DANCE ALLIANCE HIRES FIRST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Veteran dancer and arts administrator Ruth Birnberg assumes role April 1.

 

( BOSTON ) -- Dance Alliance Board President Amy Zell Ellsworth announced today the hiring of Ruth Birnberg as the organization’s first full-time Executive Director.  The Dance Alliance is a non-profit service organization dedicated to supporting and promoting dance in the Greater Boston area.

            Ellsworth says the move has been at the top of the organization’s agenda for more than two years and is one of the most significant steps in its history.  She said the Alliance board last fall adopted a forward-thinking strategic plan that calls for strengthened programs, increased membership and a renewed effort to buoy the regional dance community as a whole.  (The Board also changed the organization’s name from Boston Dance Alliance to The Dance Alliance to be more geographically inclusive.) The only thing missing, Ellsworth says, was a strong leader who could shape the plan and bring it to fruition.

            “We have known for several years that the hiring of an executive director would make an enormous difference in The Dance Alliance’s ability to develop, implement and support programs for our members,”Ellsworth said.  “It also will give dance a stable, visible presence within the regional arts community,”she said.

            In accepting the position, Birnberg said she is “thrilled, and looking forward to the challenge of taking the Alliance to the next phase of its growth.  I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and [this position] allows me the chance to put those skills to use. The board of directors has done a tremendous amount of work to get the organization positioned for expansion. Not only have board members raised the funds needed to expand during a challenging time for arts organizations, but also they have developed a strategic plan with clearly defined goals.  The Alliance has a very strong and unified base.  There couldn’t be a better time to take on this position.”

            Birnberg has long been a key player in the Greater Boston dance community.  In 1983 she founded Ruth Birnberg Dance, a contemporary dance company that presented concerts, offered classes, received good critical notices and successfully raised private and public funds for 16 years.  Birnberg also was a co-founder of Green Street Studios in Cambridge in 1992, where she served as Managing Director until 2000.  Under her directorship, Green Street grew to be one of the region’s premiere spaces for contemporary dance presentation and instruction.  

            After leaving her post at Green Street , Birnberg received an M.B.A. from Northeastern University in 2002.  For nearly three years after, she was an arts consultant for numerous clients including the City of Boston Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fort Point Coalition, the Boston Center for the Arts, and the Mary Baker Eddy Library.

            Birnberg’s first official duty will be to speak to Dance Alliance members and guests at the 2005 Annual Meeting on April 3 at the Springstep Center for Traditional and Contemporary Arts in Medford .  Dancers, teachers, students, and patrons are invited to the meeting, which will include a business meeting and performances by ten of the region’s best dance companies. 

            For more information about the Dance Alliance and the Annual Meeting, see the Alliance ’s newly refurbished website, www.bostondancealliance.org or call the office at 617-483-4588.

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Question and Answer with Ruth Birnberg, Executive Director for The Dance Alliance

 

How does it feel to be The Dance Alliance ’s first Executive Director?

 

“I am thrilled, and really look forward to the challenge of taking the Alliance to the next phase of its growth. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and to be the first executive director allows me the chance to put this skill to use. In this case, though, I have the added terrific benefit of a board of directors who have done a tremendous amount of work to get the organization into position for expansion. Not only has the board raised the funds needed to expand staff during a time period that has been challenging for all arts organizations, but it has also developed a strategic plan with clearly goals defined. As the new Executive Director I am walking into an organization with a very strong and unified base. What could be better?”

 

What are you most looking forward to in this new position?

 

“Four-and-a-half years ago I officially left dance when I stepped down from managing Green Street Studios and folded Ruth Birnberg Dance.  But I never stopped thinking about the dance community. While in business school, I found myself applying what I was learning to how I would go about running a dance organization in the future. Since receiving an M.B.A., some of my consulting projects have involved dance but I have also been heavily involved in other art forms and other areas. Now, I get to combine new skills and new perspectives, and apply them to a community and an art form I love. In addition—although I have met and worked with some wonderful people the past few years—the consulting world can be fairly lonely. I really look forward to being a part of a community again.”

 

What is the most pressing need for the regional community and how do you hope to address it?

 

“I see three major needs. First, dance needs greater visibility. There are many people in the metropolitan area who do not know that dance happens in their own back yards. They may hear about major dance companies performing in downtown Boston theatres but not about the performance or the classes are being taught in their local communities.  Second, space continues to be an issue. It has been great to see the new venues opening up for theatre, but we still need a state-of-the-art, mid-sized theatre for dance.  There need to be more spaces available for dance education and rehearsals. Third, dance needs to build a better financial base. Many wonderful dancers leave Boston because they cannot find a way to make a living here. Dance companies are competing for the same few grant options here. This needs to change.

 

“Because The Dance Alliance serves all forms of dance, it is in the ideal situation to be a conduit and a great resource. Currently the Alliance primarily serves the dance community, but not other organizations or individuals who would hire dancers and sponsor dance. To begin with, I plan to do a lot of grassroots networking and meeting with these constituents, whether directors of after school programs, developers of community centers, event planners, elected officials, or performing arts presenters—to name a few—and help connect them into the dance community through the Alliance.  By establishing collaborations, a stronger and more diverse base can be built.”