In 2005, the Asian American Arts Alliance's Small Organization Arts Regrants program (SOAR) awarded $40,000 in grants to small Asian-American arts organizations based in New York City. Through a competitive panel process, community-based Asian-American arts organizations that produce at a high artistic level, but still fall under the radar of major funding sources, were awarded project grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Recipients were selected on the basis of the project's merit, the group's track record, and their community ties. The grants, which help to support the cost of vital cultural community activities, such as workshops, lectures, and performances, were received by 15 organizations: Chinese Theater Works for Book of Songs; Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans; Crossing Jamaica Avenue; Dance Project SEQUENCE, Inc.; Dance Theater of Nepal, Inc.; Desipina Productions, Inc.; Fluid Motion Theater & Film, Inc.; Four Seas Players; In Mixed; Indo-American Arts Council, Inc.; Kundiman, Inc.; Kunqu Society; NAATCO (National Asian American Theatre Co.); Sachiyo Ito and Company; and Trinayan Collective. The Asian American Arts Alliance is dedicated to strengthening Asian-American arts and cultural groups in NYC through funding, visibility initiatives, and access to new resources. In addition to grantmaking, the Asian American Arts Alliance offers a variety of programs and services, including the Culture Pass visibility project, the Meet the Funders series, an e-calendar of Asian-American arts events, and ongoing advocacy and promotion.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary of leadership in the arts, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced in early December that it will award $20.4 million in grants during the 2006 fiscal year. Of $20,406,500 distributed to 844 nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations across the country, $19.4 million will finance 794 Artistic Excellence grants. Artistic Excellence grants support the creation and presentation of work in the disciplines of dance, design, literature, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, and visual arts, or by local arts agencies. Projects include commissions, residencies, performances, exhibitions, and festivals. (New York Times)

On the occasion of its fifth anniversary in late October, the New York Choreographic Institute announced the receipt of a matching endowment grant of $5 million from the Irene Diamond Fund. An affiliate of New York City Ballet, the NYCI was created in 2000 with a gift of $5.5 million from the Diamond Fund. Its mission is to give choreographers opportunities to develop their talents without the pressures associated with preparing a ballet for public performance. With this most recent gift from the Diamond Fund, which will mature over five years, and through additional matching pledges, the Institute’s endowment will grow to more than $16 million by 2010.
The Institute also announced the creation of a new Annual Fellowship, granted directly to national and international ballet companies. The fellowships will encourage the development of classically-based choreographers by providing funds to help companies allow them the studio time, the dancers, and the musicians necessary to explore their craft, without any expectation of public performance attached to the process. Each company receiving the fellowship will be awarded a grant of up to $15,000 to help cover expenses. The first NYCI Annual Fellowship recipients include the Carolina Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, and the Washington Ballet. More information can be found at www.ny-ci.org.

Americans for the Arts, a national arts advocacy group, has established a new emergency fund in reaction to Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on the Gulf Coast’s arts community. Based in Washington, D.C. and New York City, Americans for the Arts stated in a recent press release that the new fund was “developed to provide timely financial assistance to victims of a major disaster for the purpose of helping to rebuild the arts in their community.” Local arts agencies (either government-operated or private nonprofits) located in government-declared disaster areas qualify for funding. Awards will range from $1,000–$5,000, although organizations may be awarded more at the discretion of the fund committee. For more information, visit www.artsusa.org. (Backstage)

Barry Martin, a modern dancer and choreographer, died of heart failure on February 6, aged 44. A New York City native, Martin trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and at the State University of New York at Purchase. While on tour in South Africa in 1983 with the English dance company Hot Gossip, he was seriously injured in an automobile crash that left him permanently wheelchair-bound. Returning to New York, Martin earned an MA in arts administration from NYU and formed his own dance company, Déjà Vu, in 1985. Martin choreographed pieces for his own troupe while continuing to work with other companies. He taught privately and tutored children in the NYC public school system, and he recently established a children's dance workshop whose members were drawn from the Ailey School, Dance Theater of Harlem, and the School of American Ballet. Martin had been studying for his second master's degree at NYU, concentrating on disabilities and the arts, when he passed away at his home in Manhattan. (New York Times)

Sybil Shearer, an experimental pioneer of modern dance, died November 17 in Evanston, IL, aged 93. Born in Toronto, Shearer was raised in Nyack, NJ, and on Long Island, where she studied ballet with various local teachers. Shortly after graduating from Skidmore College in 1934, she developed an interest in modern dance and was drawn to Bennington College, then a very supportive laboratory for modern dance. At first Shearer specialized in solos, including Let Heavens Open That the Earth May Shine (1947), which explored spiritual ideals, and In a Vacuum (1941), which concentrated on the dehumanization of the modern day worker. 1941 marked Shearer's first New York solo concert, which attracted considerable attention. At the time, Shearer's experimental work was often compared to Merce Cunningham's. Disenchanted with the New York dance scene, however, she soon abandoned New York City for Chicago, where she mentored such students as John Neumeier, currently the director of the Hamburg Ballet. Shearer also choreographed notable group works, including Fables and Proverbs (1961) and The Reflection in the Puddle Is Mine (1963). In recent years, Shearer became a notable dance writer, acting as a Chicago correspondent for Ballet Review. Shearer's career was closely documented by her lifetime collaborator Helen Morrison, a photographer, filmmaker, and lighting designer; the Shearer archives can be found at the Morrison-Shearer Foundation. The first volume of Shearer's autobiography is due to be published next year. (The New York Times)

David Nillo, a founding member of American Ballet Theatre and a dancer featured in many Broadway and film musicals, passed away September 29, aged 89, in Los Angeles. Nillo joined ABT, then known as Ballet Theatre, during its first season in 1940. Never a principal, his versatility allowed him to dance diverse roles for the company in ballets ranging from Giselle to Eugene Loring’s Billy the Kid. Born in Goldsboro, N.C., Nillo studied in Chicago with ballet teacher Bentley Stone and with German modern dancer Kurt Graff. In 1939 Nillo danced in Chicago with the Page-Stone Ballet and the Federal Theater Dance Project before moving to New York, where he studied ballet with Anton Dolin, Anthony Tudor, and Hanya Holm, whom he would later assist in her choreography work on the original production of My Fair Lady (1956). From 1943 to 1945 Nillo served as a radio operator for the U.S. Maritime Service, after which point, although he briefly returned to Ballet Theatre for its 15th-anniversary engagement in 1955, he devoted the rest of his career to musical theater. He danced in Broadway shows such as Great to Be Alive and Out of This World (1950), and in 1973 received his first full choreography credit on Broadway with the revival of The Desert Song. In 1976 Nillo moved to Hollywood, where he taught dance and fitness. (New York Times)

Playwright August Wilson died from liver cancer on October 2, aged 60, in Seattle. Wilson, one of the most highly regarded playwrights of his generation, was known for his kindness, his ardent support of fellow dramatists, and for providing precious opportunities for African-American performers to shine in his plays. Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel on April 27, 1945, in Pittsburgh, PA, to a biracial couple. Practically self-taught, Wilson developed a love for poetry at an early age. After a brief stint in the army, Wilson became profoundly affected by the 1960s Black Power movement; in 1968, he co-founded the Black Horizons Theater Company in Pittsburgh. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, Wilson struggled to establish himself as a poet and wrote several plays, including The Homecoming (1979), Jitney (1982), and Fullerton Street (1980). Wilson won his first success in 1984 with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was directed by Lloyd Richards at the Yale Repertory Theater and six months later moved to Broadway. Wilson would continue to collaborate with Richards throughout his career.

Instead of using his pen to preach a political platform, Wilson revealed the authentic poetry of life through an African-American perspective. Wilson’s plays compose a cycle of ten dramas, which chronicle the African-American experience in the twentieth century, one play for each decade. The final chapter of this epic cycle, Radio Golf, opened at the Yale Repertory Theater last spring. In Wilson’s prolific two-decade career, he amassed an impressive number of awards from the dramatic community. In 1987 Fences, a family drama set in the 1950s, opened in New York and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for best play; Wilson would win another Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for The Piano Lesson. Wilson is the only African-American playwright to have won two Pulitzer Prizes. Over his career he also received seven New York Drama Critics Circle awards, two Drama Desk awards, and numerous other accolades. (New York Times)

Sara Levi-Tanai, the Israeli choreographer and founder of Inbal Dance Theater, passed away on October 3, aged 94, in Ramat Gan, Israel. Founded in 1950, the Inbal Dance Theater is Israel’s oldest professional dance company. Gifted with a bountiful imagination and a vibrant creativity, Levi-Tanai led Inbal Dance Theater to be recognized and admired by notable figures such as Jerome Robbins and Anna Sokolow. A descendant of the Yemen Jews, Levi-Tanai integrated Yemenite Jewish traditions and contemporary dance in her choreography. Born in 1911, Levi-Tanai was raised in an orphanage. After attending boarding school, she studied music and trained to be a kindergarten teacher. She went on to study at the theater company Habimah, where she met her husband Israel Tanai. In 1991, Levi-Tanai left Inbal when it was annexed by a larger organization, the Inbal Interdisciplinary Ethnic Center. She then toured as a narrator with the program “Who Kissed Me,” which featured two singer-dancers. (The New York Times)

Ormsby Wilkins has been appointed the new music director of American Ballet Theater, ABT's artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, announced in November. Born in Sydney, Australia, Wilkins, 54, began his music studies at the Conservatories of Sydney and Melbourne. In 1982 he joined the Australian Ballet as its resident conductor. A guest conductor with ABT since 2000, Wilkins has also served as music director and principal conductor to the National Ballet of Canada since 1990. Previously, Wilkins toured as a conductor with the Birmingham Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet). Both in association with ballet and in concert, Wilkins has conducted orchestras around the world, including La Scala, Milan (1997 and 2001), the Rome Ballet (1998), and the Ballet Teatro San Carlo of Naples (1999). Orchestras conducted by Wilkins include the Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras of London, the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the National Arts Center Orchestra.

Regarded as one of the most extraordinary and influential ballerinas of the late 20th century, Suzanne Farrell had her contributions to the performing arts and American culture saluted at the 28th Annual Honors Gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 4, 2005. Balanchine handpicked Farrell in 1960, on her 15th birthday, for the New York City Ballet's elite corps. She studied at the School of American Ballet and the Professional Children's School on scholarship for a year before taking her place with NYCB. Performing only in leading roles after her 1961 debut at age 16, Farrell went on to dance numerous roles created expressly for her, building a repertoire of over 100 ballets and logging more than 2000 NYCB performances. Her top billing with Balanchine's famed company, her world tours, and her appearances in television and movies made her one of the most recognizable and highly esteemed artists of her generation. Since retiring from the stage in 1989, she has accumulated a myriad of awards, including the 2003 National Medal of the Arts and the 2005 Capezio Award. In 2000 Farrell created the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, a company resident at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and joined the faculty of Florida State University as a tenured professor of dance. The world-renowned prima ballerina shared the Kennedy Center spotlight with illustrious fellow honorees Tony Bennett, Tina Turner, Robert Redford, and Julie Harris. Notable public figures and celebrities attended, including President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. (Backstage)

The American Arts Alliance (AAA), a national advocacy group for professional nonprofit performing arts organizations, has launched a new website aimed at facilitating the involvement of artists and performing arts organizations in the political world. AAA has over 3000 members, including the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Theatre Communications Group, Opera America, and Dance USA. The website, www.americanartsalliance.org, is AAA’s latest effort to alert the arts community to policy issues that affect them. “The website intentionally takes a streamlined, user-friendly approach to disseminating information,” says Rachel Lyons, the alliance’s manager. Issues currently posted on the site include the U.S. House of Representatives’s intention to cut funding for arts education and the proposal in the Senate to repeal the estate tax, a move which would severely hurt nonprofit performing arts organizations. Acknowledging the hesitancy felt by many in the arts world about political lobbying, the American Arts Alliance is dedicated to encouraging artists and arts organizations to make their voices heard in the political forum. Their website can be found at: www.americanartsalliance.org. (Backstage)

Artistic director Kevin McKenzie of American Ballet Theatre and board chairwoman Cissy Pao Wateri of Hong Kong Ballet announced recently that John Meehan, currently artistic director of education and training at ABT, has been appointed artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet. Although Meehan will continue to act as a consultant to ABT, McKenzie, along with Clinton Luckett, will manage the Studio Company’s operations for the 2005–2006 season. Meehan stated in a press release that he will miss ABT but is looking forward to his new position. Meehan will also be a visiting professor to the dance department at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

At Juilliard’s Centennial Convocation on September 7, chairman of the board Bruce Kovner announced that the institution has renamed its primary and largest theater (formerly known as the Juilliard Theater) the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in recognition of the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation’s $25 million gift to Juilliard, and to honor Mr. Sharp, a Juilliard board member who died suddenly in 1992. An avid and accomplished pianist, Mr. Sharp was a committed supporter of the arts whose wealth as a real estate developer became the capital for the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation. The Sharp Foundation’s gift will be added to Juilliard’s $10 million capital campaign, increasingly referred to as a Second Century Fund as the school looks to its future from the vantage point of a centennial celebration. The convocation was held just prior to Juilliard’s traditional picnic in Lincoln Center Plaza, which marks the start of classes and an active performing series of some 700 dance, drama, and music events annually. This year’s schedule also includes premiere performances of 47 Juilliard Centennial Commissions in all three disciplines.

Labeled the “Cuban Nijinsky” by critics, Rolando Sarabia, 23, defected to the United States this summer, leaving Ballet Nacional de Cuba, his professional home since 1999. Sarabia, who has won ballet competitions in Paris, Varna, Bulgaria, and Jackson, Mississippi, is a well-known figure in the Cuban community. Having obtained permission from the Cuban government to teach ballet in Queretaro, Mexico, Sarabia then illegally crossed the border over into the U.S. in early July, and later applied for political asylum. Alicia Alonso, Ballet Nacional’s general director, has been known to grant dancers permission to leave Cuba to work with other companies, and the international star Carlos Acosta is envied by fellow Cuban dancers for his ability to maintain ties with Cuba, regularly performing with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba while remaining a principal guest artist at the Royal Ballet. Sarabia, who was unable to get permission from Alonso to accept a principal dancer contract with the Boston Ballet in 2003, claims his reasons for leaving Cuba were mainly artistic. Officials at the Boston Ballet said they hope to hire Sarabia as a principal dancer when all his documents are in order. Sarabia’s younger brother, Daniel, 20, defected last June, and will debut with the Boston Ballet as a corps de ballet member in its 2005–2006 season. Rolando Sarabia and another former principal dancer with the Ballet Nacional, Alihaydee Carreno, who left Cuba this July to dance in the Dominican Republic, recently performed in the International Ballet Festival of Miami in September. (New York Times)

One of America’s greatest playwrights, August Wilson was a two-time Pulitzer Prize–winner and the author of an epic cycle of dramas about the African-American experience in the twentieth century. Receiving one of the greatest honors in American theater, Wilson will have his name affixed on the marquee of a Broadway theater. On September 1, Rocco Landesman, president of Jujamcyn Theaters, announced that his company would change the name of the Virginia Theater, at 425 West 52nd Street, to the August Wilson Theater. The Virginia was built in 1925 as the Guild Theater, and in 1981 it was renamed in honor of Virginia M. Binger, the wife of James H. Binger, the former owner of Jujamcyn. Wilson will be the first African American for whom a Broadway theater is named. Sadly, Wilson, aged 60, lost his battle with lung cancer on October 3, less than two weeks away from the new marquee unveiling on October 17. Wilson was best known for his Pulitzer Prize–winning plays Fences and The Piano Lesson as well as other critical hits, including Two Trains Running, which will be the first play Signature Theatre produces in its 2006 Fall Season dedicated to Wilson’s work. (New York Times)