As I approach my final week here at ABT, I begin to reflect upon what an amazing experience these past 12 weeks have been. I’ve had the opportunity to work dress rehearsals, studio visits, the Fall Gala and assist in the day-to-day tasks of my department, Major Gifts. All in all, it’s been surprising, educational and above all incredibly memorable!
One of my most surprising, yet enjoyable, experiences was a closet cleaning project. Major Gifts is a sub department of Development and together we share a closet, or rather a small room. One day, all of the development interns were tasked to clean out said closet; clean being the imperative word, not organize! We spent the entire day going through boxes and files, cataloging, shredding and filing. Some of the gems we found include lost ABT water bottles, what seemed like thousands of plexi plastic cardholders, old programs, and dancer directories from years gone by! It was a fascinating to look into the history of this historic institution whilst simultaneously instilling order in the chaos caused by immense productivity.
To say that my internship at ABT has been an educational experience is an understatement – educational in the most delightful way that is! Dennis, the leader of the intern team and head of education makes every effort to teach us about the mechanics of a non-profit like ABT. During our weekly intern meetings we’ve had guest speakers from Kyle Pickles, the Company Manager, to Brendan Rosell from Marketing. Next week we’ll even have Kara Barnett our Chief Executive Officer! Our weekly intern meetings really make the experience holistic and have taught me how different departments work together to ensure ABT’s success.
A personal highlight for me this season was an exchange where we got to interact and befriend interns at Roundabout Theatre Company, a non-profit theatre group. We hosted them at the David H. Koch Theater and together saw a triple bill featuring Songs of Bukovina, In the Upper Room and a new piece by Michelle Dorrance. The night concluded with a backstage tour of the Koch Theater, it was amazing to see how the dancers see the audience from their point-of-view on stage; though, of course the theatre was empty!
I leave ABT having learnt so much about the non-profit world. Interning at ABT has been beyond terrific and definitely a dream come true; it is easily one of my most cherished experiences.
Lilli Wang
Major Gifts Intern
Fall 2018
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