Equity in contracts

[Treefrog]

I read with interest the contract excerpts printed in yesterday's NYTimes, especially this one:

Extraordinary Risk and Specialized Skills If a performance entails walking on stilts or operating pyrotechnics, an American Ballet Theater dancer's derring-do is rewarded at the rate of $45 extra per performance. The Houston Ballet Theater, which ratified its new contract in July, is even more specific. Artists get a "specialized theatrical skill" bonus of $47 a performance for simulating diving into a lake in "Swan Lake" and playing King Rat in "The Nutcracker."

And I wondered: is a simulated dive into a lake very much more dangerous than, say a fish dive? Do the women get "extraordinary risk" pay for moves like this? Or is this considered an "ordinary risk"?

[Mel Johnson]

No, there's a big difference between a few inches of unsupported flight and over six feet of it. Believe me!

(Odette gets "flight pay" too, if her production has her taking the Big Dip!)

[BalletNut]

Interestingly enough, I happened to get sidetracked and wound up on the website of the AFL-CIO, and clicked the AGMA link on the list of affiliated unions, where I just so happened to find pdf files of these contracts. NYCB's contract actually lists some roles which are considered "extraordinary risk," such as Apollo's mother, who has to sit on top of that staircase-thingy (but I thought NYCB got rid of that? ), Puck, The Unanswered Question, Swan Lake "Vision," (the illusion of Odette during the Black Swan pdd, right?), and some others. They make special note of roles involving "weapons," which I suppose includes sword fights and the like, but how many ballets in NYCB rep actually have sword fights? Besides Nutcracker, anyway?

On a side note, the NYCB contract also stipulates that dancers who sing are to be paid extra. The contract specifically mentions West Side Story, but I wonder: would this apply to the end of Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee, where the dancers start singing "la la la la la la la" as they exit? I know it's not in NYCB rep, but inquiring minds want to know...

Also of interest, from ABT's contract:

"Employer agrees that the same costume will not be worn twice in the same day by different dancers."

Well, I hope they don't exploit the potential loophole by holding the used costume unwashed for another dancer to wear the NEXT day. And I also hope I haven't given anyone any ideas.

[Alexandra]

I will never forget two performances, of Swan Lake, by Paris Opera Ballet at Wolf Trap years ago, during a typical, awful Washington summer when it was 90+, even at 8 p.m., and high high humidity. At the evening performance, I was sitting quite close, and could tell, when the curtain went up on the ballroom act, that the costumes were still soaking wet from the afternoon -- so wet that the colors in some of the dyes had run. I can't swear that all of the dancers in the evening had, oor had not, danced that afternoon, but I think it would be horrid to have to put on wet costumes (on the other hand, I guess, within five minutes they were just as wet.....)

That performance, by the way, made me love that company. It ranks at the top level of professionalism. They did not dance as though it was 90 degrees with 98 percent humidity. And they could have gotten away with it in that house, but they didn't.

[Mel Johnson]

About dives offstage - It was at the Met, and the opera was Tosca. Mirella Freni had the title role and as she took her "fatal" dive off the wall, they had a sort of trampoline below the sight lines of the audience to catch her. Imagine the surprise of all concerned when Ms. Freni bounced back up into view twice more before finally disappearing.

[Mrs. Stahlbaum]

I won't repeat the name as I'm not sure of the facts (I heard this at a pre-performance lecture), but is it a well-known story that an ABT dancer had to quit dancing/partnering after injuring his hand in a sword fight in Romeo and Juliet?

[sandik]

Interestingly enough, I happened to get sidetracked and wound up on the website of the AFL-CIO, and clicked the AGMA link on the list of affiliated unions, where I just so happened to find pdf files of these contracts. NYCB's contract actually lists some roles which are considered "extraordinary risk," such as Apollo's mother, who has to sit on top of that staircase-thingy (but I thought NYCB got rid of that? ), Puck, The Unanswered Question, Swan Lake "Vision," (the illusion of Odette during the Black Swan pdd, right?), and some others.

We just saw it here, so it's on my mind, but what about the role of the Siren in Prodigal Son, where she stands on the shoulders of one of the goons and he walks downstage with her up there. Looks spooky to me!