The Pittsburgh Dance Council finds a partner. (News).

The Pittsburgh Dance Council may be able to import major dance companies that it couldn't afford before, now that it has merged with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a property developer-cum-presenter.

The PDC, a preeminent dance presenter, has built its reputation on importing dance artists, commissioning new works, and assisting the local dance community. Through an unusual jointure, announced in October, it became the dance programming division of the Trust. The move allows the Trust, which already offers several non-dance performing arts series, to widen its programming role to fill the downtown theaters it renovated and built.

Under the merger, the PDC and Trust will share promotion and marketing resources, "allowing funds to be put into programming instead of administration," says Trust President J. Kevin McMahon.

McMahon notes that PDC's reserves "earmarked for programming" will be applied as intended. The group's current season will also proceed as planned. And the PDC board, which unanimously voted for the merger, will continue to assist with special events, fundraising, and promotions. The PDC's four-person staff has been let go, however. Only Executive Director Paul Organisak will make the move to Trust offices.

"I was a bit surprised by the PDC's heroic behavior," says McMahon, formerly executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Washington, D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "The organization was thinking of the art form first rather than about itself. It was worried about sustaining, enhancing, and increasing the level of programming Pittsburgh audiences deserve."

According to Organisak, "the PDC was, and is, in a healthy position given the current state of affairs." He describes the merger, which was PDC Board President Vicki Eisenreich's idea, as "a proactive move," and says PDC decided to make the change "while we're still viable. No one wants to team up with an organization on life support."

The thirty-two-year-old PDC, with an operating budget of $1.2 million, concluded the 2000-01 season with a $62,000 deficit. Organisak took the helm at PDC last July after his predecessor, Gray Montague, was let go (see Presstime News, Dance Magazine, October 2001, page 43). After reviewing the finances, the new director opted for immediate belt-tightening that included cutting Washington Ballet's two-night gig at the 2,820-seat Benedum Center to one. Then, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the PDC's ticket sales fell off. "Adjustments--including the cancellation of Class Act, a concert featuring local artists--had to be made," he says.

Susan Gillis Kruman, a University of Pittsburgh faculty member and director of the Pitt Dance Ensemble, is watching the reconstituted PDC with a wary eye. As a former director of Dance Alloy, she knows firsthand that PDC assistance "was important for local artists," especially Dance Alloy, which it launched in the late 1970s. She's concerned about what the merger might mean for the city's home-grown groups. In its new form, says Kruman, PDC needs to continue community outreach, education, promotion of dance, and audience development. "If the mission of the PDC/Trust is just to import companies, that will ultimately hurt the local dance community."

But McMahon says the merger is "a great opportunity to grow the market for contemporary dance and ballet" in Pittsburgh. "I am convinced that this will have a positive influence on [audiences for] the Pittsburgh Ballet and Dance Alloy, [as it will] provide more opportunities for people to get excited about the art form."

The PDC has suspended its practice of co-commissioning new works until further notice. But otherwise, Organisak insists, "the mission and vision of the PDC remain the same. Under the arrangement, the PDC will not just survive--it will thrive."