Joan Weill’s Support of Dance Company Marked by a Personal Touch

By Nicole Lewis

Joan H. Weill still remembers the first time she saw a performance of the acclaimed

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, even though it was more than 50 years ago. The evening featured one of

the troupe’s star dancers, Judith Jamison.

“I was so incredibly impressed with her just as a dancer — her stage presence — and as a woman,” she says. “If I came back in my next life, I’d come back as a dancer.”

For now, Mrs. Weill is content to help the next generation of Ailey performers and students — and to serve as a major benefactor for Ms. Jamison, who is now Ailey’s artistic director.

Mrs. Weill and her husband, Sanford I. (Sandy)Weill, who recently retired as chairman of Citigroup, have donated $20-million to the company, most of it for the group’s spacious home in midtown Manhattan, which opened in 2005.

While the modern-dance troupe appreciates the couple’s financial generosity — the new building, named for Mrs. Weill, would not have happened without their gift — their personal involvement in furthering the group’s mission ranks higher, says Sharon Gersten Luckman, the group’s executive director.

Mrs. Weill, who has served on the board for a dozen years and as chairwoman for the past six, spent several years helping craft the new space so the group would not outgrow it too fast. The eight-story building offers plenty of rehearsal space and has enabled the organization to offer dance classes to New York residents.

Mrs. Weill also helped raise $79-million for its construction and endowment, and was meticulous about writing thank-you notes to donors and following up with potential supporters, says Ms. Luckman. “She does what it takes by example and then she urges the board to do the same,” she says.

Reinforcing the Mission

At first, Mrs. Weill says, she didn’t like asking for money.

“But I really got into it after a while because I realized it’s really not for me,” she says. “I had this picture of how happy the dancers would be.”

The Weills, who are worth $1.5-billion according to Forbes magazine, could have paid for the whole project, but they felt that approach was not in the charity’s best interests.

“It’s a very bad thing,” says Mrs. Weill. “You want people to buy into it and be responsible and feel part of it.”

However, near the end of the fund-raising drive, the group was still $9-million short of its goal. The Weills promised to donate another $3-million if the organization raised $6-million. Ailey fund raisers exceeded the goal — and, to make good on their pledge, the Weills wound up contributing $3.4-million.

In addition to raising money to cement its future, Mrs. Weill personalizes her commitment to the arts group. She has made it a point to learn the names of all the employees at the organization’s new home.

And company dancers and scholarship students from Ailey’s school visit board meetings at Mrs. Weill’s behest, to ensure that the people leading the group stay connected to its mission of furthering the art of dance.

While the idea to support the Ailey group came from his wife, Mr. Weill has joined wholeheartedly in her endeavors, helping chair the company’s annual gala for the past decade — proceeds from the event have more than quadrupled during their tenure, to $2.9-million — and steering Citigroup support to the group for two tours of Asia.

And it was Mr. Weill’s idea and connections that led to the showcasing of the Ailey company as the first modern-dance troupe to perform at a prestigious St. Petersburg dance festival in Russia last year, says Ms. Luckman.

“That is part of our mission, to be ambassadors of American culture all over the world,” she says. “Years ago, the U.S. State Department made that happen. That’s not something the State Department does anymore, but Sandy Weill did it.”

The couple’s joint effort at Ailey is typical of how their philanthropy operates, says Mr. Weill.

“We have both been very supportive of what the other does,” he says. “My wife has been a great partner to me in business, as well as philanthropy, as well as emotionally.”

In appreciation, Mr. Weill made a donation to the company to commission a new work, “Shining Star,” in honor of his wife’s birthday two years ago.

At Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Carnegie Hall, two New York groups that Mr. Weill has long served as chairman, Mrs. Weill sits on several advisory boards.

“I have goals in mind for Alvin Ailey, and he has certain goals for Carnegie Hall,” she says. “We basically come to each other and talk about it.”

Increasing Ailey’s endowment and the scope of its summer dance camps for young people are among Mrs. Weill’s next tasks.

Among Ms. Luckman’s own goals for the group, one stands out: Never introduce term limits to the board.

“We hope she will stay forever,” she says.