The Sarasota Ballet Commits to Financially Supporting its Dancers Through the Covid-19 Crisis

With six weeks until the end of The Sarasota Ballet’s Season, and the March performances of Sir Frederick Ashton’s Romeo & Juliet cancelled the week prior, on Tuesday March 17th, the dancers of The Sarasota Ballet were informed that the entirety of the Company’s remaining Season had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 Crisis. However, on the heels of that difficult announcement, Director Iain Webb, Executive Director Joseph Volpe, and Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri informed the 34 Company Members, 8 Apprentices, and 13 Studio Company dancers that while their Season had been cancelled, The Sarasota Ballet would continue to pay their salaries and medical insurance through to the end of their contracts.

“Iain, Margaret, and I felt strongly that even with the financial losses that The Sarasota Ballet is incurring by cancelling two of our most important programs of the Season, we could not just lay off our dancers and effectively abandon them at this critical moment,” explains Volpe.

Webb adds, “We also recognized that while many of our dancers have made their homes here in Sarasota, and others would be able to easily return to their home states/countries, many of the Company were not going to be so lucky. With our dancers from countries like Italy, who are unable to return to their families, we have assured them that we will help in whatever ways we can.”

The Sarasota Ballet estimates a loss of over $800,000, not including potential losses in fundraising revenue and the potential impact to the 30th Anniversary season. The Company is asking audience members to donate their tickets, and to consider making a gift to The Sarasota Ballet Emergency Fund. Lauren Ostrander, a dancer with the Company says, “The decision that The Sarasota Ballet has made, regarding the dancers, has set the standard for ballet companies across the country.”

Len Egert, National Executive Director for the American Guild of Musical Artists, likewise adds “As I said during interviews with The New York Times and The New Yorker, Iain, Joe, and Margaret’s level of commitment to their dancers is to be greatly commended. Across the country, so many artists are being laid off, but The Sarasota Ballet is changing that narrative.”