Laurel Knox knows how to regroup and go in a different direction. When she was a child, her family moved often and Knox was able to take it in stride. “I don’t think I really cared where I lived as long as I was with my family,” she said. Then at age 20, when a knee injury ended her eight-year dream of ballet as a career, Knox left Philadelphia, moved back to Iowa, regrouped and ended up studying theater in California and heading toward a career in corporate events and meetings. She’s worked in different fields and moved to different cities, but the Ballet Des Moines job combines her development experience with her love of ballet.  “Where I was happiest was always working with theater and ballet companies.”

Tell me about your professional background and job history.
I have production and development experience with a number of dance organizations, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre and SD Prism Dance Theatre. Most recently I have worked in higher education at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in development and gained wonderful fundraising experience. This position at Ballet Des Moines is a great fit for my somewhat eclectic work experiences and my love of ballet.

How did you become interested in ballet?
I studied ballet from the ages of 12 to 20. I was actually a ballet major at one point with Philadelphia University of the Arts. An injury forced me to abandon pursuing dance as a career. However, I have remained in the ballet world as either a volunteer or staff with a company. I love ballet because it is living, breathing art. It is the perfect marriage of strength and grace.  And, like a painting or a piece of music, it evokes different interpretations and emotions in each person. 

What did you do for the previous ballet companies you worked for?
I worked in development at Pacific Northwest Ballet, managing their donor relations events and special fundraising event. I produced 60-plus events per year. I worked on the production side at Nevada Ballet Theatre as the company manager, managing the dancers, tours, visiting artists, auditions and assisted the artistic director as necessary. At SD Prism Dance Theatre, the staff consisted of me and the artistic director, and between the two of us, we managed all operations — from costuming and stage managing to donor relations and fundraising. All positions provided me with great experience, which is definitely serving me well in my position at Ballet Des Moines. 

How many executive directors has the company had? How does your role differ from that of your predecessor or predecessors?
There were four previous EDs, all offering various skill sets to Ballet Des Moines. I believe that my role includes the added responsibility of fundraising.

What’s the company’s budget? How has that changed over the years since the company formed in 2002?
Our annual budget is roughly $650,000. It has increased fairly significantly since 2002. Enough so that we were able to hire six professional dancers in 2012 and an additional two dancers last season. We will begin this season with nine company members.

What goals for the company are you working on?
With the board’s involvement, and the guidance of a strategic consultant, we have completed a strategic plan. And with the board’s support and contributions from the community, we have established an artist-in-residence program. My focus for this year is to build awareness in the community of Ballet Des Moines and to increase support of the organization. In order to do so, we have many projects in process, including: creating our first annual report, creating marketing collateral with consistent brand messaging, planning and managing a fall fundraising event, and collaborating with the Iowa State Center in Ames to produce a performance in January.

You’ve been on the job for less than six months. What’s been your biggest adjustment and your biggest surprise about the job?
The biggest adjustment is coming from an organization of almost 2,000 employees to one of four staff members — which is in no way a negative, but it is different. The biggest surprise, which is a pleasant one, is the commitment of the volunteers — from the board of directors to the parents who help backstage during the story ballet productions.