The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts located in the heart of Beverly Hills, California is the result of the acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali’s restoration of the Historical 1933 Beverly Hills Pose Office. Besides its beautiful lobby, The Wallis includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education. Since opening its doors in the fall of 2013, The Wallis prides itself on the more than 275 dance, theater, opera, classical music, cinema and family programs that it has presented.
The majority of the larger performing arts venues in the Los Angeles area primarily present touring companies from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Europe, South America and Asia. The Wallis was the first schedule an entire season (2019-2020) featuring local dance companies BODYTRAFFIC, CONTRA-TIEMPO/Urban Latin Dance Theater, Lula Washington Dance Theater, Blue13 Dance Company, Heidi Duckler Dance, and Diavolo | Architect In Motion. Unfortunately, a large part of that season was cancelled because of the COVID pandemic, but The Wallis honored their contracts by presenting the affected companies at a later date.
Just recently The Wallis announced that it is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help support Dance @ The Wallis during the 2022/2023 Season. It was one of 1,125 projects across the US approved to jointly receive more than $26.6 million in support. This was the second round of Grants for Arts Project funded in the 2022 fiscal year and the fifth NEA grant award to The Wallis.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including The Wallis, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”
“The Wallis is honored to receive this grant from the National Endowment for the Arts,” says Rachel Fine, The Wallis’ Executive Director and CEO. “Consistent NEA support over the past five years has helped enable The Wallis to establish itself as an indispensable home for dance in Los Angeles. In particular, The Wallis is dedicated to ensuring that Los Angeles-based dance companies have a local, state-of-the-art space in which to present their craft. The breadth of the stage in our 500-seat Bram Goldsmith Theater allows dancers to do their best work while also connecting with audiences in an intimate space. The NEA’s consistent investment in The Wallis cannot be underestimated, especially while we’re all recovering from the global pandemic. To continue nurturing dance – in its myriad styles – in Los Angeles at the highest level, it’s critical we remain in a position to support local artists consistently from year to year. The grant also underscores The Wallis’ longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and access to curating our programming and numerous education programs tied to it, which serve thousands of students and adults annually.”
Let’s hope that Dance @ The Wallis continues to show its support to local Los Angeles dance artists.
For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
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To learn more about The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, please visit their website.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts – Photo courtesy of The Wallis
