'Pay What You Decide' Program Announced At The Joyce

The Joyce Theater Foundation, Inc. (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is pleased to announce two new initiatives during its Spring/Summer 2018 Season: Pay What You Decide, offering patrons the ability to pay what they deem appropriate after seeing a specific performance of three of The Joyce's presentations; and JoycePass, providing eligible dance professionals with prime seat locations in The Joyce's Chelsea home for $10.

These initiatives are supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

PAY WHAT YOU DECIDE
Pay What You Decide invites audiences to see performances of outstanding world-class artists without the usual upfront financial risk. This new program seeks to promote more adventurous performance selections, encouraging art seekers to take a chance on a show they might not have seen otherwise. Instead of paying a fixed price before coming to the theater, patrons are able to see the show, and decide what to pay afterwards.

"I'm thrilled that, due to the generosity of The Gilman Foundation, we have the opportunity to build new audiences for the work of superb artists without any of the financial hurdles," says Executive Director Linda Shelton.

Choreographer Brian Brooks, whose company Brian Brooks Dance will offer a Pay What You Decide performance, added, "Too often, the price of a ticket decides whether you see a show or not. We should all celebrate The Joyce for finding a new way to remove that obstacle. As a choreographer and teacher who engages with students, professionals, and non-artist communities throughout each year, I'm thrilled to partner with The Joyce as they open their doors even wider." For more information, please visit www.joyce.org/PWYD.

The performances included in this initiative are:
Company Wayne McGregor: Saturday, March 3 at 2pm
Brian Brooks Dance: Sunday, March 18 at 2pm
Dada Masilo/The Dance Factory: Sunday, April 8 at 2pm

JOYCEPASS
A second new initiative, JoycePass, will offer dancers, choreographers, dance administrators, and students access to $10 tickets in prime locations of The Joyce's house, which would typically be priced at $30 to $75 (prices subject to change). The Joyce will allocate up to 10 seats per performance and approximately 3,000 tickets annually to the JoycePass program. While The Joyce continues to offer $10 and $20 tickets to all audience members, this program is specifically designed to serve the dance community, and to support the synergy that occurs when dance artists and professionals encounter each other. For more information, please visit www.joyce.org/JoycePass .

ABOUT THE Joyce Theater Foundation
The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over three decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and The Joyce renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also presented dance at Lincoln Center since 2012, and launched Joyce Unleashed in 2014 to feature emerging and experimental artists. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 150,000