Washington philanthropist Catherine B. Reynolds will become chairman of the board of trustees of New York's Dance Theatre of Harlem, the ballet company announced yesterday. In making a three-year commitment to lead fundraising efforts for the hobbled organization, whose 44 dancers have been on hiatus since September, Reynolds has also pledged $1 million to the company through the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, which she directs.
Dance Theatre of Harlem, Reynolds said yesterday, is "one of America's real treasures and it would be a real shame if a jewel like that did not survive because of financial issues."
Caroline Rocher and Ikolo Griffin performing for Dance Theatre of Harlem, which has been given $1 million by the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation.
(Joseph Rodman -- Dance Theatre Of Harlem)
|
|
Its artistic director, Arthur Mitchell, said he has known Reynolds and her husband, Wayne, for many years; in 1989, Mitchell received a Golden Plate award from the American Academy of Achievement, which Wayne Reynolds runs. But both Mitchell and Reynolds acknowledged that it was Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser who brought the donor and the dance company together.
Kaiser has been advising Mitchell on a pro bono basis for several months (and says he will continue for the next three years), ever since Dance Theatre had to disband its professional company in the face of debt exceeding $2 million, staff layoffs and the exodus of nearly all its board members.
Kaiser said he approached Reynolds because of her experience in both business and the arts. Her foundation arose from the sale of a student-loan business that she ran for several years. Through it she has given large gifts to many local arts organizations including the Kennedy Center (she heads its International Committee on the Arts), the National Gallery, Ford's Theatre and the National Symphony Orchestra.
"She has national contacts and stature, and this is a national organization and we need to raise money nationally," Kaiser said yesterday, referring to the Harlem troupe. "Her philanthropic interests are in arts and education, and all of those relate directly to Dance Theatre of Harlem."
Not all of Reynolds's gifts to the arts have been successful, however. Four years ago her foundation gave $38 million to the Smithsonian, a gift that grew controversial when it was learned that the Reynoldses intended it to fund a "Hall of Achievers" in the National Museum of American History, which may have included names they had suggested. The couple took back the money in the wake of the public flap.
Dance Theatre of Harlem has set a fundraising goal of $4 million before the company can be reestablished. If the funds aren't forthcoming, Reynolds was asked, will she come through with money of her own?
"I'll tell you what," she replied. "Failure is never an option for me."
Would that mean yes?
"That would mean failure is not an option. We would make this work."
As to her new role, "I'm really pleased about it," she said. "I think I can really make a difference."
Reynolds, who lives here, said she would travel to the company's Harlem headquarters "as often as needed," and at least for the planned quarterly board meetings. No date has been set for the first board meeting. The board currently numbers nine members, including Reynolds, Mitchell, Executive Director Laveen Naidu, soprano Jessye Norman and former Clinton transportation secretary Rodney E. Slater, who had served for a few months as interim board chairman before Reynolds's appointment.
Reynolds says she plans to bring in more board members but had no names to disclose.
In addition to finding new board members, Reynolds's duties will include advocating for the organization and assigning committees, Mitchell said, but he would not specify beyond that. Asked when the two would next meet, he said that they speak frequently by phone and that he comes to Washington "all the time" to oversee an outreach program here.
Mitchell, 71, has been criticized by some arts officials for driving away funders and poorly managing his company's finances because of an unwillingness to share leadership of the organization he launched with his own money in 1969. A half-dozen executive directors had come and gone before Naidu, a principal dancer who had run the organization's school, was hired in December.
In the interview yesterday, it appeared that these criticisms still weigh on Mitchell, and he sounded eager to dispel any notions that he was treading on turf belonging to Naidu or Reynolds. He refused to talk about the current or future composition of the board, because, he said, "people will think, 'Oh, there goes Arthur again on another tangent and he's going to run everything,' and I'm not going to run anything."
According to him and Naidu, the organization appears to be growing more stable financially. Naidu said the troupe has paid off most of its debts to a long list of vendors -- for everything from pointe shoes to paper products -- which amounts to about 40 percent of the $2.5 million total debt. Much of the remaining debt, said Naidu, is owed to Mitchell, who has been "very generous in not calling it in."
He said Reynolds's $1 million is one of the largest gifts his troupe has ever received. But more than the money, he said, Reynolds's appointment means having somebody on board "who understands what Dance Theatre of Harlem is about and further, someone who's willing to put their personal resources and connections and commitment and time behind it."
"A million dollars -- great," he said, paraphrasing the MasterCard ad with a chuckle. "A board chairman with passion -- priceless."
