Deborah Rutter wants you to know that the Kennedy Center is much more than âthe Honorsâ
Deborah Rutter
âThe Honors are the greatest weekend of the year  and it is also the bane of our existence  â Deborah Rutter  said with a laugh. For the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts  the annual Kennedy Center Honors  airing on CBS on Dec. 26 and honoring dancer Carmen de Lavallade  rapper LL Cool J  television producer and writer Norman Lear and singers Gloria Estefan and Lionel Richie  is a welcome national spotlight on the memorial to the late president. But thatâs all anyone seems to know about the the white jewel box on the Potomac.
âWe really like to think about the other 364 days of the year  and all of the programming that happens on those days â  Rutter  told me in the latest episode of âCape Up.â âWhat I love about being here at the nationâs cultural center is that we have really a mandate to welcome all of the performing arts. It is not just a performing arts center for one assumed art form or another.â
I bet you didnât know that hip hop was one of those art forms at the Kennedy Center and that Q-Tip is its artistic director. âThis is a first â  Rutter  said. âAnd as far as I know  there is no other artistic director for hip-hop â¦ anywhere in probably the world. And weâre very proud to have Q-Tip here leading  guiding and inspiring us.â
While she didnât need much convincing   Rutter  allowed that there could be others who might â for fear of what it could mean for the other arts. âJust because we are bringing in more programming that includes hip-hop artists  it does not mean that weâre doing less dance or less international programming or less of the National Symphony Orchestra â she said. âIt just means that weâre doing more  that we have thrown open the doors of the Kennedy Center  and we are ensuring that all are welcome here.â
 Deborah Rutter   president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts  talks with The Postâs Jonathan Capehart on the âCape Upâ podcast on Nov. 28 in her office at the Kennedy Center. (Jonathan Capehart/The Washington Post)
There are nine performance spaces at the Kennedy Center that are in use all year. In addition to the orchestra and  the Washington National Opera  Rutter  noted the 46-year-old institution has âa magnificent  world-recognized ballet season. We have contemporary dance  we have jazz  we have a huge jazz series  chamber music  recitals  comedy  international programming.â
Listen to the podcast to hear  Rutter  talk further about the work of the Kennedy Center and how it fits into the cultural life of Washington.  She  goes into what it is like to be the local performing arts center for members of Congress  foreign diplomats and âquite a number of justices from the Supreme Court.â But  Rutter  insists none of those constituencies tries to exert influence over programming.
âHere at the center we have no limits on what we could present â  Rutter  told me. âThe problems I always describe is how to say no  when to say no  and how to not be really  truly overwhelmed by the extraordinary limitless richness of what happens here.â
âThe Honors are the greatest weekend of the year  and it is also the bane of our existence  â  [TGT] said with a laugh. For the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts  the annual Kennedy Center Honors  airing on CBS on Dec. 26 and honoring dancer Carmen de Lavallade  rapper LL Cool J  television producer and writer Norman Lear and singers Gloria Estefan and Lionel Richie  is a welcome national spotlight on the memorial to the late president. But thatâs all anyone seems to know about the the white jewel box on the Potomac.
âWe really like to think about the other 364 days of the year  and all of the programming that happens on those days â   [TGT] told me in the latest episode of âCape Up.â âWhat I love about being here at the nationâs cultural center is that we have really a mandate to welcome all of the performing arts. It is not just a performing arts center for one assumed art form or another.â
I bet you didnât know that hip hop was one of those art forms at the Kennedy Center and that Q-Tip is its artistic director. âThis is a first â   [TGT] said. âAnd as far as I know  there is no other artistic director for hip-hop â¦ anywhere in probably the world. And weâre very proud to have Q-Tip here leading  guiding and inspiring us.â
While she didnât need much convincing    [TGT] allowed that there could be others who might â for fear of what it could mean for the other arts. âJust because we are bringing in more programming that includes hip-hop artists  it does not mean that weâre doing less dance or less international programming or less of the National Symphony Orchestra â she said. âIt just means that weâre doing more  that we have thrown open the doors of the Kennedy Center  and we are ensuring that all are welcome  [TGT] 
president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts  talks with The Postâs Jonathan Capehart on the âCape Upâ podcast on Nov. 28 in her office at the Kennedy Center. (Jonathan Capehart/The Washington Post)
There are nine performance spaces at the Kennedy Center that are in use all year. In addition to the orchestra and   [TGT] noted the 46-year-old institution has âa magnificent  world-recognized ballet season. We have contemporary dance  we have jazz  we have a huge jazz series  chamber music  recitals  comedy  international programming.â
Listen to the podcast to hear   [TGT] talk further about the work of the Kennedy Center and how  [TGT]  fits into the cultural life of Washington.   [TGT]   goes into what it is like to be the local performing arts center for members of Congress  foreign diplomats and âquite a number of justices from the Supreme Court.â But   [TGT] insists none of those constituencies tries to exert influence over programming.
âHere at the center we have no limits on what we could present â   [TGT] told me. âThe problems I always describe is how to say no  when to say no  and how to not be really  truly overwhelmed by the extraordinary limitless richness of what happens here.â