

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Ballet seeks millions in donations to sustain future