Cash crunch cripples New Orleans arts programs.

Byline: Renee Aragon Dolese

Dance instructor Celia Taylor admits getting a little depressed driving past the devastation in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish on her way to teach in Chalmette. "I know what joy music and dance does for you, and these kids have been through so much. To have a child hug you and say 'I love you' is worth everything," said Taylor, an instructor for the New Orleans Ballet Association's St. Bernard After School Ballet Program. Taylor gives free ballet lessons at St. Bernard Unified School to children 6 to 18 years old. Her classes take place in crowded hallways where other students and teachers often have to step around them."We've had to adapt. I'm more lenient with my students now than before," Taylor said. "And I definitely don't have students practice their jumps at home any more after I got a bunch of phone calls from parents asking me to please not have their children jump in their FEMA trailers."Before Hurricane Katrina, the ballet's education program extended to 600 students at 14 sites throughout Orleans and St. Bernard parishes, according to Jenny Hamilton, NOBA executive director. She said 12 sites were damaged and eight are back in operation, serving about 200 students post-Katrina.The 2006 season was going to be one of NOBA's most ambitious ever with productions staged by three internationally renowned ballet companies. But when the ballet's performance home, the city-run Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts, remained closed in January with $3.7 million in damages, the Diavolo dance production had to be canceled. The other two companies, the Parsons Dance Co. and the Joffrey Ballet, have agreed to perform in New Orleans on a smaller scale at NOBA's temporary home, Tulane University's Dixon Hall. The Parsons Dance Co. performs Wednesday and Thursday in NOBA's first shows since Katrina.Economic impactWith loss of staff, audiences, venues and revenues, nonprofit arts institutions are struggling post-Katrina, said Director Shirley Trusty Corey of the Arts Council of New Orleans, a nonprofit that administers arts grants for the city."It's hard to track but about half of the nonprofit cultural institutions are back. And those that are back are doing a super-human effort to keep things functioning with smaller staffs, less income and no venues," she said. "The concern is how long can these organizations sustain those levels." Before Katrina the nonprofit arts sector was a $300-million industry for the greater New Orleans area, according to an economic impact study by the Arts Council three years ago. The city of New ...