There was no ballet company even near. Unlike many cities, larger and smaller, Detroit still has no professional ballet company. The arts are also a great economic development catalyst. Young people yearn for ballet role models, she says. It's important for young people to have something to look forward to.
Nothing can bring to a city what dance can bring.
Most regional ballet companies are currently in good financial health, says John Munger, director of research and information for Dance U.S.A., the national service organization for nonprofit dance companies. They hired 24 talented young dancers and an artistic director who had been a top dancer at Boston Ballet. Both shows won critical praise, but drew smallish audiences. In retrospect, Stroud, who now works for the Michigan Opera Theatre developing the dance audience, says he would have done Metropolitan Ballet Theatre differently. I would have put things off a couple of years, and started with more of a solid footing.