Davies

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Jenefer Davies, who guided Roanoke Ballet Theatre to the forefront of the local dance scene, is stepping down as the ballet's executive director to design a dance program for Washington and Lee University.

Davies, who dramatically increased the ballet's profile during her 11-year tenure, will retain the title of artistic director. She will no longer run the school, however, and will work on the company's upcoming productions only in an advisory capacity. Longtime RBT dance instructor Unur Gunaajav will run the school.

Davies' departure follows by just five months the announcement that longtime Southwest Virginia Ballet artistic director Terri Post was moving with her husband to New York.

Davies, 37, is a graduate of Hollins University and has a master of fine arts degree in dance from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She said she had always intended to teach dance, but was diverted by the opportunity to take the helm at RBT in the mid-'90s.

She said there are "a lot of reasons" why she's leaving now. "After a certain length of time, it's important to bring in someone with new energy, who can take Roanoke Ballet Theatre in new directions," Davies said.

She said the ballet school, which has grown from 25 students to 250 students on her watch, is on solid financial footing and has a bright future. "I feel really good about doing this now," said Davies, who also endured some lean months some years ago when, she said, "I felt it was more prudent to pay teachers and guest artists than myself."

Under Davies, the ballet has repeatedly broken new ground, beginning with a post-modern dance called "Numb," performed at Atlanta's 1996 Cultural Olympiad. RBT performed its genre-crunching "Bluegrass Ballet" with bluegrass stars the Del McCoury Band in 2001. Then came "Aerial Ballet" in 2003, in which RBT dancers danced on the side of Center in the Square while hanging from mountain-climbing harnesses anchored to the roof.

NASCAR Ballet in 2004 featured dancers who simulated race cars to a commentary by NASCAR drivers and a sports announcer. It garnered international attention, with stories in multiple newspapers and on ESPN.

RBT became part of Center in the Square in 1997. Center helps the ballet with basic expenses, as it does for its other member organizations.

Center president Jim Sears last week called Davies' departure "heartbreaking. I think it's a good professional move for her. But I think it's a real loss for the arts and culture in the area. We're very pleased with what she's done since Roanoke Ballet Theatre joined Center, and very proud of her."

A search is under way for Davies' replacement.

The Taubman-Thomas-Fralin Museum of Art?

The Art Museum of Western Virginia has not yet announced the major donors to its $66 million new museum project. But the museum's most recent tax returns give hints.

According to the latest available returns, the museum's biggest contributors from July 2002 through June 2005 were, well, pretty much who everybody thought they were. Ambassador Nick Taubman and his wife, Jenny, who heads the museum's capital campaign committee, contributed a little more than $2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005 -- the single largest amount listed on that year's return. The Mary Thomas Trust was a close second, contributing $1.97 million. Thomas, who was widely known as Peggy, bequeathed her inherited collection of art and memorabilia from American realist painter Thomas Eakins and his circle to the museum in 2001. Her gift was a catalyst for the new museum building, set to open in fall 2008.

The Horace G. Fralin Charitable Trust gave slightly more than $1 million to the museum in fiscal 2004-05, according to the tax return. The trust, named for the late developer and administered by his brother, Heywood Fralin, has spent millions on new artwork for the museum in recent years.

Other big donors that year included the Wachovia Foundation ($267,000), Carilion Foundation ($220,070) and Delta Dental Plan of Virginia ($126,000).

Top donors in fiscal 2003-04 were the Taubmans again, with $3.02 million; and the Fralin Trust, at $1.95 million. The trust also contributed $1.81 million to the museum in fiscal 2002-03. The city of Roanoke has pledged $4 million to the project, and the state and federal governments have chipped in several million more.

According to the tax returns, the museum received $6.96 million in total contributions, gifts and grants in 2004-05, and $5.58 million the year before, which is just a fraction of the new museum's $66 million cost, so it's still possible a dark-horse top donor could emerge.

Better days

Jefferson Center has a new logo and a new plan.

The arts and cultural complex, which was looking at a $400,000 budget shortfall a few months ago, has raised more than $200,000 and is "on the cusp of a whole new era," according to executive director James "Bau" Graves.

A new mission statement emphasizes cultural diversity. "We aim to be an organization that is responsive to the interests and passions of the whole community," said Graves in a release.

The new crownlike red and gold logo by Phyllis O'Neill, meanwhile, alludes to Virginia red clay, "the bright hues favored by the many ethnic communities making their homes here," Jefferson Center's medieval architecture and the Mill Mountain Star, said the release. There is a "quirky playfulness" in the lettering.

The new logo will appear on Jefferson Center's Web site, in mailings and on banners on the building exterior, said Graves in a phone interview. "It will be on everything that Jefferson Center does."