$3 million from Carlos Foundation boosts Atlanta Ballet

Hailed as “a new beginning,” the financially troubled Atlanta Ballet has received donations totalling $10 million, including the single largest gift in its 79-year history — $3 million from the Michael C. and Thalia N. Carlos Foundation.

The donations are part of a campaign to raise $14.8 million toward purchase and renovation of a new headquarters on Marietta Boulevard west of downtown.

The funds will also be channeled into boosting the ballet’s endowment as well as for marketing and audience development and toward long-term financial and artistic stability. Integral to the package is the inclusion of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra in performances.

The $3 million from the Carlos Foundation, to be paid over four years, is a naming gift: The new headquarters, scheduled to open in summer 2010, will be called the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre. Chris Carlos, son of late Atlanta philanthropist Michael Carlos, and Chris’ wife Merry have been long-term donors to the ballet. Merry Carlos sits on the ballet board. Their two young daughters are students in the ballet’s Centre for Dance Education and danced on stage in this season’s “Nutcracker.”

“We are proud to be able to carry on my father’s commitment to the arts and his home community,” said Chris Carlos. Wednesday’s announcement was timed for what would have been Michael Carlos’ 80th birthday.

The fund-raising campaign has been a top priority for ballet executive director Barry Hughson, who’s been orchestrating the donations for almost a year. Former Atlanta Ballet dancer Lynda Courts and Holder Construction CEO Thomas M. Holder are co-chairs of the campaign.

It started after a feasibility study done by Coxe Curry & Associates, completed last spring, suggested that a $14.8 million campaign was within the ballet’s reach.

Courts, who danced with the company in the 1950s, said the ballet secured the Carlos gift “before the economy tanked, and that jump-started the rest.”

Previously, she said, “We funded everything we put on stage from working capital. If we had a bad ‘Nutcracker’ [box office] that year we were toast.

“These [gifts] give us a cushion and give us some capital to enhance what we put up on stage.”

Hughson acknowledged the ballet has been through a turbulent period, “like most arts groups in the country.” But he calls the donations “an amazing opportunity on which to create a foundation for growth.”

Along with $3 million from the Carlos Foundation, nearly 20 other donors contributed toward the $10 million announcement.

The second largest gift, $1 million, came from Atlanta philanthropist Audrey B. Morgan, earmarked for the ballet’s endowment, which is currently $1.6 million. If all goes according to plan, the endowment should stand at $5.6 million at the end of the campaign.

The news is a turnaround for the long-embattled company.

To retire a $2.75 million debt, the ballet sold its Midtown headquarters in 2006. (The dance studios and administrative offices will remain at the old location until the new Carlos building is open.)

Last month, during its annual run of “The Nutcracker,” the ballet revealed that ticket sales for the sugar-plum classic were down about 9 percent. Box office for its other fall-season show, “Swan Lake,” was down a staggering 30 percent from projections.

Hughson calls the gifts and ambitious campaign “a new beginning for the organization.”