The Role of the Ballet Founder
The common perception is that a founder antes up the money and then disappears, only to remain as a name on a program. In the case of Nancy Houssels, a co-founder of Nevada Ballet Theatre, that would be incorrect. An unassuming little slip of a thing, she saw an opportunity, jumped right in and tackled every aspect of the business of ballet building from money to marketing.
It came as no surprise that Nancy turned out to be a leader. Even in high school, she knew her own mind. She was studying with choreographer Eugene Loring ("Billy the Kid"). He encouraged her to ignore college but she said, "I just knew I should go to college and it stood me in good stead all my life. My dad said, 'This is something no one can take away from you. This is something that's going to be valuable to you all of your life,' and he was absolutely right." She credits the education with giving her the essentials she'd later use in business dealings.
She went on to a long adagio career and traveled the world - "Paris, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Rome, Beirut, Spain, all the major cities." In 1966, she arrived in Las Vegas and within two years had married and then retired. "I was ready to retire. I was thirty-four by then and, you know, the bones are aching getting out of bed."
Along the way, she had reconnected with an old friend, Vassili Sulich, and he had big plans. He had choreographed a Sunday afternoon concert using the ballet dancers from the shows along the Strip. Worried about the level of interest and a possible low turnout for professional ballet, he asked Nancy to come and to bring her friends. The theater was so packed they added chairs on the side of the stage. Nancy said, "You know, there was sort of a hunger for the fine art."
With the success of the concert, she and Vassili immediately saw the potential. So Nancy threw a cocktail party, invited 15 community leaders and asked each of them to contribute $15,000. She and Vassili had their company. "There's nothing like it in Las Vegas. Still today, we're the only professional ballet company in the state. So maybe it was a pretty good idea." That's how, in 1972, Nevada Dance Theatre was formed.
"The involvement became so great. Vassili and I were it. There was no staff and so programs had to be done, publicity had to be done, marketing and all of that. A Board had to be put together. I guess I was just young and stupid and you sort of plough straight forward and you think, 'Well, this didn't work so let's try something else.'"
Even refusals for donations didn't discourage her. "They probably thought I was really nuts. They used to hide behind furniture..." But, she said, "You can't even feel like it's a rejection. It's just choice." Fortunately, most people chose to contribute and the company continued to move forward.
Then the late 90's brought big changes. Vassili Sulich decided to move on to other ventures, the company was renamed Nevada Ballet Theatre and a sizeable grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, along with a donation of land from the Howard Hughes Corporation, allowed them to build their own offices and state-of-the-art rehearsal space.
"When we moved into the building, expenses went up. It was week-to-week, hand-to-mouth type of thing. It was scary sometimes, cause it goes like this - ticket sales, then nothing happening, ticket sales. And donations don't always come in at the same time."
Today, even though NBT has become a well-known fixture on the art scene, Nancy said, "We're a long way from where we want to be." Her vision includes new productions and choreographers, new ballet stars, more guest artists, an orchestra and better salaries. "I would love that none of them had to go out and wait tables or work at Starbucks or shine shoes or whatever they have to do."
Last but not least on that wish list, she'd love to get a $12-15 million endowment. That, she hopes, might enable the company to perform at the Kennedy Center. Tongue in cheek, she said, "They'd all think we're a topless ballet, and they'd show up." Ah yes, the Las Vegas legacy. Nevada Ballet Theatre may not yet be the highest ranking ballet company in the nation, but with the vision and guidance of one of its founders - Nancy Houssels - they're making strides and the ballet company from Las Vegas is being taken quite seriously. "Being a founder for me has just meant get in the trenches and get it done." And she has...for 34 years.
For more information on Nevada Ballet Theatre, go to www.nevadaballet.com.