12 replies to this topic

[Mashinka]

The Royal Ballet dancer rumoured to have been chosen by John Talbot the Chairman of the ENB board last December and therefore before he actually got around to sacking former director Wayne Eagling has now been named in a press release, although embargoed until tomorrow her name has already appeared on line. (Perhaps one of the moderators would be kind enough to let me know if I can name her here).

She has no experience of running a ballet company at all though according to the press release she is aligned to the ineffectual Arts Council England, so I guess they nodded through her appointment.

So to summarize English National Ballet has cast aside highly respected artistic director and talented chorographer Wayne Eagling in favour of an untried wannabe. I fear this with have disastrous repercussions on company morale.

[JMcN]

What experience did Peter Schauffus have before he took over the reigns in 1984? I do know that during his time there was a wonderful rep and wonderful dancers and I saw as much of the company as I could!

Let's hope the director designate carries on the good work!

I'm not a moderator here but I don't believe you should break the embargo.

[Mashinka]

Peter Schaufuss was pretty unique and when he joined ENB he had a very impressive CV behind him and a long term commitment to the company.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to actually show just what the job description for ENB was:

Applicants are invited for the position of artistic director of English National Ballet:
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
English National Ballet, one of the world’s leading ballet companies, gives over 190 performances a year and performs to nearly 250,000 people annually in the UK and throughout the world.
The company is seeking an artistic director to lead the company in partnership with the chief executive through an exciting period of development. Both the artistic director and chief executive are accountable to the Board of Governors.
Applicants will be expected to have international experience in classical dance, as well as knowledge of British audiences and funding structures. Candidates should be able to demonstrate knowledge of, and an imaginative and creative approach to, the company’s mission. They should show strong leadership skills, and aspire to drive and manage a diverse portfolio of activity. The artistic director will also be expected to make a significant contribution to the continuing development of English National Ballet School. A collaborative working style and good organisational skills are a pre-requisite.
The successful candidate will inherit a talented and dedicated company of dancers, orchestra, crew and administrative departments, all integral to the overall success of the organisation.

Interesting isn't it? One of the major arts jobs in the UK advertised in no more than a couple of paragraphs and note that past experience of actually running a company doesn't appear to be a requirement, though of course that figures when the successful but under-qualified candidate had long since been chosen.

I have been given the names of three of the people who unsuccessfully applied for the job; all three had experience as choreographers and two had successfully run companies in the past. Had I been on the selection committee my decision would have been swayed by evidence of proven ability.

[cinnamonswirl]

The name of the new director is easily found by searching on Twitter, in case anyone else wants to know before the embargo ends.

I do recall at least one interview in which this dancer expressed an interest in directing (I think the interview actually described her as a possible candidate for directing the Royal Ballet).

It's certainly a bold move by the END board. I wonder what the dancers' reactions will be. Things are going to interesting!

[aurora]

The name of the new director is easily found by searching on Twitter, in case anyone else wants to know before the embargo ends.

I do recall at least one interview in which this dancer expressed an interest in directing (I think the interview actually described her as a possible candidate for directing the Royal Ballet).

It's certainly a bold move by the END board. I wonder what the dancers' reactions will be. Things are going to interesting!

I think we can go ahead and make it public now. Its in the public record (not just twitter). Apologies if this is inappropriate and please delete but once it is in official news sources from the Press Release (even if that is prematurely leaked), I assume it is fair game.

http://www.theartsde...allets-director

[Helene]

Twitter alone is an accepted official news source on BA if 1. The Tweeters would be considered official sources if they blogged, posted to their public ("Like") Facebook Page, or published in the press and 2. The Tweeter's tweets are open to the public, i.e., if anyone can sign up to receive them.

Once the news is printed/announced by an official source, no matter how premature, it can be posted here.

[Jayne]

Tamara Rojo

http://www.telegraph...c-Director.html

[JMcN]

Interesting feature from Graham Watts for Londondance.com: http://londondance.c...bm7Ddjk.twitter

[miliosr]

Interview w/ Rojo:

http://www.dancetabs...ational-ballet/

[sandik]

Golly, that seems unexpected. Has she ever spoken about wanting to move in that direction?

[JMcN]

Not necessarily to ENB but definitely yes into artistic direction. That has, I believe, been her stated intent since Angel Corella set his company up. From recollection, she mentioned then that she was thinking of starting up a company in Spain at some stage.

The details given in the Dance Tabs interview linked above also show that she has been considering a move into direction.

[Helene]

According to the Telegraph article, she's been preparing for an eventual administrative role for a while:

But should we be surprised that the Spanish dancer is taking the top job at ENB? Not really. Educated, articulate and very bright, Rojo has been stretching her administrative wings for some years now, already sits on the board of Arts Council East, Dance UK and the ICA, and has long been talked about as a future director of one of our leading ballet companies.

Edited to Add: JMcN and I were posting at the same time

[Helene]

Graham Watts wrote this in an article about Rojo's directorship:

I suspect that there will also be some changes in the dance ensemble and I would not be surprised if Rojo’s own dance career is enhanced for a while longer (as Daria Klimentová’s has been) by a partnership with Vadim Muntagirov. I have seen them dance together – in Athens – and it is a potentially dynamic pairing. Perhaps her first major challenge will be in persuading Vadim and Daria to stay? I’m sure that the future of several young dancers with great potential (such as Yonah Acosta and Ksenia Ovsyanick) will be in good hands. I expect that Rojo will be a great communicator. Her dancers may not like everything they hear; but they’ll hear it from her.

If Muntagirov does not stay, than ABT may have some competition for any male dancer. If I were one, I'd jump at the possibility of being Rojo's primary partner at the height of her career.