Barry VanCura, owner of Ballet Tennessee, watches as Joseph Lynch, a hearing impaired ballet dancer, practices a routine.Name: Barry VanCura
Position: Executive director and resident choreographer
Location: Ballet Tennessee
Best part of the job: The part I love most is the artistic part. When I was a child I really did want to dance. I went to North Carolina School of the Arts. From there I danced professionally. The artistic part where I have opportunities to teach and choreograph are the most fulfilling. I’ve had to learn and assume other duties and develop other abilities so I can also lead through the business end. And that is fun, too. I feel like I’m fortified on the business end through our staff and crew, and our board members. But what makes me the happiest is to leave the office and go back into the studio.
Worst part of the job: Making the budgets. Right now, there is no way you can dream your dreams and match it on the budget page. Donations and contributions are coming in a bit slower than they used to. The up side of that is that we haven’t lost our contributors, but they can’t contribute as much as they have in the past. As much as you would like to do to present the best that art can be in the most beautiful way, you have to limit yourself so that you can survive through this year’s budget into next year’s. But when you keep both feet on the ground and hold on to reality, you find new ways of being creative.