Ranking big ballet cites for "liveability"

[bart]

PS [ ... ] one of the Goh dancers won a bronze medal at Varna this year.

And Alex Wong a Goh student, won the Gold at Lausanne a while ago and is now at Miami (tied 33).

Did you notice how crowded the tie at #33 is? Three of my favorite cities: Seattle (PNB), Boston (BB), Madrid. Plus Miami(MCB), Chicago (Joffrey and, although contemporary, Hubbard Street & River North) and Lyon (loved the dvd of their modern-dress contemporary Coppelia). Marvellous cultural cities, and all of them -- imo -- both liveable and interesting (not always the same thing).

Still no answer to my question about San Francisco. Where are the SF BT'rs? Stuck in traffic on one of the Bay bridges?

And how about DC at #41. We have a lot of BT'rs there. Any reactions?

[Giannina]

I'm a former San Franciscan who still adores the city. It's expensive to live there, and tho there's Muni (transit) it can involve lots of walking. San Franciscans get used to this and think nothing of it. I studied at SFBallet (I was lousy) and have watched this company become the entity it is today; that alone is a draw. Touring companies go there, tho not as frequently as Los Angeles. I would rank the city among the favorites. Like most big cities it gets some getting-used-to. It's a gorgeous city with many facets, from the worst to the glorious. Even the weather is different depending on where you live. I could be in my Sunset district home and call my friend on Twin peaks; I'd be in fog and she'd be sunbathing. Yup, a keeper.

Would I choose it over Los Angeles for ballet? No.

Giannina

[Leigh Witchel]

Would I choose it over Los Angeles for ballet? No.

Giannina

Interesting question! What L.A. does (the L.A. Ballet is as yet untested) is import top companies. SF's main offering is homegrown. I'd take the latter, but probably because I've always had access to ballet.

[Giannina]

LA has several venues for ballet: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, UCLA, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Cerritos, Irvine. SF has Berkeley, but between the 2 I think LA offers a larger selection. And SFBallet does comes here. God knows we pray for homegrown!

Giannina

[Helene]

Ouch, ouch, ouch!! I thought we had good ballet in Vancouver!!

You do, but not nearly enough.

And venue, I totally agree, I like the Michael J. Fox better than the Queen E. ... but I haven't been to the Centre for Performing Arts yet, has anyone?

The last time NBoC was in Vancouver, they performed Swan Lake there. I know only because I showed up at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre 10 minutes before the performance, and missed the first Act of the matinee trying to find the venue. The sightlines were good, but I can't remember much about the acoustics.

So apparently we produce beautiful dancers but can't keep them. Now I'm very sad.

Not enough work for them at home, alas, which is what one big (or medium-sized) ballet company accomplishes.

[papeetepatrick]

I suspect those are the same reasons New York didn't make the list. As much as I love New York, I live in a tiny, dingy apartment and I miss having a car around (mainly because the nearest grocery store is several blocks away). I don't mind commuting by public transportation, but the subway system could use an update. The one in DC is cleaner, easier to get in and out of (escalators), and let's you know when the train is arriving.

Oh, I don't have any respect for that survey, and don't care what it thinks. New York is easily the most fabulous and perfect thing in the history of the world, and I even lived in Paris a year. I also love Los Angeles more than almost anything, and have been there 9 times in the last 5 years. It's the only other place I'd really choose to live in, but you need big dough so as to live well in the Hollywood Hills or Beverly Hills (at least) and not get lost in questionable behaviours.

I've also been to Papeete, Tahiti twice, which has a real Ballet de Tahiti, even though it's mostly around the middle and the tamure and there aren't any pointe shoes. I think they have the right to call it that, though, because if you see the ladies and boys move down the street there, you know a sort of heaven...I saw a boy in a bikini outside an evangelical church service I was attending, the ladies sang a capella hymns...and anyway, they performed at Carnegie Hall as the Ballet de Tahiti. I saw it with a Swiss girl, with whom I broke up afterwards, because she was such a prude compared to the Tahitian girls onstage. She's since become a nun.

Perfect cities I've been to include Lausanne, Switzerland, which I think contains some fairly major ballet, and Toronto, which I thought nearly flawless, but not deeply moving. I don't like Washington D.C., esthetically all that much, and find it graceless, except that I by now find it the most interesting city in the world, because the CIA is close by, and there is every kind of terrifying government intrigue and corruption to study there. What else is there?

Edited to add: I didn't mean to sound condescending about Washington, but I can see it maybe sounded that way. Even though I don't like to live where everything feels like Heavy Government, I do find many individual places in Washington very beautiful, and would be just as happy to see the Royal Ballet there as in New York or London.

New York, Los Angeles and Papeete are my favourite cities, but New York is the best of all. I'll DIE if I ever have to leave! It's also the MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WHOLE WORLD! It also has the best ballet, because the Kirov is coming in 2008, and the Royal is close enough in Philadelphia, not to mention all the usuals...

[kickit101]

Hmmm ...

More thoughts on Vancouver ... I wish I'd been to the Centre so I could know if we had a decent venue or not. Another reason to kick myself for missing the Goh's Giselle and Mixed Bill in June. I really think we DO have a lot of ballet. Lord knows we have a lot of ballet companies (5? 6?), and I think if it were tallied up, the Goh probably performs and tours more than our great white elephant in the east and reaches more people, especially internationally. That's not counting BBC and the rest. And things sell out, so the audience must be here.

I would never come to Vancouver to see NBoC when I could come to Vancouver to see Goh! To me, there is absolutely no comparison ... not for technique, not for artistry. (Their costumes rather beat Goh's old rags from the 70's and 80's). But of course, there's that little part about getting paid ... Every year I would say 10 very high calibre ballet dancers leave Vancouver to work in mid to large size companies. Goh dancers are from ABT to K Ballet, in practically every major company I can think of, around the world. Other schools here are turning out a respectable number as well. Maybe we are just too used to the schools supplying us with an endless stream of talent, that we see no reason to change it? Or maybe we are divided in too many directions? I do see a reason for a real company, it breaks my heart to see these dancers leave year after year. And I would like to see a bit more money spent on the productions (ie more than none at all!).

Hmmm, maybe we can convince the politicians that we need a real company for the 2010 olympics ... but they probably think hockey passes will suffice!

PS I just realized I was at the Centre for Jardin Animee last year! (What a brain ... ) I liked it a lot, but I must admit I'm a little ignorant re. theatres ... and that one is apparently blurry!

[Old Fashioned]

Oh, I don't have any respect for that survey, and don't care what it thinks. New York is easily the most fabulous and perfect thing in the history of the world, and I even lived in Paris a year. I also love Los Angeles more than almost anything, and have been there 9 times in the last 5 years. It's the only other place I'd really choose to live in, but you need big dough so as to live well in the Hollywood Hills or Beverly Hills (at least) and not get lost in questionable behaviours...New York is the best of all. I'll DIE if I ever have to leave! It's also the MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WHOLE WORLD! It also has the best ballet, because the Kirov is coming in 2008, and the Royal is close enough in Philadelphia, not to mention all the usuals...

I'm not going to dispute with you how fabulous New York is, but like bart mentioned before, there's a difference between "liveable" and "interesting." Apartment rentals around the greater LA area are still much cheaper in comparison to NYC. I'm not a huge fan of DC, either, I only wanted to point out one area of improvement I would like to see occur in New York. Montreal has a nice subway system, too.

I know many former New Yorkers and people who have lived here for extended periods tell me that they love the city and love visiting...but they would not want to live here again.

[Hans]

Well Bart, since you asked...

I moved to DC in February, but I grew up in the area, so I'm quite familiar with it. As far as liveability goes, I wonder if perhaps the low ranking has something to do with the murder rate, but that is really confined to SE and parts of NE, and I believe it is getting lower in NE as parts of that area are rapidly becoming quite trendy, with vibrant nightlife and soaring condo prices.

[WARNING: Rapturous description of beloved new neighborhood ahead] I, however, am in serene Cleveland Park in a bright, spacious apartment with large windows from which I can see the deer in Rock Creek Park in the morning. Pretty idyllic, and there are plenty of restaurants, various stores, the famous Uptown Theater and the gleaming Metro just around the corner. I find L'Enfant's graceful plan of broad avenues and circles with fountains and statues easy to navigate and particularly beautiful in spring with the pink cherry trees surrounding white marble monuments.

As far as ballet liveability goes, DC unfortunately does not have its own world-class ballet company, but we do have the country's best ballet school (in my humble and admittedly extremely biased opinion ) and the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap both bring decent doses of the Kirov, Bolshoi, Royal, NYCB, ABT, and more, which combined with teaching keeps me from feeling ballet-starved here.

Papeetepatrick, I agree re: Lausanne. I think part of me will always want to live there again.

[koshka]

And Leigh, you got 3 out of 6. That's halfway to being an economist!

Trust me when I say you do not want to get any closer than that!

I'm going to have to back up Hans on this one: DC doesn't have quite the dance richness of New York, but the dance scene is pretty darn good, and there are many "livable" options that put the Kennedy Center and other theaters in easy reach, including my own rather suburban (read: grass to mow) area, which is a quick run to the KCen by car or metro.

As for the crime, etc., as in so many cities, despite the impression that the whole region is totally infested with severe crime, that's not really the case.

[carbro]

With crime statistics a factor, New York should have been high on the list. As big cities go, we have a very low incidence of violent crime. I've been wondering if summertime humidity threw us to the bottom, but DC would have suffered the same fate on that count, for sure!

[artspatron07]

I disagree in Miami's equal ranking to Seattle. unless it refers to the surrounding municipalities certered near Miami. I applaud community leaders who lobby in favor of the classical performing arts. I have spent a considerable amount time in both cities. Comparatively I would choose Seattle over Miami. hands down. Seattle and Pacific Northwest Ballet do indeed compliment each other. PNB brings a unique quality to Seattle's high tech educational environment. With the arrival of Peter Boal I see exciting things happening for PNB and Seattle.

With regard to Florida, I personally favor points east and north of Miami, i.e. Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beach area, and Miami Beach. I often wonder why Miami City Ballet chose it's headquarters in Miami Beach in lieu of Miami, the Palm Beach area, or Fort Lauderdale. After all it's name is Miami City Ballet. Much of the cultural focus in South Beach centers on the MTV lifestyle, Pop and Rap arts entertainment, and the under age 40 crowd. On Miami City Ballet's web page their marketing approach has changed referring to the company's dancers as "Super Human". This campaign targets a younger not so traditional ballet audience. With subscription ticket sales down all over the country ballet companies are becoming more creative with the goal of luring more diverse audience members and retaining them for repeat business. I wonder if that affects the perception of the art. Maybe it's a necessary evil to stay on top. (I will reserve that comment for another topic and another time.)

Many people who reside outside Florida erroneously associate Miami City Ballet with only Miami. When in fact the studios are actually located in South Beach. The City of Miami Beach is a good friend to Miami City Ballet. In 2005 the city purchased Miami City Ballet's headquarters. They now lease the building back to the company for a nominal amount. This helped Miami City Ballet settle a great financial burden. Hopefully it was a good move on the part of the city and the company. Recently I read an article in a local South Florida newspaper suggesting that the city of Bal Harhour may provide lower rent to artists wishing to relocate to the community. My hats off to them for this unique way of promoting the arts. It is my understanding that many West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale residents provide generous support to Miami City Ballet. through fund raising and their patronage. I believe Miami City Ballet still maintains an active second Board of Directors in West Palm Beach. Miami City Ballet's name may imply that the ballet company belongs to one city, but this is a company of many Florida cities.

I often wonder if the quality of life in a particular " best city to live" can impede a resident ballet company's success. The Carnival Center in Miami has provided some outstanding programs this past season. With Miami City Ballet's relocation the Carnival Center the company's performances will now compete with other nationally acclaimed dance companies (for example,. ABT, Merce Cuningham) and other various performing arts touring groups. In March 2007 American Ballet Theatre Performed " Swan Lake" at the Carnival Center the same weekend Miami City Ballet performed in Fort Lauderdale. It is my understanding that ABT will return to the Carnival Center for 3 consecutive years. I cannot believe that it was good planning have the two nationally acclaimed ballet companies perform the same weekend in close proximity to each other. I personally long for the days when Miami City Ballet performed at Jackie Gleason Theater on the beach. Unfortunately with growth comes change. I hope this change in venue will benefit Miami City Ballet.

Maybe there is a correlation to living in the "one the best cities to live" and the city's support of a resident ballet company. I can think of many cities all over the country not mentioned that complement and support their resident ballet companies in many different ways and have successfully filtered their exposure of the arts to other surrounding communities.

[Helene]

Miami City Ballet performs each subscription program in three cities: Miami (Carnival Center for the Performing Arts), Ft. Lauderdale (Broward Center for the Performing Arts), and West Palm Beach (Kravis Center for the Performing Arts). I would hope they'd have serious financial support in all three places.

After I retire and don't have to commute again, I don't know if I'm going to drive voluntarily for more than 20 minutes. It's going to be buses, trains, and planes for me, if I have any say about it. I know there's a fear in the Seattle area that if the symphony, opera, ballet, and theater companies were to perform on the East Side (or in Auburn or Everett), they'd lose their core audience in the Seattle venues. When you consider that many East Side real estate advertisements are titled 5 minutes to Microsoft! (which would make me run screaming...), and it's as bad a drive from either Boeing site to downtown Seattle, I wonder if they'd expand their total audience by performing on the East Side, where East Siders wouldn't have to face The Bridge Commute.

[bart]

Thanks, artspatron07, for your really interesting account of the Miami scene. I'm at the other end of MCB's axis, Palm Beach County.

Helene, MCB does have serious financial and audience support in -- plus Board representatives from -- all three of its big venues (4 if you count the winter community in Naples on the "west coast").

I have the impression that an awful lot of this money comes from either the large, wealthy winter community or the increasing number of educated, culturally-savvy, well-off Northeasterners who have chosen to live down here all year long. I don't know how "deep" the arts community is down here, though Miami has the Maximum/Gamonet company and West Palm has Ballet Florida (which, at 23 dancers, is not tiny).

There certainly seemed to be a vast amount of depth in the performing arts when I was visiting Seattle regularly in the late 80s and 90s. The term "vibrant" was often used, but it seemed to me that "wide and deep" would have been even more accurate. It was definitely exciting, even for this Manhattan-oriented snob.

Helene writes:

I wonder if they'd expand their total audience by performing on the East Side, where East Siders wouldn't have to face The Bridge Commute.

Maybe PNB should look at what MCB does -- and now the new Los Angeles Ballet -- putting everything in trucks, transporting them to a new theater not too far away, and putting their programs "on the road," however short the journey.

Hans, your entire set up (place to live, job, access to ballet at the highest level) seems wonderful! I confess to feeling envy when I read the reports from the Kennedy Center on BT.

[artspatron07]

The fact that Miami City Ballet provides programs at each of their four venues defines good use of the company's resources. particularly when funding is down in general. MCB's ability to offer additional performances in Ft Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Naples does not seem to have any negative impact on the Miami audience. In general I wonder if their individual patronage is stronger in the surrounding cities than in Miami proper. With the arrival of US Trust as their sponsor for this past season and next that may be changing. It is my understanding that a generous donation from an individual donor made the live orchestra a reality again in Miami. This maybe the reason for the change in marketing. Athough I do know of at least two south Florida residents who travel to additional cities like Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach to watch the company perform the same program thereby observing different favorite dancers perform the same role. I can attest the parking is much better in Fort Lauderdale and in West Palm Beach.

This may be off the subject, but did PNBS recently open the Francia Russell School on the eastside of Seattle?

[Helene]

The Francia Russell Center opened a few years ago, at the end of Russell and Stowell's tenure at PNB.

PNB had an Eastside dance program when I first moved the Seattle in 1994 in a small strip mall in Bellevue. At the time it offered adult beginner classes and classes for younger grades. The school at the expanded Francia Russell Center now goes through level V (age 15) and has a Pilates program. (The pre-professional program is located in Seattle.) According to this link, dated 2004, "PNB has been active on the Eastside for more than 15 years;" I'm not sure if this means the school or a presence. I know there used to be summer performances at the outdoor stage at Chateau Sainte Michelle in Redmond back in the day; I remember a Fanfare in mid-summer that was performed with leg-warmers, it was so cold.

Jessika Anspach may be the first home grown Eastside dancer to join the Company.

[artspatron07]

I have have visited Phelps Center as recent as 3 years ago. I guess this is where the company and the preprofessional / professional ballet school divisions are located. It is an absolutely beautiiful facility in a prime location. Where else but in Seattle can one live on a lake, have access to the ocean, and drive to the mountains. My only complaint with Seattle is the traffic on the freeway. It does seem more conjested than usual. Unfortunately I have not seen PNB perform in the renovated Opera House. Does PNB have any plans to tour in the near future? I understand they recently performed at Jacobs Pillow. I would love to see them perfom again.

[papeetepatrick]

I don't mind commuting by public transportation, but the subway system could use an update. The one in DC is cleaner, easier to get in and out of (escalators), and let's you know when the train is arriving.

You must not have been here that long, because the subway was updated and enormously improved in the late 70s and early 80s. Those who were here in the 70s know the monumental achievement Mayor Koch can claim with all these new subway cars. Half or more of them had no AC in the hot summers, and the lights went out in them constantly--you never see those restful dark trains anymore.

I never took the subway in D.C., but the Toronto one is superb, and always the Paris Metro was a pleasure, except late at night when you'd miss the 'portillon' as it slowly closed before you could get to it, with the unkind 'Service est teminee' intoned mechanically. The London Tube also used to be nicer, and still was in the 80s. I was last in Paris in 1997, and the Metro was still fine. Boston's subway is also nice, but those of us who have been in NYC a good while know that we are not really due an update on the subway, even if we could live with it: We definitely remember the sweaty, bad old days.

Carbro--I admit the humid summers are the single thing I dislike most consistently about the city, because they make me lose energy. I hate to also point out that, while you are correct about the long reduction in violent crime beginning with the Giuliani years, it has made quite a comeback, which was announced perhaps 6 months ago in one of those big multi-city surveys--so we mustn't take quite as much for granted at night as we had been. One of the strangest phenomena, however, is Morningside Park, as recently as 15 years ago considered to be so dangerous that Blue Guide warned tourists to stay out of it even in the daytime, is now strangely benign: A friend of mine and I went there for over an hour last Thursday, and it was the first time I'd been all the way in it. It's much wilder than Central Park, with naturalized daffodils and columbines (yes!) all over the place. Even so, I'm not going to recommend this to any but the most adventurous, as I've gotten in some very dangerous situations exploring on foot alone up that way. I sometimes go to the wonderful old Lenox Lounge, which is one of the last very old Harlem clubs, and Billie Holliday sang there--but at night I always take a cab, no matter what my companions say.

[Old Fashioned]

I don't mind commuting by public transportation, but the subway system could use an update. The one in DC is cleaner, easier to get in and out of (escalators), and let's you know when the train is arriving.

You must not have been here that long, because the subway was updated and enormously improved in the late 70s and early 80s. Those who were here in the 70s know the monumental achievement Mayor Koch can claim with all these new subway cars. Half or more of them had no AC in the hot summers, and the lights went out in them constantly--you never see those restful dark trains anymore.

You found me out--I wasn't born yet. I knew of the vast improvement made to the city, even though I've only been here for the past two years, and quite the transition for someone who has lived their whole life in a suburb where driving is practically the only form of transportation. I hope I don't sound like too much of a whine-o; I really love the fact that I don't have to spend $100+ a month on gas money along with other disadvantages to driving. However, it would be nice if people could learn how to dispose of litter in the metro properly and if they refrained from eating and drinking on the train cars. It would make the environment infinitely more tolerable. As difficult as it is to implement those rules, I've seen them enforced elsewhere.

[papeetepatrick]

However, it would be nice if people could learn how to dispose of litter in the metro properly and if they refrained from eating and drinking on the train cars. It would make the environment infinitely more tolerable. As difficult as it is to implement those rules, I've seen them enforced elsewhere.

I agree, of course, but in the early part of Giuliani's administration, he went way too far, with some 'quality of life' project in which people were fined $100 for throwing a single piece of personal junk mail into a city garbage can, and the same if they put their feet up on subway seats. In the early 90s, the late Saturday night subway cars would sometimes be total homeless shelters filling a whole car--I think that's gone. All very big cities have this problem to some degree, I think. It just has to do with repeated traffic. I remember noticing in 1987 how different old, supposedly decrepit Liverpool was from London: You saw all these very old beveled glass doors that had been there, unbroken for decades, nothing had had to be replaced. In London, you'd see liquid cleaner bottles in the Thames from Battersea Bridge. New York is far more bombarded than London, and it's always going to look like it to some degree. I never think Central Park feels like leaving the city, for example--I think of it as a leafy but dusty version of the concrete!

[sandik]

According to this link, dated 2004, "PNB has been active on the Eastside for more than 15 years;" I'm not sure if this means the school or a presence. I know there used to be summer performances at the outdoor stage at Chateau Sainte Michelle in Redmond back in the day; I remember a Fanfare in mid-summer that was performed with leg-warmers, it was so cold.

The reference is to the school -- originally in a strip mall and mostly offering little kid classes, and now in their swankier digs.

The company did quite a big of regional touring in the 70s and into the 80s, but that slowed down when money got tight. Russell and Stowell felt strongly that if anyone was going, everyone was going -- they didn't like to send smaller contingents. Boal is fine with this -- I think he would rather tour with the full company, but realizes that's a major event and won't happen very frequently. This last year they went to NYC (Fall for Dance), Jacob's Pillow and some semi-private events in Arizona. This coming summer they're going to the Aspen Festival and in the summer of 2008 will be part of the Regional Ballet festival at the Kennedy Center. I think there are some additional trips planned -- those are just the ones on the top of my head.

Vancouver BC is a wonderful city (yes the Chinese food is great, but that's just a tiny part of it) -- it's helpful to remember that it's one of the more temperate parts of Canada, so in many ways it functions for them as California does for the US. The ethnic mix is lively, the public transportation is quite good, like Seattle it has good access to outdoor stuff (skiing, water sports, etc), a couple of universities -- these are all elements that usually come into play in these kinds of ranking surveys. They spent a chunk of money on their infrastructure in the 1980s to prepare for Expo 84 (I think 84, maybe 86?), got another big infusion with Hong Kong immigrants in the 1990s, and are in the middle of another building push for the 2008 Winter Olympics.

[kickit101]

Somebody heard me, LOL!!

http://www.gohballet.com/ (My bolding)

"This work of astonishing beauty and grace will mark the first time that a Vancouver-based company has staged Giselle in its entirety, with a full cast. With nearly 30 dancers, brand new sets, and stunning costumes, this will be a fitting milestone for the Vancouver dance scene."

“Not only is Vancouver booming economically, and gaining the attention of the international community as the 2010 Olympics come to our backdoor, but we’re also coming into our own artistically,” says Artistic Director of the Ensemble, Choo Chiat Goh. “Everyone, from families and children, to art aficionados, to couples, will be emotionally moved and technically awestruck by both shows – and proud of Vancouver,” says Goh.

Brand new sets?! Stunning costumes?! Shall I hold my breath?

Maybe I'll wait till I see the costumes ...

They spent a chunk of money on their infrastructure in the 1980s to prepare for Expo 84 (I think 84, maybe 86?), got another big infusion with Hong Kong immigrants in the 1990s, and are in the middle of another building push for the 2008 Winter Olympics.

Yes, the skytrain - seabus - bus system I love already and practically live on it, but it's getting a huge expansion, finally connecting the airport and several other spots. I also love the skytrain police ... I feel very safe anytime, anywhere on the line now, which was not always the case in the beginning. Which I think is a huge reason everyone catches the skytrain now, it is so much faster, easier and nicer than any other way of travel in the city.

[printscess]

the Bahamas--but of course, I think we'd all be happy if we went to the Bahamas ).

But how much ballet is there in the Bahamas??????????????

I am not sure about the Bahamas but ABT does have a summer intensive program in Bermuda.