The Wall Street Journal
September 22, 2010

Dance/NYC’s New Director Moves From Ballet to BusinessMaking the leap from ballet to business is not an obvious transition for most dancers, but for Lane Harwell the move is paying off.

The former dancer and current business-school student will be named the new director of Dance/NYC, the New York branch of the national service organization for the professional dance field, the group will announce Wednesday. The nonprofit provides development services and advocacy support to 500 dance groups across the city.

A native New Yorker, Harwell trained at the School of American Ballet and danced for the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. He obtained degrees in philosophy from Princeton University and in performance studies from the University of California at Berkley. His current studies at Columbia Business School focus on the application of for-profit management techniques on the nonprofit sector.

In a statement, Harwell described Dance/NYC as “the voice, guide and infrastructure architect for all local dance artists, audiences and managers within the creative economy.”

“Lane has a great knowledge of the field of dance and its importance to the cultural life of New York,” said Randall Bourscheidt, president of the Alliance for the Arts, where Harwell worked as director of development. “He will bring his skills as a manager and fundraiser, his compassion for dancers, and his love of the city to this important organization.”

Harwell will begin his directorship at Dance/NYC on Sept. 27.Find this article online here:  http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/09/22/dancenycs-new-director-moves-from-ballet-to-business/