Ken Tabachnick

New York City Ballet General Manager Draws on His UB Training

Story by Mara McGinnis, BA '97 : Photo by KC Kratt, MFA '84

It's late October, and while the New York City Ballet (NYCB) dancers rehearse in their studios, Kenneth Tabachnick, BA '77, is across Lincoln Center plaza busily negotiating a union contract for the company's orchestra.

General manager of the country's largest dance company since August 2004, Tabachnick oversees 250 people, including more than 100 dancers, all of whom work together to advance the legacy of legendary choreographer George Balanchine, ballet master of the company from its inception in 1948 until his death in 1983.

Ken Tabachnick

Close-up: BA '77 in Theater
Home: New York, NY
Married, one son
Interests: tae kwon do, reading
(photo: KC Kratt, MFA '84)

“I enjoy the breadth and complexity of the challenges that I face every day and how all of those utilize the different skills that I have gained in my life, whether it is design or law,” says Tabachnick, who studied lighting design at UB and law at Fordham University and enjoyed careers in both prior to joining the NYCB.

In fact, Tabachnick's achievement in lighting design was recently recognized at the prestigious New York Dance and Performance Awards, aka “the Bessies,” where he was honored for more than 20 years of lighting design—what choreographer Stephen Petronio calls “deceivingly simple, but brilliant” lighting work.

A fixture in the New York City performing arts scene since the early 1980s, Tabachnick first met the NYCB's artistic director, Peter Martins, in 1991 when working on lighting for the film version of Balanchine's The Nutcracker with fellow lighting designer Alan Adelman, BA '74. “I've known Ken from when he was a lighting board operator running the console through his careers as a lighting designer and stage manager,” says Adelman. “At one point he was even my lawyer. But dance—that's where his heart was. He always worked with dance companies.”

Tabachnick says that he considers the ballet's dancers the company's most valuable asset and hopes to involve them in additional work that would have the company appear on film, television and DVD. “Since coming to work here, I have a much greater appreciation now for the technique, power and stamina required to become a ballet dancer and to maintain the schedule that our company requires, which is the most demanding in the world,” he says.

Once the ballet season is under way, Tabachnick will attend at least one performance each weekend. “I take different seats in the house each time to see the show from the point of view of all audience members,” he says. “I usually eavesdrop on their conversations to see if they like it or if they're complaining. I always want to find out if there's something we can do better.”

Related Reading: Full-length story on Ken Tabachnick