{"id":245,"date":"2009-04-21T16:17:21","date_gmt":"2009-04-21T16:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp\/?p=245"},"modified":"2009-04-21T16:17:21","modified_gmt":"2009-04-21T16:17:21","slug":"by_extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/2009\/04\/by_extension\/","title":{"rendered":"By extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe one day when I grow up I’ll get to move to a Big City. I’m tired of this tiny island, where a girl can’t even go to a simple Zumba<\/a> class without running into someone who works at Carnegie Hall. <\/p>\n

As previously mentioned<\/a>, I am Not Good at Zumba. No one needs to see me bump\/grinding in a futile attempt to get skinny, so you can only imagine my internal oh-brother eye-roll when I spied someone from Carnegie in class on Sunday. (Maybe he won’t remember having met me last summer…) oh yes, he does, “You’re Amanda, right?” Fan-zumba-tastic. <\/p>\n

Turns out, he usually takes class at Alvin Ailey, but is friends with the teacher who was subbing at my gym that day. I didn’t know Ailey offered dance classes<\/a>! Their “Extension” (get it?) program is billed as “real classes for real people”:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Ailey
\nExtension embodies Mr. Ailey’s legacy that dance comes from the people
\nand that it should be given back to the people by making dance
\naccessible to everyone. Whether you haven’t taken a dance class in 20
\nyears, take class regularly, or have never danced a step, The Ailey
\nExtension has dance and fitness classes designed especially for you.<\/p>\n

In
\nthe words of our inspirational Artistic Director, Judith Jamison, “If
\nyou can get yourself in the door, you can take a class!”<\/font><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Having a real-person dance studio in-house is a great way for a company to build young and new audiences. Someone wants to start exercising so they take a dance class; they then feel like they’re part of the Alvin Ailey community, which makes them want to see a performance or participate further. Would\/could\/does this work for music? I looked through the websites of about ten major orchestras and couldn’t find anything similar to the Ailey program. The orchestras all have education departments, sure, but not actual music schools for the average person. If I wanted to start taking harp lessons again, for example, in all my free time, I could take them through the New York Philharmonic. The classes wouldn’t necessarily be taught by the musicians of the Philharmonic, but they would take place at Lincoln Center, sold through the Philharmonic website, and branded as Philharmonic programs. I, the consumer, would have as sense that there was a level of quality involved because it was the New York Philharmonic (..or Boston Symphony Orchestra or LA Philharmonic), a reputation benefit I’m sure the Ailey program reaps. <\/p>\n

Thinking about it, when I was taking harp lessons in Connecticut, my teacher never took me to or told me to go to a New York Philharmonic concert. I think I may have seen one or two of her concerts, but she never assigned a piece and a concert at a same time. “You need to learn the Handel harp concerto in B-flat Major for college auditions, but you also need to see it performed.” Perhaps it’s just my personal experience, but there seems to be a disconnect between learning an instrument and attending actual performances. <\/span>With that in mind, if the orchestras themselves were offering classes, perhaps class and subscription packages could be sold together, and the lessons could be tied repertoire-wise to the performances. <\/p>\n

More and more I think the greatest challenge for arts organizations is simply getting people in the door. And once The People are inside, who cares what they’re doing – taking a class, browsing in the gift shop, having a drink. Of course if you get them there, don’t forget to market<\/a> everything else the venue has to offer directly to them. <\/p>\n

Update 4\/23, 2:25pm, from jury duty: Brought to my attention by the wonderful “You’ve Cott Mail” daily newsletter, <\/i>a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/i> describes how the Joffrey Ballet is  supplementing their income by offering dance classes to the public: <\/i><\/p>\n

\n
Joffrey Ballet<\/b><\/h6>\n

Generating Income<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nonprofits hard-pressed for donations may consider creating a project to generate income.<\/p>\n

In August 2008, the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago faced a 40% decline in
\nticket sales and a reduction in corporate sponsorships, leaving a
\n$300,000 budget shortfall.<\/p>\n

In January, the Joffrey decided to generate income by offering dance
\nclasses to the public. The classes are taught in the group’s existing
\nspace, by the Joffrey’s dancers, and the ballet’s existing staff
\nhandles marketing, so there are no substantial additional expenses.<\/p>\n

Since January, the classes have generated $200,000 in revenue, and
\nthe Joffrey is expecting to earn another $300,000 by June. Moreover,
\npeople who take the classes are buying tickets to see their teachers
\nand the rest of the company perform, says the Joffrey’s executive
\ndirector, Christopher Clinton-Conway.<\/p>\n

Some advisers caution that an economic crisis can be the worst time
\nto start an income-generating activity. “For a nonprofit to put a lot
\nof resources into what could be a risky proposition could be
\ndangerous,” says Ms. Berman of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.<\/p>\n

She suggests first making sure there is a market for the proposed
\nbusiness, and then determining how much money would have to be invested
\nbefore it became profitable and whether the organization has the skills
\nand staff to manage the business. Any activity should be directly
\nrelated to the organization’s mission and core capabilities, she adds.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe one day when I grow up I’ll get to move to a Big City. I’m tired of this tiny island, where a girl can’t even go to a simple Zumba class without running into someone who works at Carnegie Hall. As previously mentioned, I am Not Good at Zumba. No one needs to see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}