Ballet company's studios

[Tiffany]

I recently auditioned for 3 ballet companies: Ballet Memphis, Augusta Ballet, and Atlanta Festival Ballet. My parents accompanied me and were amazed that all of their studios were located in good parts of town (not the ghetto) and were near hospitals (handy for me, the nursing major; would make it easier to get to a dance class after work if I don't get a job dancing). Is this common? Are ballet companies studios normally in good parts of town? And just for fun, near hospitals too? All were within 10 minutes of driving to a hospital.

There is one ballet company in MS, Ballet Magnificat!, and their studio is in a good part of Jackson, MS. Its probably within 10 minutes of a hospital, I'd have to time it, but they're both off I-55...

[carbro]

That's interesting, Tiffany.

It would seem that because of the need for many square feet the studios would be in marginal neighborhoods, where rents would be cheaper. But it's probably economical to locate near the theaters.

ABT's studios are not so close to either theater where they perform in New York, and when they moved into that space, the neighborhood was just a bit run down. It has since undergone phenomenal commercial and residential development, and I wonder whether the train of events that enabled them to move into that space could be replicated today.

[Helene]

I'm not sure whether it's possible to generalize. Studio locations can be due to a prior period of urban flight, with concert venues remaining in the city center, and then re-gentrification; a donor with good real estate on his/her hands to donate or rent at a reasonable rate; a successful fundraising campaign; or other serendipitous events.

PNB's studios penultimate location was the Good Shepherd Center in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, a bus ride or car commute away from Lower Queen Anne, in the Seattle Center complexes where the Opera House (now McCaw Hall) is located and where performances are held, very close to the Space Needle. Then the Phelps Center, where the PNB offices, the Seattle school, and company and studios are located -- including one stage sized studio -- was completed in 1993, and it is just next door to McCaw Hall, a mere light installation away.

10 minutes might be pushing it to a hospital, but Seattle Center is not that far from the University of Washington campus hospitals, Swedish Ballard, the hospitals on First Hill, and Harbourview.

[Tiffany]

Thanks for your thoughts. My parents and I were surprised that all of these studios were in good parts of town because we hypothetically thought that the majority of studios would be in the not so nice, cheaper rent sections of town. I agree that many factors play into studio location and I didn't consider the convenience of being located close to a theatre for performing.