BARN DANCE
Kaatsbaan invites dancers and dance lovers to get away from it all .
By Brian PJ Cronin
PHOTOS : ( TOP ) JAQI MEDLOCK ( BOTTOM ) BENJAMIN HELLER AND ALVIN COLLANTES
Great art takes time . But , especially in New York City , time is money . That ’ s what led a group of New York-based dancers and choreographers to the realization that rising rents were having a detrimental effect on the state of American dance . While all urban artists have had to contend with an aggressive real estate market , no art form has suffered more as a result of this than dance , which needs ample space not only for performances but also for the process of creation . It ’ s hard to conceive and choreograph a 20-person ballet in a 600-square-foot apartment .
So the group that eventually founded the Kaatsbaan International Dance Center decided to open a dance center upstate where companies could live for weeks at a time while creating new work , and then give performances to the community . But it took 10 years to find and renovate a 153-acre horse farm , set along the Hudson River in Dutchess County ’ s tiny village of Tivoli ( population : 1,104 according to the 2010 U . S . Census ), to create the center , which opened in 2000 .
Since then , companies from 12 countries and almost every state in the U . S . have come to Kaatsbaan to rehearse in one of its three studios , stay at its Dancer ’ s Inn and perform in its 160-seat theater . The center has hosted residencies from world-renowned companies like the Martha Graham Dance Company , the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Russia ’ s Eifman Ballet , along with scores of up-and-coming groups . But it ’ s not just pros who tread the boards at Kaatsbaan : 80 Hudson Valley children train each year at its Academy of Dance .
Kaatsbaan ’ s success has certainly proved to be a boon to its hometown . “ Tivoli is a vibrant destination with great restaurants , galleries and theaters ,” says Gregory Cary , Kaatsbaan ’ s artistic director . And so Kaatsbaan ’ s founders aren ’ t stopping . There are plans for hiking trails along the rest of the farm , more studios and more housing . But there ’ s no rush . After all , great art takes time .
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