Arlene Shuler is an American

arts administrator The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

and former ballet dancer. She is the president and chief executive of the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and ...

Biography

Shuler grew up in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

playing ballet. She began her training at age six under Marguerite Duncan in Cleveland and then entered the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Ne ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. At age 13, she played as the young lead in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' with the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

. She was joined the

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric ...

at 17 and performed frequently at the New York City Center. After a career in dancing, Schuler received her B.A. degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and her

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked ...

. She worked at the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

as a summer intern, which inspired her to become an arts administrator. Shuler began her career as program administrator of the dance program of the NEA, and then worked for Representative

Ted Weiss Theodore S. Weiss (September 17, 1927 – September 14, 1992) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for New York (state), New York from 1977 until hi ...

. She returned to New York to serve as executive director of the

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is both a generic term for legal service organizations located throughout the United States and the proper name of the organization in New York City. Founded in 1969, that organization is the oldest VLA in the ...

, and served executive positions in the Wallace Funds, General Atlantic Partners Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropic Service Company. For 11 years, Shuler worked for the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, first as vice president of planning and development, and then as senior vice president of planning and external affairs. She then served as executive director of the Howard Gilman Foundation. In 2003, Shuler was named president and CEO of the company. She was credited for converting the NYCC from a rental space for dance companies to a producing house that commissions revivals of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

shows and dance performances. Shuler started the

Fall for Dance Festival Fall for Dance is an annual dance festival presented by New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational par ...

, which features a number of dance companies with the aim to introduce new audiences to dance. The success of the new programs increased the center's budget from under $10 million in 2003 to $27.6 million in 2021. In December 2021, she announced her retirement at the end of the 2021–2022 season. Shuler received the Capezio Dance Award in 2009 that awards an individual or institution whose “innovation, creativity, and imagination . . . bring respect, stature, and distinction to dance.”

Personal life

Shuler is married to Nigel Redden, former director of the Lincoln Center Festival,

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Du ...

, and

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuler, Arlene Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New York City Ballet dancers Joffrey Ballet dancers Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Columbia Law School alumni American arts administrators American nonprofit chief executives American nonprofit executives School of American Ballet alumni