CC Conner Keeps Dancing

by Neil Ellis Orts

Prelude to an Arts Career
It’s impossible to say where the first flicker catches.  

Perhaps it was the environment of the family, a grandfather who owned the first silent movie theater in High Point, North Carolina, and a grandmother who would play piano for the silent movies.

It might be the brief time he and his brother took tap and ballet.

Or maybe it was the parents who took the family to see touring companies like the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo when they came through Greensboro.

Then there is the flare of the music studies, starting with piano, giving way to saxophone, landing on the flute as the instrument that he hoped would make him a professional musician.

The truth probably lies in some intersection of all these things, plus a force of personality and ambition that has given CC Conner a long and ongoing career as an arts lawyer, administrator, board member, and general enthusiast. This career is why Dance Source Houston (DSH) is honoring Conner this year at their SPARK fundraiser with the Gianelli Service Award, an annual recognition of an outstanding dance community member for their sustained support of dance in Houston. This year’s celebration takes place March 1 at the MATCH, 3400 Main Street, with performances, food, and, of course, dancing.

I met with Conner at his home one unseasonably beautiful February afternoon, where I found him and his husband, arts writer DL Groover, sitting on the front porch of their Montrose home. Conner and I and a lovely cat made ourselves comfortable in a living room to discuss a life that won’t fit in the confines of this article, but this might give insight to why DSH chose him as this year’s honoree.

New York, Chicago, Houston
Upon acceptance into the Eastman School of Music, Conner’s practical side evaluated his chances at his ultimate goal, which was to be first flute in a major city orchestra. “My math brain said, every time that job comes up, which is once every five or ten years in one of those orchestras, there are 250 people qualified, and I thought, you know what? I don’t want to play in the Greensboro orchestra. I did that in high school.” So he set his music dreams aside and went to college.

Making the most of the college experience, Conner took his last three semesters to study abroad in Vienna, Austria. There, he experienced opera as he had never experienced it before. He left Vienna with the plan to go to law school, but also with a new goal beyond practicing law; he would pursue arts administration.

After law school, he practiced law in New York City. His years there included practicing corporate law on Wall Street, but he was never far from the arts communities. He quickly got involved with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA). Through this work, he got to know and to become known by the New York dance community. Doris Hering, an editor for Dance Magazine, approached him to help set up a new dance company for Pauline Koner, formerly a dancer with the legendary Jose Limon. Conner offered to be her executive director, a position he held from 1975 to 1980.

When Conner left the Koner company—“I needed to make a living again.”—he returned to practicing law but never stopped working with arts organizations through VLA. Fast forward to 1992 when the opportunity to manage the Joffrey Ballet presented itself. It was not an easy job to take on.

The Joffrey, it turned out, was bankrupt. Conner created a strategic plan to move the company from New York to Chicago, a more affordable city. As the company was closing shop in New York, Conner got the offer to come to Houston to lead Houston Ballet. “For the first three months of 1995, I spent a week in New York, then a week in Houston, a week in New York, then a week in Houston, working for both companies,” Conner says.

In the 30 years since moving to Houston, Conner saw Houston Ballet progress from being deeply in debt to having a large endowment. They moved from their studios on West Gray into a state-of-the-art building in the downtown theater district, walking distance from their performing home at the Wortham Theater Center.

With the new Ballet Houston Center for Dance built, Conner retired from Houston Ballet in 2012.

Retired-ish.

The Active Octogenarian
As Conner speaks of getting older and retiring after a long career, I do some quick math. “You’re in your 80s, it sounds like,” I say gingerly.

“I’m 83,” he confirms.

“So, when are you going to retire?”

Conner laughs and says, “When the Lord takes me away.”

I press on, asking about any plans for new projects. “I’m sort of where I want to be,” he responds and then talks about all the boards he still serves on. There are a couple he’s rotating off, but then there is a dancer he’s helping get started with her company. He and Groover completed a history of Houston Ballet last year but Conner maintains a work space there and continues doing work in their archives. “One of the other things I still do,” he says, wearing his lawyer-for-the-arts-hat, “I represent Stanton Welch, the artistic director for Houston Ballet, when he does work for other companies around the world.

All to say, perhaps, that the Giannelli Service Award is not the capstone to a life of service but just a pause for recognition in the ongoing journey.

Tickets for SPARK can be purchased at DanceSourceHouston.org/spark.