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Filling our dance cards: new ideas for new ballet audiences.

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Ballet Austin audiences were shocked last year when a voice from the stage asked them to please keep their phones on for the performance. Taking a cue from American Idol, the announcer instructed the audience to vote via cell phone for the winner of the choreographers' showcase.

This audience-participation evening is just one of the ways the company engages their existing audiences and brings in newer, younger prospective ballet fans. And it seems to be working. Cookie Ruiz, executive director of Ballet Austin, says staff members planted themselves in the audience that night to see how it was going and the level of conversation was like they'd never heard before. People were having tons of fun discussing the works and arguing over who should win and why. It went so well that they plan on doing it every two years.

Dance companies everywhere are taking a closer look at how they relate to audiences. Historically, going to see the ballet is a passive experience. You show up, you sit, you watch, you go home. In today's world where everyone can make something, publish something, remix something, upload video and music mash-ups to the web, perhaps asking people to sit quietly in a ballet audience is too much. People's attitudes toward entertainment are...

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