Practicing Audience Development Through Arts Education: A Case Study of New York City Ballet

Abstract

Attendance of benchmark arts events, defined by the NEA as attending jazz, classical music, opera, music, play, or ballet performances, or visiting an art museum or gallery, has been declining for decades. Similarly, rates of childhood arts education have been decreasing since the 1980s. Because arts education (primarily childhood, but also adulthood) is the strongest predictor of adulthood arts participation, the most effective way to practice long-term audience development is through education. Through a case study of New York City Ballet, this paper examines how arts organizations practice audience development through childhood and adulthood arts education. Administrators at arts organizations, especially ballet companies, can use these findings to enhance their educational offerings, thereby creating more robust audiences for their own organizations and for the arts as a whole.