Nashville Ballet

“The completed form 990 is reviewed by the finance committee under the direction of the coo. Once their review is complete the finance committee recommends that both the coo and board of directors accept the completed form 990 as presented. The completed form 990 is provided electronically via e-mail to all board members in advance of the filing. Any board members who cannot receive documents electronically are provided with a paper copy.”

“The board president and other board officers review the annual conflict of interest disclosure statements and note conflicts so they can ask select board members to recuse themselves from participating in discussions and votes on topics with which they have previously disclosed a conflict.”

“The executive committee of the board of directors annually reviews the compensation of the ceo and the coo. They also benchmark the compensation against compensation provided to similar positions in comparable dance companies via information provided on other companies' form 990s.”

“Nashville ballet makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request. Annual audits and significant other company information is available through the website www.givingmatters.com.”

“Our mission is to create, perform, teach, and promote dance as an essential and inspiring element of our community. Through our season performance repertory, we create and present outstanding works of art in collaboration with other notable nashville artists, including the nashville symphony, alias chamber ensemble and local singer-songwriters. These inspirational works of art reach more than 34,000 middle tennesseans every year. Our school of nashville ballet is a nationally known leader in classical ballet training and top of mind locally for recreational dancing, with more than 2,000 students age 2 to 70 enrolled annually. Our community engagement and educational programs permeate the community and reach over 40,000 underserved children, youth and adults in more than 16 counties across tennessee.”

“Nashville ballet's mission is to create, perform, teach and promote dance as an essential and inspiring element of our community. We fulfill that mission by offering a diverse range of dance programs in our season repertory, educating children and adults in our school of nashville ballet and bringing dance into the community through community engagement & education performances.”

“In the 12 months between july 2016 and june 2017, nashville added 36,337 people, outpacing hundreds of other metro statistical areas across the country. During that time, the city netted 100 new residents per day. All of that change and growth has inspired nashville ballet to infuse fresh voices and perspectives into our art, taking our audience with us as we go. Nashville ballet's 2016-17 season featured fresh takes on familiar stories, returning favorites and brand-new work. We even introduced some of nashville's art to the rest of the country on tour. Our very first performance of the season, cinderella, broke all previous attendance and revenue records for a non-nutcracker performance, which resulted in five sold-out performances to 4,973 attendees and almost $60k of revenue over our goal. The success of such recognizable names as cinderella allows nashville ballet to create new works and experiment with its art. That experimentation prompted nashville ballet to stage a ballet version of macbeth, telling the classic shakespearean story through dance and raw emotion. Our ninth annual performance of nashville's nutcracker also exceeded all attendance and revenue expectations, with more than 25,000 attendees generating more than $1 million in revenue-the first time a nashville ballet performance broke $1 million. Nashville's nutcracker also broke records for the number of performances-14-and youth performing on stage alongside our professional company dancers-250 children age 7 and up were able to experience the thrill of live performance and learn about life as a professional artist. As we continued to attract new audiences with the appeal of nashville's history and identity as music city, nashville ballet revived a performance based on the music of johnny cash, which also exceeded revenue and attendance expectations by $30k. As it continued to innovate, nashville ballet presented two new works/world premieres-seven deadly sins and appalachian spring-plus a collection of unrefined new works followed by conversations with the choreographers and musicians-emergence. Perhaps our most notable accomplishment of the year was nashville ballet's premiere at the kennedy center in washington, d.c. Invited by american ballet theatre principal dancer and ballet superstar misty copeland, nashville ballet was included in the center's ballet across america series to perform the choreography and original piano concerto of the ben folds project. The premiere allowed nashville ballet to perform for more than 7,000 audience members who might not have otherwise seen nashville ballet.”

“All of these season performances were performed by resident artists from our company of 24 professional dancers and second company (nb2), consisting of more than 30 members who receive professional training alongside our main company. Our performances alone reach more than 40,000 audience members, while our community engagement initiatives reach an additional 35,000, many of whom may not otherwise experience ballet or a nashville ballet performance. We reach this audience by bringing dance into the community through performances in schools, libraries, community centers, head start centers, arts festivals and arts venues. Not only do they expose new audiences to dance, they integrate dance education with core subjects such as reading, math, science and social studies, while meeting the developmental and academic standards set by the state of tennessee. School of nashville ballet enrolled more than 2,000 students ages 2 and up across its year-round dance programming. By educating students as young as 2 years old, we are contributing to the legacy of ballet as an art form by cultivating future dancers, donors, patrons and arts enthusiasts. Within school of nashville ballet are six divisions: 1) our children's division introduces ballet to our youngest students (age 2-7) through movement, music and creative play in the hopes that they will become future ballet dancers, fans and advocates who can continue the legacy of the organization into the future. 2) the academy division (ages 8-18) nurtures each student's technical execution, artistic expression and maturity, helping students to develop their own artistry through pure classical technique. 3) community division youth classes (ages 8-18) provide the same level of training as in the academy division, but on a more flexible schedule. A wide range of classes are offered, including ballet, jazz, hip hop and musical theater. 4) beginning fall 2016, the new young men's scholarship program (ages 8-18) expanded offerings for male dancers, making nashville ballet the first in the south to host such a program. The program has since enrolled 46 and started a waitlist for students who can't currently be accommodated. 5) our community division (ages 18+) is an inclusive environment for adults who are new to dance, rediscovering a passion for movement, continuing their dance education or looking for new ways to stay fit. 6) our professional training division was developed to give dancers age 16-20 a comprehensive program designed to further develop technique, strength and artistry in a rigorous pre-professional environment. Dancers selected for this program are chosen for their talent and potential to pursue a career in professional dance. These diverse offerings help us achieve our goal to set the standard for instruction and performance across the state and to be a nationally known leader in classical ballet training. All of these enrollment, attendance and revenue accomplishments earned nashville ballet several notable titles during the 2016-17 year: 1) nashville ballet was named best performing arts group for the third year in a row, as voted by the public in nashville's alternative news weekly - the nashville scene. 2) artistic director & ceo paul vasterling was named samuel l. Felker business leader of the year by the nashville lgbt chamber of commerce. 3) vasterling was appointed as fellow at the center for ballet and the arts at new york university. Nashville ballet's work presenting professional performances, training future dancers and educating the community about the art form illustrates how committed the organization is to contributing to the creative cannon of ballet so that more audiences can experience the transformative power of dance each year.”

“Change in value of the community foundation of middle tennessee endowment 3,150.”

“The organization did not change its oversight process or selection process regarding the selection of an independent accountant.”