Lending Support in Leaps and Bounds: Bill and Jan Farber and The Sarasota Ballet

By Christy Pessemier | Photo by Nancy Guth | November 2022

When Bill and Jan Farber decided to move to Florida from New York City, they set a very high bar for what their future city of residence would be required to have. 

“We were spoiled with the Metropolitan opera—the art institutions, and all that New York City offered culturally,” Bill said. “Being used to very grandiose productions, we needed to live in a city that would match that. Sarasota offered those same types of activities. As the arts capital of the West Coast of Florida, it really was the only city in Florida that could have worked for us.”

“Sarasota has a unique vibe,” Jan added. “We noticed it when we first moved here. People seem very happy and pleasant. Living here is a very positive experience.” 

After making their move here four years ago, Bill and Jan began to sample the various art institutions in Sarasota, attending different shows and performances. That’s when they discovered The Sarasota Ballet.

“When we got to the ballet, lo-and-behold, suddenly we felt like we were in New York City,” Bill said. “It lived up to everything we hoped we would find in a cultural arts institution in Sarasota. We were blown away by the artistry and the quality of the productions, and we fell in love with it.”

This was long before the Farbers became major donors. They first got to experience the ballet by regularly attending performances, then they began getting more involved. Jan, a former professional chef and caterer, became a member of The Sarasota Ballet’s Advisory Council, and Bill, a lawyer by trade who has spent his entire career in the commercial real estate business, became a member of the Board of Trustees. Getting involved like this gave them more of a sense of the ballet family and community. 

On the advisory council, Jan helps explore how to get people more engaged who only buy tickets once in a while. It’s a regular goal of the ballet to bring people back to enjoy more performances and participate beyond buying tickets. They welcome people at all levels. 

According to Bill, being involved as a donor is not just for people who have lots of money to give away, it’s more than that. “It’s the inside experience, that’s what you get. They make you  part of the group,” he said. “You almost feel like you’re part of the company in a way. The way that they engage you and draw you in…in an extremely intimate way…you’re given an opportunity to have dancers in your home, to be on a first name basis with the performers. It’s very special.” 

The Farbers credit Director Iain Webb and Assistant Director Maggie (Margaret) Barbieri with their leadership and encouragement of the dancers to develop relationships with the people who support them, as well as with each other. 

“You can see how they relate to one another like a happy bunch of college kids.” Bill said. “When you’re with them on that level, you almost forget they’re super athletes and amazing human beings. They are not like the rest of us in many ways.” 

One of the biggest ways of interacting is being a Friday night subscriber and going to the after performance parties, where all the dancers show up. There are often brunches, lunches, and dinners offered for specific Sarasota Ballet donors. The Farbers often have a dancer or two at their table.  

“These are kids we know and enjoy talking with.” Bill said. “In New York City, you have as much chance of getting on a first-name basis with a dancer there as the man on the moon.”

Bill and Jan will also be hosting a dinner for 35 patrons of the ballet at their home in November and the couple hope to host many more. Because they still own their home in New York City, when The Sarasota Ballet performed at the Joyce Theater, they attended the after-party of a matinee performance at a restaurant in Chelsea. Knowing The Sarasota Ballet has connections to where they came from is especially exciting for them. 

“One of the dancers, Richard House, had family there visiting from Australia,” Jan said. “It was just so much fun talking to them. Not only do you get a chance to chat with dancers, but to meet their family. That was a really unique experience.” 

Though Bill and Jan don’t have a background in ballet, Bill has always had “a long abiding love of classical music.” The two attend all performances throughout the entire season and participate in other activities, both business and social. 

Jan, who has a degree in art history, points out that learning any form of the arts, whether it’s painting, music, dance, or pottery—greatly enhances your understanding of what the artist or the performer is doing. When she’s looking at paintings at the Ringling, or at a gallery downtown, Jan feels she has more of an understanding of what went into making that artistic piece. Having an opportunity to watch a rehearsal at The Sarasota Ballet also gives insights into what it takes to put the whole performance together. 

“When you watch the dancers rehearsing, you’re just awestruck at the stamina and grace and coordination,” she said. “How do they do that hour after hour? It’s mind boggling!”

According to Jan, just attending a ballet performance can change how you feel physically. 

“Just last night, we had a group of neighbors over for a potluck supper, and I was talking to someone who also likes to go to the ballet. And he said ‘you know the greatest thing is when you walk out of the ballet, you are just uplifted,’” she said. “When you see a performance, you have that same feeling. You don’t always get that from other kinds of performances. What could be better for a community than hundreds of people leaving a performance feeling uplifted?”

Bill says he often gets chills, watching the dancers when they’re doing a synchronized performance in unison, thinking of the pressure they’re under. 

“To know you have to be absolutely in sync while hundreds of people are watching you, having all those steps memorized, with such complicated routines—the stamina, strength, coordination, and musical talent…ballet is a complicated, multifaceted thing. And then, many times, you have to be an actor playing a part in a story on top of that.”

The sense of awe and joy the couple gets from the rehearsals and performances is something they never tire of, and they don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. 

The couple looks forward to continuing indefinitely as major donors and hopes to continue their active involvement as members respectively of the Board of Trustees, the Advisory Council, and the Friends of the Sarasota Ballet.

In her spare time, Jan enjoys cooking, reading, and walking on the beach. Bill spends his free time on cars, boating, sailing, and classical music appreciation. Their favorite performance they’ve seen at The Sarasot​​a Ballet is A Comedy of Errors. 

Now that they’re planted here for good, Bill and Jan are thankful to have found an organization that adds immense value to this city’s reputation for outstanding arts culture. They’re proud to be involved both through volunteering, and financially, as donors. 

 “At the end of the day, what you get from the ballet is tremendous gratitude and acknowledgement for anything you do,” Bill said. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION about The Sarasota Ballet, visit www.sarasotaballet.org or call the Box Office for tickets at 941.359.0099.