Last Dance for Summerdance

After 10 Successful Years, S.B.’s Annual Dance Festival Closes
Its Doors

by Elizabeth Schwyzer

When Summerdance Santa Barbara
programmed Mikhail Baryshnikov and Hell’s Kitchen Dance to perform
at its 10th annual festival, organizers Dianne Vapnek and Laurie
Burnaby knew they’d achieved something big. Founded by Vapnek in
1997, the festival had grown during the course of a decade from a
one-week, one-company affair to a three-week extravaganza. Dance
artists taking part in the festival ranged from emerging
choreographers, some of whom launched their careers from the
Summerdance platform, to well-established artists who found Santa
Barbara an intimate community in which to create new material. The
summer of 2006 was a particularly triumphant one, with veteran
Summerdance choreographer Doug Varone back with a large-scale,
multimedia work, and up-and-coming New York artist Aszure Barton
returning with her own company and guest artist Baryshnikov, the
world’s most famous living dancer. It was a thrilling July, even if
its organizers didn’t know at the time it would be the last. Yet
just three months after the close of its triumphant 10th season,
Summerdance has announced it will suspend operations.

Summerdance’s Executive Director Vapnek and Artistic Director
Burnaby came to the decision after reviewing their accomplishments
and recognizing a mutual sense of a completed cycle. “We believe we
fulfilled our mission in creating new audiences for dance and in
providing space and time for artists to create new work,” they
stated in a recent letter to boardmembers and supporters. At the
same time, the organizers acknowledged the challenges inherent in
Santa Barbara, which at times made it difficult for the festival to
achieve its aims. Specifically, Summerdance faced a dearth of
adequate professional rehearsal studios and the absence of a
mid-sized performance space between the 140-seat Center Stage
Theater and the 680-seat Lobero. They also noted the yearly
struggle to raise enough funds to continue, especially since the
shift in funding priorities since 9/11 and the decrease in funding
for the California Arts Commission in 2003.