Ex-Ballerina Steps Up In CEO Position

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Who needs a pas de deux when a soloist can bring in bigger profits?

Six months into her job as chief executive of downtown L.A.’s Music Center, former ballerina Rachel Moore can already boast ticket sales for dance that are 25 percent above her goal.

Now she’s trying to boost revenue for the other entertainment offerings by targeting a fresh generation of culture fans.

“We certainly want to appeal to a younger audience and create an experience for millennials,” said Moore, 51, whose string of initiatives includes July’s Summer Soirée, a dance performance and party that will start at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and continue to nearby Grand Park. DJ sets, high-tech light shows, cuisine events, and art shows are also part of the plan.

“What really excited me about coming here is the notion of bringing a performance center into the 21st century,” said Moore. “Given the way demographics and technology have changed over the past 50 years, we’d like to take a leadership role in figuring this out.”

The former chief executive of the American Ballet Theatre in New York feels she’s in the right place to achieve that goal, saying the “experimental approach” that has swept across Silicon Beach is just what is needed to keep the arts relevant for modern audiences.

“L.A. has seen itself as a second-class citizen in terms of the arts, but the West Coast is more open to new ideas, it’s not so wedded to the past.”

Moore controls an annual operating budget of $65 million to run the iconic Music Center, which includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Grand Park.

− Kristin Marguerite Doidge

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