Saturday, October 22, 2011
Dance Alloy, Kelly-Strayhorn theaters to merge
Post Gazette: At an intimate reception tonight in the lobby of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty, leaders of the theater and of Dance Alloy Theater announced the two arts organizations will merge, the product of months of planning and discussion first made public in May. "Ultimately, this is a really good fit for both organizations," said Francisco Escalante, chair of the board of directors of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. "Our missions are similar, the goals that we have as organizations were similar. When we really looked at this in detail, we really felt this was a win-win for both organizations and for the arts in general in Pittsburgh."
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2 comments:
This hits on what we talked about in class last week about the NJ Shakes survey of its economical impact and how theaters are really just fighting for the same resources: local audiences. Dance Alloy and Kelly-Strayhorn are literally blocks away from each other in East Liberty. Dance Alloy producing exclusively modern dance productions while Kelly-Strayhorn produces all sorts of shows but also too, a lot of modern dance. How much modern dance is Pittsburgh interested in? I even took a survery at a recent Kelly-Strayhorn event where there asked patrons if they visited any local area businesses. I noted that I visited a pizza place in Bloomfield but neglected to say I frequent that place often even without attending shows at the Kelly-Strayhorn. Dance Alloy wasn't able to stay afloat, the merger is a way for the company to stay together. I can't imagine they went under because Kelly-Strayhorn was taking their audiences but it's a way for the two groups to consolidate and continue to draw from the same resources. Kelly-Strayhorn can continue to provide their audiences with the modern dance programming they've been producing, here alive in the form of Dance Alloy, while at the same time continuing to look to other performance styles and forms.
Also it keeps the arts in East Liberty. With the City of Pittsburgh pledging to overhaul the Penn Avenue corridor of Bloomfield and East Liberty, there's potential for future resources for these two groups to draw from and contribute to.
I...I agree with what Matt said...
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