Support for Ballet in the United States

Published August 28, 2025

Support for Ballet in the United States

On the morning of February 12, 2011, I had breakfast with the then Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre, Kevin McKenzie. We were both in Stuttgart, Germany, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stuttgart Ballet. Kevin and I have been friends since our childhood growing up at the Washington School of Ballet and dancing with the company.

Filer image element — Rosine Bena and Kevin McKenzie [ Former Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre -National Ballet Company of the US]

Kevin shared with me that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable preparing for the International Ballet Directors’ Conference which would take place in a couple of hours. Kevin was one of the ten main speakers at the International Ballet Directors’ Conference, which included 40 artistic directors from ballet companies around the world. I was surprised that Kevin was concerned. ABT is the national ballet company of the United States and a wonderful, large, high-caliber company with top quality artists.

Kevin said, “In preparation for this conference, we (as speakers) were given information about the other artistic directors and their companies. I feel quite uncomfortable because ABT gets the least amount of support from the government of all the companies from around the world. Even companies that are somewhat smaller than ABT get considerably more government support. I feel embarrassed to make this fact known internationally.”

Having danced with the Stuttgart Ballet, I knew that the German company had wonderful support from the German government, but I had no idea how little support there was from the U.S. government for our national ballet company. I learned that, in 2011, government support varied greatly from country to country:

Royal Ballet of Flanders (Belgium): 80.5%
Stuttgart Ballet (Germany): 75%
Hamburg Ballet (Germany): 71.5%
Ballet De Santiago (Chile): 70%
Teatro Alla Scala (Milan, Italy): 40%
National Ballet of China: 33.33%
Royal Ballet of London: 33.33%
Australian Ballet: 20%
American Ballet Theatre (USA): 1%

That was 14 years ago, and support for the arts in our country is disappearing more and more every day. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was the main source of government support for arts in the U.S., supporting both funding organizations and arts groups.

Having received direct funding from the NEA in past years, SNB got an email from the dance staff at the NEA on May 5, 2025. It read, “The NEA staff were recently given an offer to leave the agency through the Deferred Resignation Program or, if eligible, retirement. After a lot of reflection, we accepted the Deferred Resignation Program, and we have each decided to step down from our positions at the National Endowment for the Arts.”

I recently read on Facebook that the Dance Programming staff of the Kennedy Center has been let go. My friend, Susan Jones, (Ballet Mistress at American Ballet Theatre) shared her concern that touring to Kennedy Center annually is something that helps sustain ABT as the National Ballet Company of the USA.

So what will happen to the arts in the United States?

I asked that question at a meeting with the Nevada Arts Council. Their answer was, “We need more private funding.” Sierra Nevada Ballet (like so many arts groups in our country) faces the challenge of survival. It has always been financially difficult for SNB to continue (for 24 years) to present high-caliber professional ballet productions and to maintain the extensive exceptional arts education programming; outreach to schools; support for school field trips; the Sierra Nevada Academy (Best Ballet School of Reno for eight consecutive years); the free SNB Apprentice/Trainee Program; the free SNB Teacher Training Program, and the SNB Ballet Program at Doral Academy.

Our SNB Board now faces the question: “Can we survive and, if so, how?”

My best friend of over 50 years, Virginia Johnson (former Artistic Director of the Dance Theater of Harlem and a Kennedy Center Awardee) said, “I have no answers, but I have faith. We must remain strong and positive. There are many people who love and believe in the arts in our country, who do not want them to go away.”

Kevin McKenzie, who retired as Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre in 2022, put it beautifully and simply: “I’m not sure the public fully understands that if they don’t take care of the artistic institutions that they love, those institutions cannot survive without their support. Our government does not effectually fund the arts, and although every artistic institution can apply for grants, it is usually only enough to support some part of what it costs to program their mission. The arts are like your teeth – ignore them and they will go away.”

At SNB we encourage a positive outlook and try fervently to have faith that people in the community care about us and that we will be able to survive through this difficult time. As scary as survival is for us as an individual arts organization, we must realize that the issue is larger than our individual group and larger than our state. We, as a united nation, cannot ignore the arts. We must support the arts nationally and not allow them to disappear entirely from our country.

To give support to Sierra Nevada Ballet or find out more information about the SNB company and Academy call 775-360-8663 or visit www.sierranevadaballet.org