New Orleans Ballet Association

The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) is the Central Gulf region's premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to dance. [http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/1-0&fp=48c52cffc9d0d421&ei=n4HFSNWaKIq-ywTno-jSAw&url=http%3A//www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf%3F/base//library-154/1220546613325770.xml%26coll%3D1&cid=1242403665&usg=AFQjCNEI6KkuB9vUbEgpDccfujp2uO1f_Q]

Incorporated in 1969, NOBA has been serving and helping to advance the dance field for more than 40 years with a mission to cultivate understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of dance through performance, education, and community service. The structure of the organization divides into two programming elements:

1. Main Stage, a dynamic season of dance featuring a variety of world-class companies;

2. Education Programs, nationally recognized comprehensive dance programs that educate, train, and nurture.

History

Originally founded in 1969 as the New Orleans Ballet, the organization was a civic ballet company. In 1983, the organization received national exposure when it became the New Orleans City Ballet and entered an innovative partnership with Cincinnati Ballet. The two organizations maintained separate boards and staff, but shared artists and repertoire. This allowed both cities to afford a higher artistic product in the 50 professional AGMA Union dancers and an internationally renowned artistic director in Ivan Nagy. However, over time, the shared-city concept resulted in an accumulated debt and in 1991, the partnership was officially terminated.

Being an organization known for creative approaches and solutions, a new name, the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA), was adopted to reflect the new image and mission as a presenter of dance from around the world and as a service organization to the community. By 1993, new records were set in earned revenues and programming excellence, and in 1995, the accumulated debt was fully retired.

National Recognition

As one of the very few organizations of its kind in the country dedicated solely to dance, NOBA has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, Altria, Whitney Houston Foundation, President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and many more, for its innovative programming that reaches deeply into the community. Because of its leadership abilities, NOBA has served as the fiscal agent and anchor member of the Louisiana Presenter’s Network and has been involved in the commissioning of world premiere pieces by internationally recognized companies such as Donald Byrd/The Group and Elisa Monte Dance Company.

NOBA has received a multitude of awards from around the community and state, including the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s coveted Managing For Excellence - Sustained Excellence Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Management.

NOBA is nationally recognized as a model for "Best Practices" for programming, curriculum, and innovative partnerships and has been honored in 2005 as a Kennedy Center Partners in Education.

In 2004, out of 800+ applicants, NOBA was selected as 1 of 8 pilot programs for the highly competitive National Endowment for Arts Summer Schools in the Arts award. Due to the success of the program, the NEA presented NOBA/NORD as the model program for Summer School in the Arts on the US Senate floor in 2005.

In 2002, NOBA received the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

NOBA programs have been honored by the 2001 Selection as ONE OF TWENTY pilot sites for the National Endownment for the Arts (NEA) and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Creative Communities Program.

NOBA's Education Program

Since 1992, NOBA has offered accessible dance education to youth throughout the New Orleans community through anchor partnerships with the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) and Housing Authoirty of New Orleans (HUD) as well as partnerships with school systems and community organization.

NOBA continues to provide tuition-free, year-round comprehensive dance programs in Orleans, St. Bernard, and Jefferson Parishes for youth ages 6-18 and their families through sequential training and ancillary activities as well as provide employment, professional development, and artistic experiences to local artists. Community partners work with the NOBA staff to train artists, plan, sustain, grow and implement programs.

NOBA is dedicated to high artistic standards and sequential, rigorous instruction while skilled in adapting curriculum & instruction to age, ability, interest levels, and the shifting composition of classes. Its programs encourage and regard students' artistic development and the strengthening of their life skills--taking responsibility, persistence, self-discipline, and mutual respect. NOBA's programs are attentive to students' personal and physiological needs in an effort to increase student recruitment and retention.

NOBA Today

NOBA is the region’s premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to the art of dance. NOBA’s dynamic Main Stage season annually features a variety of world-class dance companies. In addition to the presenting series, the NOBA Dance Institute serves as the largest “dance classroom” in the Gulf South providing over 50,000 dance enthusiasts with over 3,000 concerts, lecture/demonstrations, workshops, classes and much more.

References

* [http://www.surdna.org/grants_database/grants_database_show.htm?doc_id=683022 A link to SURDNA, which offered them a grant]

External links

* [http://www.nobadance.com/ The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA)] Official Site