JUNE 2002
Sunday June
30
BACK
ON TRACK IN BOSTON? The Boston Ballet has had something of a tumultuous few
years, with executives and dancers alike departing the company unexpectedly and
under less than ideal circumstances. But this week, the company's artistic
director announced that the ballet will soon be hiring 16 new dancers and four
new administrative staff. It's probably too soon to declare a turnaround, but
it's the first positive sign in what the company hopes will be an eventual
reestablishment of its national reputation. Boston
Herald 06/29/02
JUILLIARD NAMES
HARKARVY SUCCESSOR: "Lawrence Rhodes, an internationally known ballet dancer
and administrator and the former director of the dance department at New York
University's Tisch School of the Arts, has been appointed artistic director of
the dance division of the Juilliard School, effective on Monday. Mr. Rhodes
succeeds Benjamin Harkarvy, who died in March." The
New York Times 06/29/02
Thursday June
27
DANCING TO
VICTORY: The games have been fun. But this year's World Cup has set a new
standard for celebratory dances. "As every anthropologist knows, dance is one of
the oldest, most potent ingredients in human ritual. If dance can function as
the language of mating, prayer, supplication and commemoration, what more proper
way for a team to mark its amazing progress in the World Cup?" The Guardian (UK) 06/27/02
Wednesday June
26
JAFFE'S LAST
CURTAIN CALL: 40 may not be particularly old in most professions, but for a
ballerina, it is a ripe old age, and one at which most dancers have already hung
up their toe shoes. So it was for Susan Jaffe at the American Ballet Theater
this week, as the company favorite took her final bows in a well-received
performance at the Met. "The 25-minute ovation at the end left Ms. Jaffe, a heap
of flowers at her feet, mouthing 'I love you' to the audience." The New York Times 06/26/02
Monday June
24
MISSING
INGREDIENTS? In the old days of New York City Ballet, it was a joy to watch
talented young dancers come into the company and grow into artists right before
your eyes. The stream of promising dancers continues. But somehow these dancers
aren't developing in the ways they once were. "Presumably, part of what is
holding the dancers back is their new repertory." The
New Yorker 06/24/02
THE GREAT
AMERICAN DANCER: Anyone with eyes can tell why Fred Astaire was considered
the great American dancer. He was the first with the most — the pioneer who was
also the supreme refiner. On the high end, Mikhail Baryshnikov hailed him as the
dancer of the century, and Jerome Robbins created a ballet in tribute to
Astaire's I'm Old Fashioned dance with Rita Hayworth. Starchy Teutonic
theorist Siegfried Kracauer praised him for injecting realism in Hollywood films
by 'dancing over table tops and down garden paths into the real world'."
Time 06/22/02
Friday June
21
TALKING
ABOUT THE STATE OF DANCE: In Miami 400 dance adminstrators from around
America gather for Dance USA. "As the artistic directors of ballet companies
from across the country discussed the trials of the past year, money troubles
seemed outweighed by advances, such as the number of troupes moving into new
buildings or performing arts centers. And in a forum for modern dance
choreographers, strategies for attracting audiences ranged from offering
birthday cakes at concerts to casting local religious leaders in dances."
Miami Herald 06/21/02
DANCING
IN THE REAL WORLD: How to grow the audience for dance? Take it to where
people are - the pubs, the streets, the offices. "Site-specific choreography, as
Ashford defines it, is a relatively recent phenomenon, although the use of
unconventional venues, such as art galleries, museums, warehouses and lofts, for
what is known as location-based dance, has a much longer history. These venues
provide choreographers with a natural performance space, without the formality
and conventions of the theatre. They also allow the audience to experience the
performance in a different way." London Evening
Standard 06/21/02
TECHNO DANCE:
A Bay Area dance group has created a piece that "combines animation, dance and
electronic music to simulate a video game world. The 3-D animation of the
characters was created using motion capture - the same technology used to make
video games. 'We're emulating ... the creation of a video game, but we're
creating live performance'." Wired 06/21/02
POINTE OF DEPARTURE: At
a time when many artists are just hitting maturity, dancers reach the end of
their careers. This season two of New York's most prominent ballerinas are
retiring: Susan Jaffe of American Ballet Theatre and Helene Alexopoulos of New
York City Ballet. New York Post
06/20/02
Thursday June
20
STEVENSON TO DFW: Houston
Ballet director Ben Stevenson has been named artistic director of the Dallas
Fort Worth Ballet. In 27 years in Houston, "Stevenson doubled the size of the
Houston corps, built up a major school of ballet and recruited significant
talent. As a choreographer, he gained attention for a great variety of works but
was particularly acclaimed for evening-length ballets in the romantic
tradition." Fort Worth Star-Telegram
06/19/02
A
NUTCRACKER GONE WRONG: Donald Byrd's company is shutting down after 24
years. Of course it's a funding issue, but Byrd says the company's gamble on a
major production didn't pay off. "For the company, The Harlem Nutcracker
was supposed be like capital campaigns for some organizations. It was supposed
to push us to the next level of institutionalization. And when you fail at that,
you're like a presidential candidate who doesn't win the election. You are
tossed out and forgotten." Los Angeles Times
06/19/02
UNCOMMON
PRIMA BALLERINA: Royal Ballet star ballerina Darcey Bussell is "tall,
beautiful and with that unconscious grace that marks out natural talent; the
world has never seen a ballerina quite like Bussell. In today's age of
celebrity, she's managed what few other dancers before her have: a fearless
dedication to her art, as well as an enormous following that has brought her
almost pop-star status, with fan clubs, websites, a stint modelling for Vogue,
TV appearances, and even interest from Hollywood." The
Age (Melbourne) 06/20/02
Sunday June
16
DONALD BYRD
COMPANY CLOSING: After 24 years, Donald Byrd/The Group is closing because of
money problems. "A lot of it has to do with debt issues that have been ongoing
since Harlem Nutcracker. The $1.2 million production, which had its
premiere in 1996, was artistically successful and toured extensively throughout
the United States. But Mr. Byrd said he had struggled for six years to pay off
the debt arising from it, now about $400,000. His 10-member company, which has
an annual budget of just under $1 million, also has an accumulated deficit of
another $400,000. Byrd, 52, has been among the most innovative and busy of
choreographers in recent years, tackling unusual themes in an unusually eclectic
style." The New York Times
06/15/02
Thursday June
13
TOO
LONG AND ELECTRONIC: Generalizations are sometimes dangerous, but it is
possible to hold a few obvious truths about this year's Canada Dance Festival.
Choreographers from Toronto and Montreal dominated, the pieces were too long
(most were hour-long full-lengths designed to satisfy presenters), and original
electronic music seems to be the accompaniment of choice "which seems to be
developing a universal template that is best described as
cinematic-cum-atmospheric soundscape." The Globe &
Mail (Canada) 06/13/02
BOULDER
CUTS BACK: The Boulder Ballet and Philharmonic in Colorado is cutting back
operations becauise of mounting deficits, reducing its $2.6 million budget by
$400,000. The ballet cuts a production of Midsummer Night's Dream, while the
orchestra cuts two of its nine programs. "We have to stop the financial
hemorrhaging and we're close to doing that." Denver
Post 06/13/02
Wednesday June
12
DANCE
OLYMPICS: One hundred and eighteen dancers from 25 countries are converging
on Jackson Mississippi this week for the USA International Ballet Competition.
It's held every four years, and "the competition is an expensive, stressful, and
time-consuming proposition. But for dancers ages 15 to 26, it offers a chance to
network and showcase their skills for representatives of some of the world's
most noted dance companies. Outstanding performers are often rewarded not only
with prizes, but with job offers and guest opportunities- a real boon for
emerging talents." Boston
Globe 06/12/02
IRELAND LEARNS
TO DANCE: Contemporary dance has struggled in Ireland for decades. But last
month an international festival of dance played to full houses. Is dance finally
finding a place in Ireland? "The question is, can a country of fewer than four
million with a capital city of about one million support a thriving contemporary
dance scene? Fewer than 30 people in Ireland, mostly choreographers and
administrators, rely on dance for full-time employment. If the calculation
included all members of Irish dance companies, who mostly work part-time as
actors or teachers, the total might reach 60."
The New York Times
06/12/02
Sunday June
9
SPEAKING UP FOR
DANCE: Modern dance needs an advocate. As an artform it has a lot going
against it in developing infrastructures and acceptance. Contemporary dance is
often overlooked in mainstream culture. But in New York "some 400 dance
companies, of every aesthetic stripe, are at work in the five boroughs.
Dance/NYC aims to give them a unified voice."
The New York Times 06/09/02
BACKSTAGE AT THE
BALLET: Running the backstage operations of American Ballet Theatre is a
complcated manouevre, a ballet of its own, composed of "scene changes, the size
and positioning of the sets, the wardrobe, lighting design and electrical needs.
It requires coordination with the ballet masters over rehearsal schedules and
artistic changes that crop up over the course of performances. And it demands
adherence to a budget that comes out of the $4 million a year allocated to
production costs." The New
York Times 06/09/02
KEEPERS
OF THE FLAME: New York is home to two of the world's great ballet companies.
But "as excellent as the two companies still are on a good night, both seem to
be struggling to reinvent themselves, to reach beyond powerful past identities.
Ballet watchers have complained that ABT is neglecting its heritage - the
profound works of Antony Tudor and the popular ones of Agnes de Mille. City
Ballet's public has complained about the stewardship of the company that Peter
Martins has run since the 1983 death of its cofounder, George Balanchine.
Martins hasn't regularly invited key keepers of the Balanchine flame back into
the fold to teach the ballets to a generation of City Ballet dancers who never
knew the master. Former company luminaries are instead scattered across the
country." Boston Globe
06/08/02
Thursday June 6
BOLSHOI
RESCUE: The Russian government has decided to allocate $180 million to fix
up the badly-decaying Bolshoi Theatre. "Four and a half years of rebuilding work
would start in 2003, performances would continue while work was being done, and
the theatre would only be closed for a few months during the
summer." BBC 06/06/02
Tuesday June 4
ABT COMING UP FOR
AIR? American Ballet Theatre is one of the country's great dance companies.
Also one of its most financially troubled in recent years. "After a financially
trying two years in which productions were canceled, staff members quit, donors
defected and the executive director was forced to resign, could Ballet Theater
be heading for fiscal and spiritual health? Apparently not just yet." The New York Times
06/04/02
REPRIEVE IN
FRANKFURT? Last week it was reported that the City of Frankfurt planned to
close Frankfurt Ballet and cancel director William Forsythe's contract. Now
Forsythe says that "Frankfurt city officials have told him they want his
acclaimed dance company, the Frankfurt Ballet, to continue working in the city
after his current contract ends in 2004. But he added that a deal was not
assured, as the city's finances are in dire straits."
The New York Times
06/04/02
Sunday June 2
THE
BOLSHOI'S MARKET FORCES: For much of its 200+ year history, the Bolshoi has
set its budgets based on artistic need rather than theatre economics. This meant
ticket prices could be low. Now things are different, and the Bolshoi has
implemented a new ticket pricing scheme that more properly reflects the
marketplace for its efforts. "This new ticket-sales system increased ticket
revenue by 82 percent in its first month. Further price increases, made possible
by a new distribution system with many sales points, should push up ticket
revenue to $10 million—almost three times higher than last year’s figures—in the
2001–02 season." McKinsey
Quarterly (registration required) 06/02