Tag: Tom West

Not long after he had taken over as executive director at Atlanta Ballet in 2021, Tom West and his board of directors had to make one of the toughest decisions in the company’s history. Last August, they did something rather startling: They sold their headquarters—the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre—for $8.3 million to Faropoint, a New Jersey real-estate investment firm.

Seven months into his tenure as executive director of Atlanta Ballet, Tom West saw a line item on the pay scale that didn’t seem right. Dancers entering the company under its apprentice program were paid less than $500 a week. Company leaders noted that apprenticeships are standard practice in the field. But the low-paying program was one of several barriers faced by young dancers from historically underrepresented communities—the very dancers Atlanta Ballet has struggled to attract. Atlanta’s population is close to 50 percent Black, and until recently, Atlanta Ballet’s roster had only a token few Black artists.