JULY 2001
Tuesday July 31
BOWING
OUT GRACEFULLY: It is never easy for a dancer to retire. Unlike performers
in nearly every other discipline, dancers are forced to hang up their toe shoes
when their bodies give out on them, usually sometime in their late 30s. For
some, being told that it's time to go is an unbearable insult, and the
occasional ugly battle between dancer and dance company results. But one
Canadian dance legend decided to take the quiet route to retirement this year,
earning her even greater affection from colleagues and audiences alike.
National
Post (Canada) 07/31/01
Monday July 30
DANCE
NEW ZEALAND: Gary Harris is the new artistic director of the Royal New
Zealand Ballet. He says he wants to make RNZB the "ballet company of the
Pacific" with a busy touring schedule, presenting a distinctly New Zealand
style." New Zealand Herald
07/30/01
Sunday July 29
END
OF ERA: Anthony Dowell's tenure as director of Lonond's Royal Ballet has
been a mixed affair. "What makes a good director? The question has never been
more of a poser than during Dowell's captaincy of the ballet, in the most
turbulent years of the Royal Opera House's history. The organisation has
struggled with vast debts, the closure and rebuilding of the theatre, and a
serious loss of public affection." The Telegraph (UK)
07/29/01
-
OUT OF
GAS: Is Anthony Dowell leaving just in time as director of London's Royal
Ballet? "The ideal director, if he or she is not a creator, should be a curator,
ensuring that the Royal Ballet presents the classics in the purest form. By
emphasising design over direction, Dowell has taken the company out of the
premier league of classical troupes. It still dances well but its productions
have become secondary ones, not the definitive statements Ninette de Valois
required of the Royal Ballet." The Observer (UK)
07/29/0
BYPASSING
THE BAY AREA: Why don't major ballet companies come to San Francisco? "There
is an impressive roster of companies that routinely bypass the Bay Area during
United States tours that are anchored in appearances at Lincoln Center, the
Orange County Performing Arts Center or the Kennedy Center." San Francisco Chronicle 07/29/01
Friday July 27
ELEVATOR
ART: "Aerial dance is a new trend catching on in the dance world, especially
in the western United States. 'One of the most exciting performances we ever did
was a vertical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet out of the 23rd story of a
skyscraper in Houston. We were 350 feet in the air with the Houston Symphony
below us and 40,000 people watching. It was magical, and it had quite an impact
on people'." USAToday
07/25/01
Thursday July 26
ABT DIRECTOR QUITS:
Louis Spisto, the embattled director of the troubled American Ballet Theatre,
has resigned. His tenure was marked by controversy - "rising expenses, a
management style that was characterized by a number of employees as autocratic
and allegations of sex and age discrimination." The
New York Times 07/26/01 (one-time registration
required for access)
Tuesday July 24
FAREWELL
SWAN: In honor of artistic director Anthony Dowell's departure from the
Royal Ballet, the company will be projecting a full-length performance of
Swan Lake on a giant screen in the plaza outside Covent Garden.
London Evening Standard 07/24/01
Friday July 20
LEADERSHIP
VOID: Anthony Dowell was perhaps the Royal Ballet's best dancer ever. By
contrast, as head of the company for the past 15 years, he's shown his
limitations as an artistic director. Now he's moving on.
The Independent (UK)
07/20/01
Thursday July 19
ROYAL
WINNIPEG LEADER RESIGNS: The chairwoman of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet
resigned from the board last week, half way through her four-year term. She said
she quit "on a matter of principle" but she is believed to have been at odds
with Andre Lewis, the company's artistic director. National Post 07/17/01
- GOTTA
PAY THE BILLS: Lewis defends charges that his programming is too "market
driven" and that he is having problems with some of his dancers. Nonetheless two
of the company's most prominent dancers have said they are leaving at the end of
the season. National Post 07/18/01
Monday July 16
EXPLAINING
DANCE: "Like other performing arts, dance is sharpening its marketing
skills. In the meantime no dance seems to go unexplained. Are program notes or
any other kind of education necessary?" The New York
Times 07/16/01 (one-time registration required for
access)
RUNNING
BALLET: What's it take to run a successful ballet company? When Carole
McPhee took over management of the English National Ballet, the company had a
huge debt. She turned things around and turned the ENB into a successful touring
company. After 11 years McPhee is leaving ENB and returning to Australia.
The Age (Melbourne) 07/16/01
Sunday July 15
DESERT IN
BLOOM: A year ago Ballet Arizona was on the brink of collapse, and only an
emergency bailout allowed the company to meet its payroll. But things have
turned around - "Ballet Arizona is emerging from that near-death experience with
a clear artistic vision and a more stable public image. Most tellingly, the
level of red ink that nearly drowned the troupe last year has receded."
Arizona Republic 07/15/01
Thursday July 12
THE INNER JEROME:
Choreographer Jerome Robbins was much beloved for his work. But he was
legendarily awful to work with, an unpleasant man who knew how to keep a
grudge...The New Republic
07/11/01
Wednesday July 11
D.C.
BALLET GETS ITS MAN: Former ABT and Joffrey II dancer George Thompson has
been named the next executive director of the Washington Ballet. Thompson is
currently the VP/GM of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida. He will
begin work in his new post in August. Washington Post
07/11/01
Tuesday July 10
LOOKING FOR
INSPIRATION: The 15-year-old Philippine Ballet Theatre is having a crisis of
budget, artistic direction and dwindling audiences. Is the solution bringing in
stars from outside the country? Philippine Daily Inquirer
07/08/01
Sunday July 1
SIZING UP A
DIFFICULT SITUATION: "In the wake of executive director Gray Montague's
sudden departure from the Pittsburgh Dance Council, the board acted swiftly to
hire Paul Organisak, a Pittsburgh native and former associate director of
development at the contemporary dance presenting organization. As of yesterday
[Organisak] was trying to get 'a sense of where we are' by looking over the
finances and strategic plan before taking over the reins July 16." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/30/01