Philanthropy: The Sarasota Ballet’s 30-Year Ascendance

By Sylvia Whitman  |  Photo by Nancy Guth

Although coronavirus prevention protocols have darkened stages around town and around the country recently, the future still looks bright for The Sarasota Ballet. On the eve of its 30th anniversary season, the organization is unveiling a long-term strategic plan that builds on the company’s artistic recognition—twin pillars of success. “It’s a really exciting time for this company,” says Sara Robinson, who joined the ballet as director of development last July. “We’ll start the season with a tour up to New York for the Joyce Theater and then Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts. And the strategic plan that we’ve put in place will strengthen the organization to grow the audience.”

Unlike “pas de deux,” the phrase “strategic plan” may not make the heart sing, but it represents sound footing for an arts organization. In 2016, director Iain Webb asked Joseph Volpe, a ballet board member and retired general manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, to “fill in” as executive director. “I’ve been having such a good time with this company,” says Volpe. “And what we’ve accomplished the last four years! We’ve strengthened the administration and the management to a point where we feel now we can move forward with a long-term strategic plan.”

Volpe credits Robinson with much of the plan’s architecture. She, in turn, attributes its best features to an eight-month collaboration across all levels of the organization and the local community, particularly the Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Invest in Incredible nonprofit consulting program. “It’s been a wonderful collective process of the staff, the leadership, and the board working together to create something that we can enact over the next three years,” she says.

To expand leadership, for instance, the ballet is launching an advisory council, inviting select community members and ballet patrons to act as ambassadors and work with the board. “Advisory council members will have the opportunity to join board committees, so this will strengthen board involvement in our strategic plan as we move forward,” says Robinson.

FROM SMALL CITY TO BIG TIME

The company has already made national connections from Utah to the District of Columbia. A  touring fund established by the ballet’s founder, Jean Weidner Goldstein, helps underwrite national tours, such as this summer’s stops at the renowned Joyce Theater in Manhattan and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. There the company will perform Sir Frederick Ashton’s classical Birthday Offering. Promotional materials quote The Boston Globe: “The Sarasotans perform with character; this matters for the audience.”

“It’s important to note that in the last few years, the programming and the artistry that we have been presenting have been setting, in many respects, the standard for a certain repertoire,” says Volpe. “This company is now known throughout the world for being the one company that has really promoted all of the Ashton works. Even when larger companies wish to do some of those works, the owner, the estate of Sir Frederick Ashton, really prefers that The Sarasota Ballet does it. Which is quite a statement when one thinks about that.”

The company has been taking its best performances on the road for about six years, Robinson says, making The Sarasota Ballet the only local arts organization consistently performing nationally. The benefits radiate in all directions. For the dancers, the summer in the Northeast adds six or seven weeks of paid employment to their guaranteed 33-week contract—“and gives them an opportunity to perform in front of a New York audience or other audiences,” says Volpe. “For them that’s an exciting event. Nerve-wracking, but exciting.”

The company is also banking on the national footprint to increase the ballet’s fundraising and revenue through a big-city presence. “If we perform in New York every couple of years,” says Volpe, “we would then have incredible opportunities opening up for us—because contributions are the key, donors are the key, to any performing arts company.” 

National exposure for the ballet reflects well on Sarasota, too. Robinson imagines that audience members in New York and Massachusetts this summer may want to travel south in the winter to see the company perform at home. “It’s a nice exchange to help build the reputation of the arts in Sarasota,” she says. “This community has produced a nationally recognized touring company. It shows how strong the arts are in this community.” 

She’s discovered this herself in her first months in town—”the number of people I have met who have moved here for the arts and because of the arts. There are very few communities in the United States that have been built around the strength of the arts and culture the way that Sarasota has.”  

30th ANNIVERSARY FANFARE

This month The Sarasota Ballet will be announcing its upcoming season, with special events and gala performances tied to the three-decade milestone. The organization is also launching a special fundraising campaign, inviting donors to supplement regular annual giving with a one-time donation for the 30th anniversary. 

By the fall, everyone hopes, the health crisis of this spring will have receded. But the strategic plan will be well underway. “When we face another crisis,” says Volpe, “the strategic plan will put us in a position to be much stronger to deal with it.” Collaborating on the plan’s creation has united multiple layers of the organization. “Now we have a team of the staff and the board; we’re all working together to achieve that goal. That is very important.”

Editor’s Note: 

Since the writing of this article, The Sarasota Ballet announced that due to COVID-19, it has cancelled the remainder of its season. To help The Sarasota Ballet during this difficult time, the Company is asking patrons and donors to donate their tickets, and to make a gift to The Sarasota Ballet Emergency Fund.  sarasotaballet.org