Washington Ballet – Successful, But What Does That Mean?

Septime Webre has been running Washington Ballet for four years. “Sales of yearly subscriptions have tripled. The budget is up more than 50 percent. Last year the pool of individual donations hit the $2 million mark, a first for the institution. The annual number of performances has increased, and the company has moved from the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater to the larger Eisenhower for many engagements.” But “the populist drive that marks his programming and helps account for the increased ticket sales has at least one closely connected observer worried about its effects on the sterling tradition of the company’s training arm, the Washington School of Ballet.”