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A prominent New York dance company on Monday said it was canceling its performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in protest of the center’s being renamed to include President Trump.
The decision by Doug Varone and Dancers is the latest by artists who have canceled appearances at one of the nation’s pre-eminent arts centers this month. An earlier set of withdrawals and resignations took place in February after the president pushed out members of the board of directors and replaced them with his supporters.
On Monday, the Kennedy Center’s website also said that two scheduled New Year’s Eve performances by the Cookers, a jazz ensemble, had been canceled. The center had previously promoted the performances as an “all-star jazz septet that will ignite the Terrace Theater stage with fire and soul.”
The reason for those cancellations was not immediately clear. They came after the jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled his annual free Christmas Eve concert at the center.
Doug Varone and Dancers said it was withdrawing from a two-night stand in April that had been intended to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. Varone, the head of the company, said it would lose $40,000 by pulling out.
“It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” he said in an email.
The artists who have protested in recent weeks include Kristy Lee, a folk singer from Alabama, who announced she was pulling out from a free concert on Jan. 14. “I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts,” she said in a social media post. “This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck.”
The center has responded aggressively to some of the cancellations. Richard Grenell, the chairman of the center, threatened a $1 million lawsuit against Mr. Redd after he canceled the Christmas Eve concert.
The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday about the artist withdrawals. In his letter to Mr. Redd, Mr. Grenell said, “Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance.”
The cancellations underscore the difficulties that Mr. Grenell and Mr. Trump have faced in trying to remake the center in the president’s name. Those who canceled performances or resigned advisory roles in February included the Pulitzer winner Rhiannon Giddens, the so
prano Renée Fleming and the singer-songwriter Ben Folds.
The president recently hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, which featured a roster of handpicked artists including Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone, and was televised on CBS last week.
Doug Varone and Dancers were scheduled to appear at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater on April 24 and April 25. Mr. Varone said the group had agreed to appear to honor two of the center’s top dance administrators — Jane Raleigh and Alicia Adams — both of whom have since left the institution.
“We can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution,” he said.
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The head of Doug Varone and Dancers called the decision to cancel two performances at the Kennedy Center “financially devastating but morally exhilarating. ”Credit…Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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