Dance New Amsterdam Faces Eviction

Manhattan dance space organization Dance New Amsterdam may be evicted because of its inability to pay rent, the New York Times reports.  Dance New Amsterdam's executive director, Catherine Peila, told the Times that Dance New Amsterdam owes over half a million dollars in rent and added, "With the high rent and the recession, we didn't earn enough money to pay the rent. The arts community should really be revved up: we serve 8,000 students, we employ 250 people a year and we moved to Lower Manhattan to revitalize the area."  Peila also told the Times that the organization hopes to meet with landlord Fram Realty and with cities agencies and to come to an agreement for lower rent. 

Dance New York has released a statement, saying that it wishes to continue "teaching dance, commissioning choreographers and presenting performances to the public," the Times states. Dance New Amsterdam's presentations have included Mark Morris, Urban Bush Women, and David Dorfman.