Clark Center for the Performing Arts (New York, N.Y.)

The Clark Center for Performing Arts was established in 1959 by Alvin Ailey as a studio and performance space in the building of the Westside YWCA. Originally conceived as a multi-arts center, by 1970 it had developed into a Center for the Performing Arts specializing in dance. The programs offered focused on two areas: dance instruction, and the support and presentation of young choreographers and small, developing dance companies of multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and particularly African-American origins. The Clark Center’s dance curriculum offered classes in jazz, ballet, tap and modern dance, as well as dance techniques of African and other ethnic traditions. Prices for all classes were kept deliberately low, while a Scholarship Program was available by audition to promising performers, dance teachers or choreographers. Among the Clark Center faculty were Alvin Ailey, Fred Benjamin, Pepsi Bethel, Thelma Hill, Mary Hinkson, Carmen de Lavallade, Anna Sokolow and Bertram Ross. In the 1970s the Clark Center entered the most active phase of its presentations program. Through its renowned New Choreographers Concerts and, from 1975 onwards, a series of Summer Dance Festivals held in the Mall of the CUNY Graduate Center on West 42nd Street, Clark Center gained city-wide recognition as a dance presenter. A notable exception to its overall focus on dance was Playwrights Horizons, which was founded in 1972 under the direction of Robert Moss and remained affiliated with the Clark Center until 1974. Among the many dance professionals who can trace their early steps to the Clark Center are Margie Beals, George Faison, Meredith Monk, and Kei Takei. In 1970 Louise Roberts became its director for the following 16 years, previously having had a career as dancer, producer and administrator of the June Taylor Dance School. From then onwards, she was a central figure in the shaping of the Clark Center’s development. A serious challenge Roberts and the Clark Center had to face was the search for a suitable space to house both its teaching and presenting programs. In 1974 the YWCA building, in which Clark Center had been housed, was sold. As they tried unsuccessfully to lease the space from the Y until the building was sold, relations between the two organizations became strained, and eventually the dance school was moved to temporary quarters in 939 Eighth Avenue and Clark Center was established as an independent not-for-profit corporation. Until 1978 the CUNY Mall was used as a performance space. When this option was not available any longer, the decision was made to create a permanent dance theater. Plans were made for a 250-seat theater and additional studios for instruction, which would require the renovation of a building on West 42nd Street’s Theater Row. After several years of work toward this project, which was primarily funded through a vigorous fundraising campaign, operations reached a standstill in 1983. Due to legal obstacles in the fulfillment of the contract that provided city funds, the following three years became a long struggle of escalating rents and cancelled grants. By the end of 1985 the project had officially failed, leaving the Clark Center in serious financial strain. Louise Roberts resigned as director of the Clark Center in August 1986, while the Center continued its operations amid considerable financial struggles until 1989. Sources: • Carmody, Deirdre. “Dance Group’s Fate in City’s Hands.” New York Times, 1983 October 7, B4. • Zimmer, Elizabeth. “Clark Center Theater Row Project Collapses.” Village Voice, 1985 October 29, 86.

From the guide to the Clark Center records, 1960-1995, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

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