Kaiser at the Kennedy Center

[Bill]

DC is not a 'ballet-friendly city.' Why are we even having this discussion? It's ridiculous -- the capital of the so-called 'greatest superpower in the history of humanity' can barely maintain a small/mid-size local professional ballet troupe...so how can we expect support for the grand ballet companies? Face it -- this is a WEIRD town, where money-making and politics mean more than the arts and other sensitive subjects....

No argument with any of that, except that (i) I think each town in each country is weird in its own way (loose paraphrase of Tolstoy?) and (ii) of course there is a dance capital of the United States: New York. In light of the U.S. government's chronic lack of interest in funding/subsidizing national companies in the performing arts, it's not surprising that the center of economic power in the U.S., New York, is also the center for the U.S. "national" ballet companies.

As a DC area resident, I've been interested in modern dance for a long time and have attended several of the small/amateur/semi-professional modern companies here over the years. In the Washington area, modern dance seems more vital at a grass-roots level than ballet -- small modern companies in the metro area are always forming, struggling, collapsing, and re-forming. My wife, who has been a Washington Ballet subscriber, finally got me interested in ballet, and my first ballet was a Kirov Cinderella at the Kennedy Center -- thank you (I think) Michael Kaiser. I am much more a fan of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet than of the Washington Ballet, but I'm glad both exist here, and I am happy that the Kennedy Center is booking the national and international ballet companies as much as it is. Do I want a more vibrant ballet scene here? Of course. I remain puzzled as to how ballet companies can significantly expand their audiences, in DC and throughout the U.S. The art is such a far cry from the spectator sports, video programming, and music that most Americans enjoy.

[koshka]

Let me throw a question out for the sake of comparison and discussion.

How does the situation with opera in Washington compare to that of ballet? Is it in a similar situation, with world-class companies passing through performing (mostly) old standbys and a local company that is good but not at the international big-league level, or is the situation different?

I raise this question because opera is even more expensive and (it seems to me) rarefied than ballet.

And to throw in another comment: one young lady in my office who is interested in (but not quite mad about ;-) ) ballet asked me recently about the upcoming Kirov run and stated specifically that she wanted to see "the other program", meaning not Giselle.

[Bill]

...another comment: one young lady in my office who is interested in (but not quite mad about ;-) ) ballet asked me recently about the upcoming Kirov run and stated specifically that she wanted to see "the other program", meaning not Giselle.

Young ladies like that give me the Wilis.

[Jack Reed]

Don't let 'em get ya, Bill!

While I'm interested in this discussion as a Midwestern tourist to the Kennedy Center ballet programs, I really want to second my friend bart's thanks to Giselle05 for the link to the Kaiser article. I couldn't put it down! Not only is he a walking fireworks display, shooting off brilliant ideas on every page, he knows how to write a good read, too.

[Giselle05]

You're welcome :-) I thought many would find it very interesting!

[Hans]

I don't have too much direct knowledge, but from reading reviews it seems as if Washington Opera is doing quite well. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Placido Domingo is a household name, but the review of their latest production makes it seem as if the company is very good indeed.