The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts fired its director of dance programming on Thursday, in another attempt to reshape the institution since President Trump took control of it this year.
The director, Jane Raleigh, and the two other full-time dance programmers in her department were dismissed amid tensions with the center’s leadership, they said in interviews. The Kennedy Center confirmed it had terminated three people and said it would soon announce a new direction for its dance programming, but a spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the decision.
The departures came less than two months before the start of the season, which is slated to feature some of the country’s top ballet and contemporary dance companies. Since Mr. Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center, he has taken a close interest in the institution, promising to usher in a “Golden Age in Arts and Culture” and declaring the end of “woke political programming.”
The firings followed a meeting last week between the three-member dance programming team and Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center’s president. Mallory Miller and Malik Burnett, the two other fired employees, said Mr. Grenell urged the dance team to come up with programming that was more “broadly appealing” and less “niche” — which he told them would help the institution attract corporate sponsorships.
As an example of the type of programming he was thinking about, Mr. Grenell cited “So You Think You Can Dance,” the TV dance competition show on Fox, Ms. Miller and Mr. Burnett said.
“I brought in what I consider to be commercial concert dance offerings, things like an ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ a ‘Swan Lake,’ things like that,” Ms. Raleigh recalled of the meeting, “and we were just trying to get on the same page of understanding of what he was looking for.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Kennedy Center Fires Dance Director After Questions About Programming appeared first on New York Times.
