Springfield Ballet finds balance in reorganization

During a nearly yearlong restructuring, the organization has eliminated its executive director position, opened a new south-side facility, moved its headquarters and opened new channels of collaboration with other arts organizations, all while continuing to operate in the black.

Arts and business

Area arts organizations are eliminating their executive director positions in favor of artistic directors who coordinate directly with the boards of directors.

Marsha Warnke, who has been with Springfield Ballet full-time since 2000, started as the group’s schools director before moving to artistic director and then to her current position of managing artistic director. Scott Miller was the last executive director; he left the organization in December 2005.

“I think several years ago there was a real need for the arts groups to function as businesses,” ballet board member and dentist Gary Buzbee said. “We needed to be looked at as a real business and not just get along by the skin of our teeth, and the executive director was created to give more of a business sense. Now we’re getting back to that artistic side, reminding people of what we are.”

Another form of balance rests between tradition and new ideas.

Tradition during the holiday season comes in the form of “The Nutcracker,” and this year’s performances of the show, which were scheduled to begin Dec. 15, feature a new spirit of collaboration.

This year’s shows mark the first time in more than a decade that Springfield Ballet’s annual performance has included accompaniment from the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

“Ballet is so much more dramatic with live music,” Warnke said. “It adds another element to what each of us is doing.”

Working together

The partnership between the two organizations is no accident – it’s the result of a new spirit of cooperation that has swept through area arts organizations in recent years.

That cooperation could help reduce two factors that traditionally plague arts organizations: donor fatigue and operating costs, according to Buzbee.

“There are things we can do in common,” he said of the area’s arts groups, pointing to the three groups – Springfield Ballet, Springfield Regional Opera and Springfield Little Theatre – that share Landers Theatre for performance space.

“If all the programs could be the same, and we just made an insert for each show, we’d save a ton of money on printing,” Buzbee said. “We need to look at common expenses and see if we can group together; that will not only save us money but benefit our product as well.”

The physical manifestation of that cooperation is the Creamery Arts Center in Jordan Valley Park. The former Producer’s Creamery building now houses several organizations, including the ballet, the opera and the Springfield Regional Arts Council, an umbrella organization. Springfield Symphony will move in after the first of the year.

“The spirit of this center is to have everyone come together to pool resources, be it staffing or something as simple as a photocopier, so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Addy McCord, the arts council’s education and co-interim director.

McCord said she has also observed donor fatigue – something that she says was inevitable with the previous sense of isolation between the various groups.

“We talked to a lot of donors, and we heard them say, ‘If we could give just one big amount, and then the arts organizations could divvy it up, that would be a lot better than having the different organizations hit us up individually,’” she said. “Donors get more bang for their buck.”

Springfield Ballet is in the black for the year, Warnke said, despite spending $20,000 to renovate the space for its new south-side studio, opened in August, and an additional $30,000 expense to bring in the symphony for “The Nutcracker.”

Ballet officials declined to disclose donation totals for the year so far.

Studio synergy

That south facility points out another balancing act: the togetherness of the downtown arts center versus the convenience and accessibility of its south studio, 4560 S. Campbell Ave., Ste. S, in the Shadow Wood Plaza.

“It’s really easier for our younger students to get to class,” Warnke said of the south studio, which focuses on classes for children younger than 12. “But we still want the Creamery to be our main facility – that’s where our rehearsals are, and once our dancers are old enough to go on pointe, that’s where they’ll be at.”

The new studio currently has 38 students, more than triple the number the group estimated it would need to break even.

Event Details

Springfield Ballet’s presentation of “The Nutcracker” continues Dec. 22–24 at Landers Theatre, 311 E. Walnut St. Shows begin at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. For ticket information, call the Landers box office at (417) 869-1334.[[In-content Ad]]