Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Santos.
Charles, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Founded in 1982, TITAS Presents fulfills its mission by offering tens of thousands of North Texans opportunities to experience the world’s finest performing artists with over 525 performances, more than 150 Dallas debuts, by the most intriguing artists from over 38 countries. In 1994, TITAS introduced the CROSSROADS program to maximize artist/community contact through education and engagement activities including master classes, workshops, pre- and post-show discussions, student performances, lec/dems, internships, and outdoor dance classes. In 2015, TITAS Presents became a dance-only presenter. In collaboration with four distinguished national presenters including The Kennedy Center and The Joyce Theater, TITAS Presents co-commissioned two world premieres by Twyla Tharp and hosted the launch of the company’s 50th Anniversary tour in Dallas. TITAS Presents attracts important national and international attention that continues to raise the visibility of the organization and Dallas as a city committed to the arts.
So we are the dance presenter in Dallas. We bring the world’s most important dance companies to Dallas. Up until four years ago TITAS also presented music. People like Philip Glass, Mariza, Ravi Shankar, Kodo Durmmers of Japan, etc. But in our partnership with the AT&T Performing Arts Center, I’ve been insistent that we all become more curatorial. Hence, the Center does music so we focused on what we are most known for, Dance. I also spend a great deal of time fostering cultural collaborations and commissions for new choreographic work. I conceived and produced A Gathering in 2011 and 2013. It was considered to be the most important example of cultural collaboration in Dallas, Dallas Morning News. It was the Dallas Arts Community response to the AIDS Pandemic. We had 225 performers, 15 different arts groups performing with new works we coordinated for the event. I’m pondering the next A Gathering right now.
TITAS Presents’ efforts and impact on our cultural landscape are critical to the international reputation of our city as a cultural destination.
Personally, I was a dancer. I started producing in 1992 when I created the Austin Festival of Dance which ran for 10 years. I moved to NYC in ’95 to run an orchestra, Eos Orchestra. I was there for two years then I became the producing director for Dancers Responding to AIDS a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. An amazing two and a half years working with any star you can imagine. I of course was focused in the dance world and on creating national programs for the organization. I left BC/EFA to become the managing director/associate producer at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at the World Trade Center in NYC. We presented a very high-end performance series the WWC, were a regranting institution for the state and provided commissions and studio space in our studios on the 92nd floor of the north tower to artists. I had announced my acceptance of the directorship of TITAS four days before 9/11 and was planning on finishing our September season, transitioning a new director/producer in October and moving to Dallas in November. That’s not quite how it ended up. Clearly, I made it out ok. I helped produce the Joyce Theater fireman’s fund event at the end of September and moved to Dallas October 1st 2001. Dallas is home now and has afforded me the opportunity to grow TITAS Presents into an internationally recognized force in the dance world. Everyone in the danced world wants to perform here. We hope to continue to grow TITAS and to develop our commissioning programs as well as our commitment to cultural collaborations.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth? no. I arrived during a tumultuous time for the economy, our country and for the arts. 2008 recession was brutal. We almost closed our doors, but in the process, we never diminished the shows we were producing. We cut budgets, staff, combined positions, raised and begged for money, and in the end we came out ahead. Today, TITAS Presents is in the best shape we have ever been in. We completely changed our business model when we moved downtown to the Arts District and entered into a unique partnership with the AT&T Performing Arts Center. We continue to be the organization that is truly bringing in diverse and international programming to the Center. The partnership continues to flourish but it takes real work like any partnership. Not always easy, but it’s working.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As I’ve previously stated, TITAS Presents is the preeminent dance presenter in Dallas. We are at the center of dance here in Dallas. We are responsible for curating the types of companies perform here, which countries they are coming from and for raising the barre for dance in North Texas.
I think we have really elevated our city in the international cultural landscape. I am constantly being invited to foreign countries via the cultural attaches of the consulates to visit their countries and look at their performing artists. They want to come to Dallas now. I focus a lot of attention on what I think our citizens want to see, who they would appreciate and which artists are going to challenge the norm here. At the moment, I am really exploring Asian counties and their artists. We have a tremendous Asian population in North Texas and I want to explore and honor those cultures. Last year I was invited to tour China to look at companies and we are now working on bringing two companies that I saw. In the fall, I go back to China and to Kuala Lumpur to explore artist from Southern Asia. This past December I was in Israel as a delegate to the Israeli Dance Exposure to see 35 Israeli companies. I have one coming this season, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, and I’m working on two other companies from Israel.
We are working on potential tours for two hugely famous companies right now, Nederlands Dance Theater from The Netherlands, and Paris Opera Ballet from France. We are also negotiating a big tour for an important company from Mexico for 19/20. We are in the middle of negotiating a large commission with two important companies, Diavolo from Los Angeles and Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot from Canada. We are continuing a relationship I have with the legendary artist Twyla Tharp for new works.
We want to work on exciting projects, we want to work in collaboration with arts groups, we want to bring great artists while keeping in mind the importance of establishing Dallas as a cultural city.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is an exciting city, and it’s getting more exciting every day. It’s definitely a challenge for any startup, but Dallas nurtures new companies and new ideas. I certainly don’t want to disillusion anyone that come to Dallas and it’ll all work out, but Dallas is making efforts in the arts world to make this a city that appreciates its artists and the arts in general. We are working on making this a city that artists want to come to live and work. I’ve been involved in three very specific conversations with major dance companies that are seriously interested in leaving their major cities and relocating to Dallas. Those types of conversations are new and exciting. It means the perception of Dallas is changing on the international scene. People are looking at Dallas as an exciting and changing frontier. We are headed in the right direction but it is a challenge. We have to continue to work at educating our municipal, and state and federal, leadership to see the business of the arts. The tremendous impact of the creative economy on a city. Not the impact on quality of life and a city’s reputation, but the impact of dollars, and jobs, generated by the creative economy. The arts are essential to a civilization, and they are under constant attack right now. We need our governments to understand the importance of arts education in our schools. Arts education, in my book, is most important for developing the creative thinkers that will be the problem solvers of tomorrow. The future leaders, politicians, doctors, etc. who are able to creatively problem solve. This is the real value of arts education, and we are failing in this right now. But in Dallas, though we face these challenges every day, we are working as a community to make this a stronger city and to make this a city where artists are welcome and want to work.
Pricing:
- TITAS subscriptions begin at just $161 for a full season and go up from there. The coolest ticket in town!
Contact Info:
- Address: TITAS Presents
700 N. Pearl Street, Suite 1800
Dallas, TX 75201 - Website: titas.org
- Phone: 214.978.2852
- Email: csantos@titas.org
- Facebook: TITAS Presents and Charles Santos
Image Credit:
The image of the woman on the side of a building, Photo by Sharen Bradford, Banadaloop at KMP Plaza, Hall Arts Building with Dallas Arts District; the large white skirt, Jessica Lang Dance, photo by Sharen Bardford, the white image of a dancer with strings, Alonzo King LINES ballet; the image with the rounded apparatus and the dancer flyhing in the air, DIAVOLO; the image with the water splash behind the dancers, Motionhouse from United Kingdom; Image of dancer jumping over lots of boxes DIAVOLO; black and white image of dancers on knees arms in the air, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Israel; Image of men with crystal masks and blades, Herve Koubi from France.
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