The building
ABOUT OUR 450 WEST 37 ST. HOME
Before its transformation into the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), the site of our building was a parking garage. The purchase of the site was led by BAC’s first executive director, Christina Sterner, and the building was built by the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation in concert with a theatrical producing group including Alan Schuster (STOMP), Kevin McCollum and Jeffrey Seller (Rent, West Side Story, and Hamilton). The building was designed by John W. Averitt of Averitt Architects and opened as 37 Arts in 2005.
The producers planned to use the building’s lower three floors to preview Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, with the top three floors dedicated to the Baryshnikov Arts Center in a unique partnership between for profit and nonprofit.
BAC originally included studios on the fourth and sixth floors and shared office space on the fifth floor with the theater group. The theatrical collective held three theaters below BAC with 500, 400, and 300 hundred seats respectively.
Baryshnikov Arts Center broke ground in 2001, and the project was completed in 2005.
Early funding for the Baryshnikov Arts Center came primarily from Mikhail Baryshnikov, Donald Kendall, the Arison Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (Kate Levin Commissioner), and the Gilman Foundation.
The theater
JEROME ROBBINS THEATER
When the theatrical group sold its space in 2008, Baryshnikov Arts Center purchased the 300-seat Theater C and renovated it into the Jerome Robbins Theater in acknowledgment of Baryshnikov’s long standing personal and professional relationship with Robbins. Designed by WASA/Studio A, with Architect & Design Partner-In-Charge Martine Kapell, RA, the theater opened in 2010.
RUDOLF NUREYEV STUDIO
In 2015, the Center received a $3 million gift from the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation. The donation went toward naming the Rudolf Nureyev Studio (also known as Studio 4A). Nureyev (1938–1993) and Baryshnikov were close friends and colleagues, and both trained (ten years apart) with the renowned teacher Alexander Pushkin at the Vaganova Academy in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
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DANNY KAYE & SYLVIA FINE KAYE STUDIO
In 2018, the Baryshnikov Arts Center named its Studio 4B after the actor, singer, and comedian Danny Kaye (1911–1987) and his wife Sylvia Fine Kaye (1913–1991) in honor of their artistic and cultural contributions. The couple had shared a close friendship with Mikhail Baryshnikov, and the Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation, under the stewardship of their daughter, Dena Kaye, who also has kept a close friendship with Baryshnikov, has provided substantial financial support to BAC over the years.
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HOWARD GILMAN PERFORMANCE SPACE
The Howard Gilman Performance Space, which comprises the Rudolf Nureyev Studio and the Danny Kaye & Sylvia Fine Kaye Studio, was named after the arts philanthropist Howard Gilman (1924–1998), a longtime friend and supporter of Baryshnikov’s.
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JOHN CAGE AND MERCE CUNNINGHAM STUDIO
The John Cage and Merce Cunningham Studio was named after the musician and choreographer, respectively, who were two of Baryshnikov’s friends and collaborators. This creative partnership is further explored in the film MERCE / MISHA / MORE, which premiered at Baryshnikov Arts Center in Spring 2024 and returned in Fall 2024.
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CHRISTINA STERNER STUDIO
Studio 6B at Baryshnikov Arts Center bears the name of the organization’s first executive director, and who led the purchase and creation of the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Sterner had previously been the Managing Director of Baryshnikov Productions, the administrative wing of the White Oak Dance Project, which was founded by Baryshnikov and the choreographer Mark Morris.
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