Pittsburgh dance company Attack Theatre announces new executive director
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Attack Theatre, a small, dance-focused arts company in Pittsburgh, has announced Andres Franco as its new executive director.
Franco, a former assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, has transitioned into administration in recent years, leading the City of Asylum bookstore and Exiled Writer and Artist Residency Program and, most recently, DNAWORKS, a self-described “arts and service organization” based in New York City, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, Texas.
At Attack Theatre, which has its own small theatre and administrative space in Lawrenceville, Franco will work with founders and co-artistic directors Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope. The company has gone without a full-time executive director in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, with de la Reza handling the duties of the position.
Attack has been growing steadily, however — its operating budget has increased from around $800,000 in 2020 to about $1.3 million in recent years.
“Taking this step is about imagining what Attack will look like in 10 years,” Franco said.
Founded in 1994, Attack Theatre stages five or six productions a year, plus additional projects and collaborations with other Pittsburgh organizations like the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, The Andy Warhol Museum and more. It also serves roughly 5,000 students and teachers a year through its education programs.
The company’s next and final production this season takes place April 4-6 at Attack Theatre Studios in Lawrenceville and features professional dancers and a Miami-based Cuban roots funk band. General admission tickets are $45. More information on the performance and the company is available at attacktheatre.com.