Carla Perlo is a force of nature. How else can one explain how she has "shaped the Washington, DC dance community" for more than two decades, as Washington Post dance critic Lisa Traiger said in a recent dance review.
Dance Place, with founding director Carla Perlo as executive director and Deborah Riley as co-director, has been highly ambitious — and highly successful. Carla created a community center with programs for at-risk youth while building a national reputation in the field of dance presentation, commissioning of choreographic works, and the training of dancers. It is home to a resident company and two visiting companies.
A recap of 2006-2007 for Dance Place shows an organization constantly in motion. Dance Place served 9,500 children and youth and partnered with 55 schools and organizations throughout the Greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. There were 81 public performances with more than 650 artists, ten touring companies, and 6 festivals.
Many of the programs for youth are offered after school and in the summer, when schools and parents lack the necessary resources to provide enrichment programs for their children. There is an "Energizer" program that focuses on creative education—bringing in students who have not been interested initially in dance. "We sneak dance into the curriculum," Carla says with a smile. "Creative expression helps people figure out who they are. We need to train people to be creative from the time they're born until the time they die."
Perlo is ready when people ask how funding of the arts should be a priority when there are so many other needs in our region. "People don't see the arts as part of our daily diet," Carla says. "That's why we have depression and obesity in this country. I believe we would not have as many medical problems if we had more rigorous dance programs."
Dance Place hopes to redevelop its Northeast DC home and create a united campus that would include low-cost housing and market rate condos—her dream for the future to expose people at all income levels to the arts.
So what keeps an energizer like Carla Perlo running? The work. "I love what I do. I get to teach, direct, choreograph; I get to work in program development. I love numbers and keep a tight handle on the budget. I help to keep the institution stable and document for the future. I'm challenged every day."
