Dance fest struggles to meet expenses

BOULDER — Low ticket sales and a lack of contributions have resulted in layoffs for the Colorado Dance Festival.

Michelle Hefner-Hayes, the festival’s artistic director, is all that’s left of the festival’s three-person full-time staff. She was hoping to bring in $25,000 in corporate contributions for the arts non-profit but only got $11,000.

But it’s not for lack of effort, says Jan Bauman, president of Kingsbury Communication Design and one of the board members for the Colorado Dance Festival (CDF).

Contributions have come from Storage Technology Corp., which donated $5,000 over the last two years; Centrobe, which donated $2,500; and Amgen and U S West, which both donated $1,000. Target also pledged to donate $4,000, and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, a national, private grant-making foundation based in New York City contributed $50,000.

Still, it’s not enough to cover the artists’ fees and other related costs.

“Our annual operating budget is $400,000,” Hefner-Hayes says. “We don’t have enough money to pay all of our expenses.”

As a result, the future of CDF is uncertain. Funding from Lila Wallace ends this year, says CDF Board President Benita Duran.

Hefner-Hayes now is working with CDF board members to figure out a new direction. That might mean offering more classes and performances year-round. As it is now, the festival’s main season runs through the month of July when residents have many summer activities to choose from and when other Boulder arts organizations, such as the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, also are putting on shows.

CDF, which offers classes and performances in African and Latin dance, was as much as 50 percent below expected ticket sales this year. Hefner-Hayes surmises that’s because some people think CDF ticket prices are too high.

And that’s a catch-22.

“We’d like to offer lower ticket prices, but that would mean getting more support from corporations and individuals,” Hefner-Hayes says. “National organizations have given us a lot of money for many years, and their question is if they walk away, will we still exist? Will our community support us?” Hefner-Hayes ponders. “Sadly, our answer seems to be no.”

Bauman, however, is more optimistic and says CDF’s struggles are just growing pains.

“What we’re going through is just like any organization, corporation or business,” she says. “Where the Dance Festival is now, it’s an opportunity for Boulder to step up to the plate and support the arts. Point blank.

“We’re constantly trying to get grants and those are on a national level. Right now, the real challenge is on a local level.”

But what if the community doesn’t meet that challenge?

“We may move out of Boulder,” Hefner-Hayes says. “There is a suggestion — though it hasn’t been proven — that there are other communities that don’t have as many rich cultural organizations that would love to host and support an entity like the Colorado Dance Festival.”