26 replies to this topic

[nlkflint]

Danielle, the video often appears on Ebay both new and used.  You can also check out Amazon .com by clicking on the banner at the top of this page and all the pages on Ballet Talk.  They often have both used and new copies for sale.  If you are under 18 ask your folks to help on bidding or ordering.

[dadof2dancers]

Dale
Points well made, I was unaware of ABT's financial challanges
at this time & you are correct that as a "not-for-profit" salaries are public
information.
My point was that I, as well many of us who have an interest in our
children's future as possible professional dancers would like to see
the financial reward be on par with other performers, athletes,
muscians, actors, etc.
We all know how hard dancers work.
Susan has truely given blood, sweat & tears to
the dance world & she (& many others) truely have earned
financial reward at this level.
Of course no individual in any organization should earn a salary
that could threaten the strength & stability of that organization.
ABT's Board of Directors must make that judgement.
Both in regard to Susan & any others.
Hopefully they make the correct decisions for ABT as well
as all Ballet lovers.

Edited by dadof2dancers, 23 January 2004 - 06:18 PM.

[carbro]

I do not begrudge Ms. Jaffe the right to make a comfortable living that allows her to plan for her future, but I was under the impression that her position with ABT was considered part-time. (After all, isn't she running a studio and teaching, too?)

I have spent my most of my working life in the not-for-profit sector, and I know that equivalent jobs in the for-profit sector pay more.  It's a choice I made about the nature of the reward I expect.  Am I naive in assuming that for most others in n-f-p, the same is true?

[dadof2dancers]

Carbo
More good points, as a dancer this would be less of a concern but as an advisor
to the Board it should be very important to understand the "N-F-P mind-set".
Again, I say that perhaps the actual concern should be placed with ABT's
Board & what is perhaps not that best use of ABT's money
considering the company's financial condition.
I am sure that none of us are privy to Ms. Jaffe's level of hourly commitment to ABT or how her level of compensation was determined. If she was asked
by ABT's board to serve in an advisory role & the Board offered
her compensation that they now can no longer afford or justify
ABT's board needs to address this issue if they are truely
concerned about the welfare of the company.

[Helene]

Another controversial aspect of Jaffe's salary is that it is paid jointly and privately by the ABT chairman of the board, Ranieri, and the board president, Neustein.  Ranieri reportedly pays a lot of running expenses for ABT, and this is considered by critics to be putting too many financial eggs in one basket.

[BalletNutter]

Your words are music to my ears MDT.  Thank you.  My dd will have the good fortune of attending Ms. Jaffe's first SI at PDT this summer.  I am thrilled to hear all of these wonderful things about her teaching and her new studio.  I also learned from PDT that Susan is bringing in her personal acting coach whom she's worked with for years for the last week of the SI for the students.  This, combined with her own amazing credentials and talent, plus those of the guest faculty, should make for an amazing experience for these lucky ballet students.  Thanks again for your feedback and information.

[Ed Waffle]

We saw Susan Jaffe in Giselle here in Detroit a few years ago. The ABT danced it four times and we were at all four. The enduring image I have of that Giselle-athon is toward the end of Act I, when the hunting horn announces the entrance of the royal party. The nice peasant boy from down the street with whom Giselle has fallen in love is about to be unmasked as a Prince who is already betrothed.

Jaffe was Giselle. She inhabited the role on that night with transparent artistry. She nailed the feelings of a beautiful fragile young girl who knows love for the first time. The audience was spellbound.

And when that hunting horn sounded at least one member of the audience was dismayed, feeling "Oh no, she is going to be hurt."

Sounds silly to think that way but we were so caught up in Jaffe becoming Giselle that the person on stage became real.

We also saw her the next year when ABT brought Swan Lake to Motown. She was evil personifed as Odille--the swan you not only loved to hate but also hated to love, even though you did.

Amazing dancer. I feel lucky we were able to see her when we did.

[ballet24/7]

Susan Jaffe is such a wonderful and amazing dancer, teacher, and influence. I have the priveledge to be taught by her many times a week, since i attend Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio. She is such an amazing inspiration and her corrections are incredibly beneficial. She gives personalized attention to everyone and their needs, and i have seen my technique and artistry blossom over the past couple of months. I'd definitely recommend PDT...a fabulous school with fabulous faculty. I'd say that Susan Jaffe is one of the best ballerinas of all time.

[kfw]

Over on the Replying the Nutcracker Chronicles - NY Times thread, papeetepatrick writes

Quote

I didn't see Jaffe in her earliest years of celebrity, but I do remember a good deal of criticism of her 'mechanicalness', I believe.  Someone here who hasn't written for some time was discussing this once, how Jaffe made a conscious effort to 'mature', for lack of a better word, and that it had worked (I can't remember that BT member at the moment, I don't think she's written for a year or more).

I've heard the same thing and I wonder if others here also feel she matured. I didn't see her until she danced Mozartiana in D.C. in 1995 in a Suzanne Farrell staging, but I loved her in that. In The New Criterion Laura Jacobs wrote

Quote

The great performance in the two programs I saw belonged to the cast of Mozartiana, Balanchine’s masterpiece of 1981— his last—set to Tchaikovsky’s homage to Mozart. I’ve never much liked the dancing of Susan Jaffe, the principal with American Ballet Theater who took the lead in D.C. She is a technical powerhouse, and holds herself to high standards, but the very high curve of her forehead is bland and cold—she’s an ice angel. No doubt Farrell cast Jaffe in Mozartiana because of her strength. The ballet sets tests of stamina and balance, and asks for simple steps performed largely and slowly and roundly at once. [. . .]

Opening to the Preghiera, the prayer that begins the ballet, Jaffe opened to herself. Here was a warm, confident, honest performance, shimmeringly sure, touching in what it showed to have been inside Jaffe and in what Farrell knew she could bring out.

[papeetepatrick]

Ah, that's nice, kfw, and I hadn't known anything about this.  But it reminded me of the show I used to see on Channel 31 (?) here, one of the PBS channels I believe, but not 13, that Jaffe hosted.  It was always a wonderful show, and Jaffe was a warm and gracious host.  There was one show in which Farrell was especially discussed, and Jaffe's admiration knew no bounds, she went on and on about her influence.  But this makes it clearer why (I hadn't originally quite understood why Jaffe was talking about her so much, since she'd been with ABT), since they had a truly intimate professional collaboration in 'Mozartiana'.  I've forgotten who she was discussing Farrell with, but all the shows were good, and not always about ballet either.  She'd always conclude it with 'This week, go out and see some DANCE!'  Just an adorable creature.  

But was 'Mozartiana' Balanchine's 'last masterpiece'.  A lot of us think Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze was a masterpiece, too, and that's a few years later, isn't it?

[kfw]

Wow, that's great to imagine, Patrick. Thank you.

papeetepatrick, on 05 December 2010 - 09:15 AM, said:

But was 'Mozartiana' Balanchine's 'last masterpiece'.  A lot of us think Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze was a masterpiece, too, and that's a few years later, isn't it?

According to the Balanchine Trust's website, Davidsbundlertanze premiered in June of '80, Mozartiana in June of '81. I'd hate to have to choose between them.