Aftermath: six months after 9-11.(Dance Companies and Dance Schools after September 11th, 2001)(Statistical Data Included)

SIX MONTHS AFTER THE WORLD TRADE Center's collapse, New York's dance world still feels the shaking. While no dance-related organization was unaffected, smaller companies and solo artists were quicker to feel the short-term impact. The September 11 terrorist attack closed some downtown dance venues and performances and created more demands for funding. Economically fragile companies, some already suffering from international economic recession and cuts in all levels of government arts funding, are barely getting by. Dancers are joining forces to lobby for aid, reestablish community, and tap into the healing power of their art.

Immediately after the attack lower Manhattan was closed off, but once rescue efforts diminished and the structural integrity of surrounding buildings was insured, access to all but streets immediately adjoining Ground Zero was gradually restored. Today tourists rush to a platform to view the desolation and continued search and cleanup operations. Subway trains have been rerouted and telephone service has returned slowly and sporadically--it may well be years, if ever, before the acres of networks below the former World Trade Center are reestablished.

Dance Space Center, a hub for classes and performances located at 451 Broadway just above TriBeCa [Triangle Below Canal Street and west of Centre Street], was closed for four days following September 11. The center reported an immediate short-fall of $10,000 in anticipated income. After reopening, class attendance remained 30 percent below normal throughout September but has gradually grown toward normal according to Managing Director Sheramy Keegan-Turcotte. The center refunded $23,000 to foreign students who returned home or canceled their planned stays. "Even as late as January, we expected thirteen visa students and only three were able to come," Keegan-Turcotte said.

The Flea, a tiny presenter of experimental plays and dance three blocks south of Canal Street, got back into the swing of things with a fund-raiser in January at the New Victory Theatre. Further, they are presenting a new drama about a NYC fire department captain starring Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver--who will perform eight weeks at $100 a week, reported Artistic Director Jim Simpson, to help the theater get jumping.

BATTERY DANCE COMPANY, LOCATED JUST nine blocks from Ground Zero, canceled its annual fall fund-raising gala, which usually raises about $60,000 toward its $417,000 budget, according to former Managing Director Ron Knoth. "We …