Artistic and Executive Compensation Report 2024
December 11th, 2024
This report is the sixth annual compensation study examining leadership pay at ballet and classically based companies in the United States. The report offers critical insights into pay equity among artistic and executive directors across the Largest 150 U.S. ballet companies, as well as trends in leadership compensation and notable disparities based on gender.
As DDP releases this report, five of the Largest 10 ballet companies now have female artistic directors, signaling a marked improvement at the highest level in gender representation. Artistic directors in the Largest 50 earned an average compensation of $218,560 in FY 2022. Executive directors in the Largest 50 earned an average compensation of $212,362 in FY 2022. The full report provides average compensation figures for the Next 50 and Additional 50 companies. Preliminary findings show that in FY 2023, artistic directors and executive directors within the Largest 50 earned an average compensation of $241,252 and $216,123 respectively. “The growing presence of women in leadership roles at major ballet companies is a promising step toward greater gender equity,” said Elizabeth ‘Liza’ Yntema, President and Founder of DDP. “By providing free, accessible data to the dance sector, DDP ensures progress like this continues across the industry by highlighting disparities and driving accountability.”
In FY 2022, for the first time, female executive directors earned four cents more than their male counterparts. In FY 2022, female artistic directors earned 26 cents less per dollar than their male counterparts. Available data for FY 2023 indicates that in FY 2023, female artistic directors within the Largest 50 earned two cents less per dollar than their male counterparts, and female executive directors were paid four cents less per dollar than their male counterparts.
However, as of November 2024, FY 2023 salary data was not available for 3 of the 4 female Artistic Directors in the Largest 10 ballet companies. Compensation report Lead and Senior Researcher Maya Canestaro cautioned, “A clearer picture will emerge once all FY 2023 and FY 2024 returns are available. Note that Lourdes Lopez, artistic director of Miami City Ballet, FY 2023 compensation is a significant outlier. When her compensation is removed, women only make 61 cents for every dollar earned by men.”
Fourteen artistic or executive directors received a compensation increase of greater than 50% from FY 2022 to FY 2023. Seven artistic or executive directors received a compensation increase of greater than 50% from FY 2021 to FY 2022. Seven artistic or executive directors’ compensation decreased by more than 25% from FY 2022 to FY 2023, and eight artistic or executive directors’ compensation decreased by more than 25% from FY 2021 to FY 2022.
Of significance: leadership compensation as a percentage of company expenditures has increased significantly since FY 2018, reflecting a growing emphasis on investing in leadership even amid financial challenges. Average executive director compensation as a percentage of total company expenditures increased from 1.38% in FY 2018 to 2.11% in FY 2023. The average artistic director compensation as a percentage of total company expenditures increased from 1.59% in FY 2018 to 2.28% in FY 2023. While average compensation has proportionally increased over time, average expenses within the Largest 50 have stayed within the range of $11,688,749–$13,609,004 (with the exception of the FY 2021 average of $7,837,633). This shift indicates that while executive and artistic directors are receiving larger shares of organizational budgets, the overall expenditures of the Largest 50 companies have remained relatively consistent.
“The increasing share of budgets allocated to artistic and executive director salaries comes at a time when many ballet companies are grappling with financial strain or even closure,” said DDP Research Lead Jenna Magrath. “This trend raises important questions about how resources are being prioritized within organizations facing significant budgetary challenges.”
