Dance troops line up to collect funds

At dawn on Monday a line of representatives from local dance companies looking for funding formed outside a building at Spruce and 15th Streets in Philadelphia.

At dawn on Monday a line formed outside a building at Spruce and 15th Streets in Philadelphia. They weren’t waiting to get Springsteen tickets. They were representatives from local dance companies, waiting for a crack at cash subsidies. Funding was handing out money on a first-come, first-served basis.

Listen:
[audio: 091012pcdance.mp3]

The local branch of an organization called Dance USA gave away $57,000 dollars to help dance companies cover theater rental costs, regardless of the quality of the performance.

But the dancers did have to have an agreement with one of several reputable theaters. If the theater was willing to promote the dance company, and that company was willing to get up early on a cold Monday morning, then it got the money.

Tobin Rothlein of the Miro Dance Company says he got funds to stage the classic Stravinsky ballet Pulcinella on the Kimmel Center’s Innovation studio.

Rothlein: It’s intimate-sized, 100 to 200 seats, so it works well for us. We also like the idea that it is the house where these things happen in their classical form, so it’s good place to do a re-make of a classical piece.

11 people lined up, and 10 of them got subsidies.