Mariinsky Open Letter to Minister of Culture

[Natalia]

I'll let Catherine give the definitive answer (or try as best she can) but my observations have been that, for the past 4-5 years, Nioradze has been living in Great Britain with her family and only returns (maybe) once a year to headline her own 'vanity-project' gala, e.g., a couple of years ago, her gala included the premiere of a new one-act ballet, Sapphires, intended to become the 4th act of Jewels. (Huh???)

Some principals are kept on the Mariinsky roster just for contractual or political reasons, as it will allow them to continue to claim that they are Mariinsky principals. It's a wink-wink understanding with the theater's management. For example, Igor Zelensky has remained a nominal MT principal, even though he has, for years, been the A.D. of different large Russian ballet troupes -- first Novossibirsk and, since last year, the Stanislavsky of Moscow.

Makhalina -- who dances Aegina in Spartacus this week at the Mariinsky! -- can claim that she is still a Mariinsky Principal when she does her guest stints on Russian-TV 'Dancing With the Stars'-type shows.

I don't think that the 'veterans' remain as nominal Principals for the money. Most (all?) are independently wealthy through marriages &/or private business ventures. It's more about prestige - both for the dancer and the theater. These are 'names' after all. Finally, maybe one or more of these individuals - or their wealthy spouses - actually PAY to be kept on the roster?

[Catherine]

Catherine, I read with interest that Nioradze and Makhalina were not permitted to be in the theater if they were not in class or performing. Why on earth is this so?

I have seen Makhalina's name on the roster a couple of times recently which came as a surprise to me, but in my brief history of following MT I have never seen Nioradze dance. Was there some dispute? Or are they considered too old to perform now?

No - I never said "not permitted" to be in the theatre. I said unlikely to be, because dancers (at any level) tend to not just "Hang out" if they're not involved -- they would go home for much needed rest. In the case of Makhalina and Nioradze they are both officially on the roster (payroll) but almost never perform, ie almost never are cast. I think the last time I saw Makhalina was in a short acting piece this past spring. I dont believe I saw Nioradze in all of 2011 or noticed her being cast.

Edited to add: Just read Natalya's post above and agree with all of it - not sure about the final comment but the rest I agree with. Zelensky is a great example, he's listed as a principal but doesn't perform on the Mariinsky stage (hasn't in several years). It's like a symbolic ranking, not an active one - same with Nioradze and yes, she's in London most of the time.

[Cygnet]

The entire system at the Mariinsky is rotten to the core. The top guy has an enormous conflict of interest. As the AD of the opera, he should be (and is!) interested in putting all the resources and effort into the opera and the orchestra. But as the GM of the entire company, he is supposed to pay attention to the ballet and opera companies in equal measure---perhaps more attention to the ballet which I suspect brings in more revenue. And clearly he does not. .... Mariinsky Ballet's only hope is for Gergiev to resign or be dismissed from the position of the General Manager, or for the ballet to separate from the opera and become a stand-alone company. Neither one of these two scenarios is likely to happen, unfortunately...

It's a very sad situation because Yuri Fateev is 'yes' man to Maestro Gergiev. The former ballet Director, (Makhar Vaziev) challenged Gergiev and wasn't a 'yes' man. When Vaziev went to La Scala, Fateev was the Maestro's interim replacement. Therefore, this arrangement has been mutually beneficial, because it frees the Maestro to concentrate on the Opera, Orchestra, and all of his international etc. Fateev has carte blanche to run the Ballet any way he chooses - tempered of course with Maestro's implicit approval.

Knowing all this, no high-caliber ballet administrator or choreographer in his/her right mind would ever accept an offer to become the AD of the ballet. So trying to conduct a search for a ballet AD, as was proposed above, is doomed to failure in the current circumstances.

Too true. Let's suppose for a moment that Gergiev opened the position: Who would dare forward their CV?

Who? Mariinsky, or even Vaganova Academy personnel who might be interested, wouldn't dare submit an

application. Consider this: Misha Messerer, who is local, is a person who would be a highly qualified applicant,

(assuming the post was open and he wanted it). Well, he just renewed his contract as Head Ballet Master with the

Mikhailovsky to 2015. Under Vladimir Kehkman and AD Nacho Duato's leadership, the Mik has emphasized Duato's

works (modern dance) over classical ballet. Cela le dit tous.

[Catherine]

I have nothing to add

[sandik]

Zelensky is a great example, he's listed as a principal but doesn't perform on the Mariinsky stage (hasn't in several years). It's like a symbolic ranking, not an active one - same with Nioradze and yes, she's in London most of the time.

This is not exclusive to the M-K -- NYCB kept dancers on their official roll call long after they really were a part of the performing ensemble, and other companies have done the same, for varying reasons.

[Ilya]

An interview with Darya Pavlenko http://ptj.spb.ru/bl...m-u-vas-lebedi/

How Much Do Your Swans Cost?

Representatives of the ballet company of the Mariinsky Theater wrote a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture, where they described a list of grievances to the management of the ballet and requested to "conduct an audit of the financial and administrative activities of the Theater." The administration of the Mariinsky Theater reacted with a press release in which it declared the grievances unfounded, yet agreed to "discuss any problems with the dancers." V.A. Gergiev himself dignified the letter with his answer. The Ministry, however, has been silent so far. Taking advantage of the pause, we talked with a prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Darya Pavlenko.

Marianna Dimant. Darya Vladimirovna, are you the Chair of the labor union of the ballet department?

Darya Pavlenko. I am just a member of the union. Our Chair is Dmitry Nikolaevich Pykhachev; however, now he is taking an unpaid leave, and so we are working together with Valery Kon'kov.

D. The letter which the labor union of the ballet department sent to the Minister of Culture, is signed by three people. Why did you not go through its approval at a meeting of the entire ballet company?

P. Because the letter is about problems that do not require a meeting of the company: we pointed out violations of the labor laws that exist in the theater. It is an indisputable fact. To call a meeting regarding whether or not internal labor rules are needed in the theater, I think is pointless. They are not only needed, they are required.

D. In the press release distributed by the Mariinsky Theater, it says that such rules exist.

P. Yes, I know what the press release says. The rules that they are talking about are from 1986. They are 25 years old---they were created in a country that no longer exists. We think that they need to be adjusted. The Chair of the labor union showed us these rules---they do not have any signatures. The rules need to be approved both by the administration of the Theater and by the Chair of the labor union. Since there are no signatures, they are invalid.

D. Have you tried to discuss this with your management?

P. Certainly. First, we talked about this with the administration of the ballet company. They said: "Yes-yes, we would like to have such rules." And then we sent an official request to V.A. Gergiev's deputy Yu.A. Shvartskopf. We also touched upon other issues in that letter, and we did not get answers to any of them.

D. When did this happen?

P. This happened in May. After this, we talked to Valery Abisalovich. He said that he was aware of the events and that he was going to deal with all this.

D. Has he dealt with it?

P. I understand very well that, as busy as he is, it is very difficult to make time to sit down and start addressing the problems of the ballet company. But we simply do not have a choice. Because the artists of our department voted for us, we have to get things done. Artists come to us with various complaints---on how work hours are being counted, on the absence of days off (sometimes it happens that we work a month with no days off)---and we simply have to react.

D. But why did you start reacting only now? Didn't you have a labor union before?

P. We did, but it wasn't very active. We were elected in April 2012. The problems were accumulating gradually, and now we can say that the boiling point has been reached---primarily because of the experimental pay scale of the corps de ballet artists. I want to emphasize that everything that we are talking about concerns, first and foremost, the corps de ballet. Soloists are able to speak about their problems themselves, and they are of course inclined to be occupied with themselves first. But the corps de ballet cannot defend themselves.

D. Has the system of the distribution of grants changed? Was it different under Makhar Vaziev?

P. We have had grants since 2003. Under Makhar Vaziev, the grants were fixed. In other words, there was a certain part of the grant that did not depend on the number of performances. The ballet management was not satisfied with this, because a person could do nothing and receive salary for nothing.

D. I recall that in one interview Yuri Fateyev said that this system needed to be changed.

P. Yes, and he did a lot to introduce the new system. We are not against this system---we would like it to be adjusted. Bolshoi Theater's practice is that part of the grant remains fixed, whereas another part is a bonus. It is awarded to those people who worked a lot and well. Whereas people who worked poorly will only receive the fixed part.

D. How does one decide who "worked poorly"? Does it mean "too little"? It is possible to work little and well, and it is possible to work a lot and poorly. And also it is possible to work both little and poorly. Who should be deciding this?

P. This is a very delicate question. Everybody knows very well that every manager likes some artists more than others.

D. Do you agree that it has always been like this, and probably always will be?

P. Yes, it has been and will be like this. Not only in ballet theaters, but also in drama theaters. There are artists who are able and willing to work, but the director (or, in our case, the ballet manager) does not see them. Precisely because of this we would like to make sure that artists who, due to various reasons, do not participate in many performances, are somehow protected. Of course our ballet bodies wear out quickly, and if at 20 everything is fine, then at 35 everything is not so fine. And you stop being liked. But you have a family, and moreover, you spent your health working in this profession, and it is not quite right to deprive you of stable earnings.

D. They could respond that they are not Social Security.

P. They say this to us all the time.

D. You profession is cruel: you lose form, you have to leave and do something else. Perhaps one could reason this way as well.

P. Still, it seems to me that there should exist some gratitude for the fact that the person gave himself to the theater for 15-20 years…

D. Ok, but who should be deciding whether the person is in shape, and whether he is able to go on stage? Do you have a collegial body that has such powers? Do you have an Artistic Board?

P. At this point, all the decisions are made by two people: Acting Director of the Ballet Company Yuri Fateyev and his Deputy Tatyana Bessarabova. The Theater's press release says that when these issues are decided, the opinions of coaches are taken into account. In reality, this is not the case. I can only recall a few times when something was discussed by a "council" consisting of the management and repetiteurs. For example, when the fate of the ballet soloist Yelena Sheshina was being decided. At that time, Yuri Valeryevich gathered the repetiteurs and discussed with them her firing (in the end, he still did what he thought was necessary.) We would like to have an evaluation once a year, conducted by a committee in which there would be some independent representatives---in order to reach a balanced and maximally independent decision.

D. We started talking about grants---what are the components that make up the earnings of a corps dancer?

P. First of all, the base salary---it is, if I am not mistaken, from 10 to 18 thousand [rubles per month net of taxes], if I am not mistaken. The distribution of the grant depends on the person. If it is an artist who satisfies the management, then he receives the base rate.

D. What is the base rate?

P. The base rate is the part of the grant that is paid for performing a certain part of the repertory. It is sort of a price list. Each part, from the big ones to the smallest ones, even "walking", has its price. The waltz in "Swan Lake" has one price, and the parts of the swans have another price. Let's say that swans are "priced" at three thousand rubles, that is, this is their base rate. However, if the person does not quite satisfy the management, then they deduct a certain percentage from this base rate, and he might receive two thousand or one and a half. If a girl is occupied in each act and is liked by the management, she receives one sum. If she is not liked, then she receives another sum.

D. Does there exist an official document which describes the rules of how the size of the compensation changes?

P. Such a document does not exist---we brought this up as well. The regulatory document says that the grant is disbursed according to how occupied a dancer is. So if a person goes on stage, he receives his money according to the base rate. It says that money can be deducted only after consulting the repetiteurs and only after issuing an official memo to this effect. None of the people who we asked were given the memo when the money was deducted from them. Moreover, sometimes the money gets deducted before going on stage---i.e., an artist has not gone on stage yet and has not had a chance to make any mistakes, but 20% has already been deducted from him.

D. Why? Does this get explained somehow?

P. This is a difficult matter. No, it is not explained. I think (perhaps I am mistaken) that it happens because there is not enough money for everyone. There is a certain total amount of the grant for the theater overall and, in particular, for the ballet. This amount is fixed, it cannot be changed. See, "Swan Lake" has 32 swans, and if everyone gets paid, for example, three thousand rubles, then there will not be enough money for everyone. So they started deducting certain percentages. I am astounded: why is it impossible to revise this system? To arrange it so that people are not offended---currently, they are not being told why they are being fined. The grounds can be anything: you are too tall, or your knee does not fully extend (when that knee has perhaps recently been operated on), and so on. Much is arbitrary and subjective here. We discussed with Fateyev the fact that this system is not well thought-out. Certainly we are not talking about paying everyone the same. But then they should pay according to categories, and not have this humiliating system of fines.

D. Does the company support you?

P. I think that unofficially, the majority of the company is supporting us; however, of course they are very afraid to get up and say something directly: "I say something, and then I will be left out of a tour, left out of performances, and be left with only the base salary."

D. Valery Gergiev responded to your letter by saying that "the anxiety of artists, especially the young ones, is related to the fact that they need to live somewhere. And even the most generous salaries do not result in favorable possibilities at the Mariinsky or at the Bolshoi, or in orchestras, where young musicians are unable to save enough money for an apartment in a year or two."

P. I did not quite understand his answer. The thing is, we did not write about apartments in our letter, and also we did not only write about money. We also wrote about quality. Yes, good work should be compensated well. But when a person is forced to think about how much he will make this month, artistic quality suffers. The atmosphere at the theater has changed a lot: experienced artists do not want to help their young colleagues, because they fear losing their chances to go on stage. I told this to Yuri Valeryevich, and he responded to me: "Dasha, it has been like this all the time."

D. What do you mean?

P. When a girl joins the company, it is sometimes difficult to learn, as we say, "the order", from one rehearsal. When I started out, the older artists never refused to help the younger ones. Now sometimes they do.

D. Do you realize that people can reproach you for being preoccupied with your own situation? In fact, V. Gergiev has already done this quite directly, having said that you are worried about your rare appearances on stage.

P. It does cause me pain---I really do worry that I do not have many performances. And I really would like to go on stage more often. But I cannot imagine how my union activities could assist me in this matter. I never went to Gergiev to ask for any parts. I am embarrassed to do this. I do not know how to advertise myself, and was not bold enough to do this. Although I thought about it many times. I love my work---for me it is not only work, it is a very significant part of my life. But what I am doing now does not have any bearing on my personal situation. Not once---since April---did I say anything about my personal problems. By the way, in October I had eight performances (two premieres among them), and I am absolutely delighted. Although I do not know what will happen tomorrow…

D. Why do you think several leading artists left for other theaters?

P. Under Makhar Vaziev, artists also used to leave the company. This happens due to various reasons. I am concerned about something else: young artists, yesterday's graduates of the Academy of Russian Ballet, do not want to join our company.

D. Why---is there any answer to this quesion?

P. I think that the reason is again financial. Last season, young artists that joined the theater, received a base salary of 15 thousand rubles. That's it. Unfortunately, many preferred to join other companies. When I was graduating from the Academy, I could not believe that I was being hired by the Mariinsky Theater. Back then, it was a huge honor. And now young dancers do not elect to join our theater. And soon this will impact the quality of the performances.

D. By the way, if we are talking about quality---how do you rate the stage of the Concert Hall where, judging from the press release, there have been 11 ballet performances this season?

P. The Concert Hall is not equipped for ballet---perhaps something special needs to be staged for that venue. It does not have curtains, it is not equipped to have sets, it has a bad floor. For example, we dance the second act from Giselle there. And of course we are disappointed. We would like to live through everything, to create some impression of a performance---but there it is impossible in principle: the spectators are sitting right above you, and on the side, and behind. And artists feel very awkward.

D. Returning to the letter, I would like to ask what resolution you see to this situation?

P. I would very much like that they pay attention to our letter, without any hysterics. Without "wow, how dare they!" We think our letter is very properly written, and we ask to sort out what's happening. We do not ask to dismiss these people and those, and to replace them with some others. Our goal is not a war. We ask to sort things out. It's a cry for help---much has been lost already, unfortunately. We would like to at least correct something---rather than take revenge. Revenge is not the point. The point is that there should be normal working conditions, and that artists should come to the theater to engage in artistic endeavors, rather than think why we are left without a day off again and so on. I think that the direct responsibility of the administration is to ensure that the atmosphere in the theater be conducive to artistic activities, rather than hinder them.

D. Do you think that everything that you were talking about directly influences the quality of performances?

P. Yes, I think so. And when spectators come to the theater having paid a lot of money for their tickets, and get a show of questionable quality, I am ashamed.

D. But wouldn't you agree that this is not directly related to money---there exist dancers who won't dance better even if you pay them a million...

P. Still, at the Mariinsky people used to always come for the performers, and now this is disappearing.

D. This is a different topic… Perhaps it is necessary to purchase some stars?

P. No, I am confident that it is necessary to grow our own. And it is necessary to give people a chance and to help them.

[Natalia]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting, Ilya. I'm curious if the new U.S.-citizen corps member, Keenan Kampa, is also subject to this (treated just like the Russian corps members) of it she has a separate contract guaranteeing set base pay and/or a separate patron footing her costs?

We know that Kim Kimin of Korea was totally funded by the Japanese patron...and Kim was just promoted out of 'trainee' status, which wasn't technically the corps, I realize.

As Catherine pointed out above, Choryhees are the same a Corps, in payscale matters.

[Catherine]

Thanks for taking the time to translate it Ilya. From what I understand, any foreigner has a separate contract from what the Russians receive...

[Natalia]

That's what I thought, Catherine. I should have mentioned Xander Parish of the UK, too, who, as 'choryphee,' also falls within the large Corps category. I doubt that Belarussians and Ukrainians get their own special contracts (ex-USSR/CIS)...but maybe they do, too?

[Ilya]

I'm glad to have done the translation, even though it took a lot of time. Pavlenko comes across as a very reasonable person who is making some reasonable points, and I think she deserves to be heard.

Two things strike me as particularly sad. First, the crazy system of micromanaging pay scales that involves demeaning and arbitrary fines, and an arbitrary assignment of prices to roles. Whoever concocted this insanity was clearly brought up under communism and has no idea about the basics of economics and management. Second, while $700 million is spent on the construction of Mariinsky-2 (most of it probably to line up the pockets of various officials), they offer a salary of $4000 per year to the likes of Smirnova and Shapran. (One of the fringe benefits: the possibility of spending several weeks in a row without days off.) Talk about not being able to save for an apartment "in a year or two"---with these salaries, they wouldn't save for an apartment in 100 years! Sometimes I wonder if Gergiev's brain is actually aware of what comes out of his mouth during his interviews.

[bart]

Thank you so much, Ilya, both for your translation and your illuminating remarks. Pavlenkos final comment makes great sense to me.

... t is necessary to grow our own [stars]. And it is necessary to give people a chance and to help them.

[Jayne]

Team Pavlenko - she sounds amazing - let her run the theatre!

[Tara]

Thanks for taking the time to translate it Ilya. From what I understand, any foreigner has a separate contract from what the Russians receive...

Yes, thanks very much. I was most interested to see the salary information and was a bit gobsmacked at the very low "grant" amount. I can not imagine being able to properly function as a dancer on so little income and with casting and fines being so erratic- seems like a perfect storm for a meltdown of some kind perhaps even a labor strike?

Thanks for taking the time to translate it Ilya. From what I understand, any foreigner has a separate contract from what the Russians receive...

Any ideas on what those contracts may or may not contain in comparison to the Russians?

[Catherine]

Team Pavlenko - she sounds amazing - let her run the theatre!

Hear hear!

[Catherine]

I will answer that indirectly.

I lived in Saint Petersburg as a Russian Federation-tax-paying resident for 6 years. No big company sent me there, no company paid to ship my things, no company arranged my housing -- I did it all myself. It was the hardest thing i've ever done. I lived as the Russians do and I mention that because the difference between being sent abroad to work with the perks of corporate support is HUGE compared to those who do not have the support.

So moving further: St Petersburg was (is?) the 14th most expensive city in the world (Moscow being #1) at least as of several years ago. Russians have the advantage in terms of not having to pay the mortgage rates we have here -- people either live with relatives whose housing was given to them by the state decades ago, or (increasingly in recent years but still not widespread) will take out small loans to buy a room or apartment. Buying real estate outright is not done in the same manner as it is done here. First, all transactions are done in cash and the idea of a mortgage is still fairly new. People today in San Francisco are often paying $3000 and up per month either in rent or mortgage fees, that is the going rate, that is what you pay if you live here. (granted we are having a boom now that is disproportionate to much of the country, but my point is this is a metropolitan area, so as to compare apples with apples).

In St Petersburg, such fees are often asked for normal Western standard housing, but the clinch is that salaries there are not commensurate with what Westerners earn -- it is a huge discouragement for expats in any line of work and why (in my view) there are not more of them there.

What I am getting at is two things:

1) you can live there on $1800 per month gross income, but it is not pleasant or easy, and you're not putting anything away for the future in such cases; and

2) most foreigners do not live on that little because they're used to a "normal" standard of living.

Finally in the case of Russians who climb the ranks in the theatre, the theatre *has* provided interest free loans to some of them to purchase apartments. This is huge as the going interest rates for any loan from any bank today (Dec 2012) is around 18%. (It was about 10% before 2008). So needless to say, taking out a mortgage is prohibitive there. And in many cases, honored artists are often still offered theatre housing. The theatre owns a number of apartment buildings near the theatre and can house --and does-- numerous opera and ballet employees in those apartments (which are nicer than the average kommunalka you will find if you're just looking for a decent sublet).

In short: I am guessing that the foreigners have a slightly different setup than some of the Russians, but I dont have numbers. I know a number of dancers are in the apartments now and that is included in their contract. But I didn't find it appropriate to ask what the personal terms of their contracts are.

[Tara]

I will answer that indirectly.

I lived in Saint Petersburg as a Russian Federation-tax-paying resident for 6 years. No big company sent me there, no company paid to ship my things, no company arranged my housing -- I did it all myself. It was the hardest thing i've ever done. I lived as the Russians do and I mention that because the difference between being sent abroad to work with the perks of corporate support is HUGE compared to those who do not have the support.....

What I am getting at is two things:

1) you can live there on $1800 per month gross income, but it is not pleasant or easy, and you're not putting anything away for the future in such cases; and

2) most foreigners do not live on that little because they're used to a "normal" standard of living.

Finally in the case of Russians who climb the ranks in the theatre, the theatre *has* provided interest free loans to some of them to purchase apartments. This is huge as the going interest rates for any loan from any bank today (Dec 2012) is around 18%. (It was about 10% before 2008). So needless to say, taking out a mortgage is prohibitive there. And in many cases, honored artists are often still offered theatre housing. The theatre owns a number of apartment buildings near the theatre and can house --and does-- numerous opera and ballet employees in those apartments (which are nicer than the average kommunalka you will find if you're just looking for a decent sublet).

Thankyou very much! That was extremely enlightening to me. Please permit me another question. When you say a number of dancers are living in theatre owned apartments approx. how many are you speaking of- in terms of the ballet company?

[cubanmiamiboy]

A while ago I saw a documentary that showed Tsikaridze at home-(I think it was here in BT)-and I was surprised at how small and non luxurious it looked...

[Mashinka]

I think Tsiskaridze lives there for sentimental reasons as it is the home he shared with his late mother (she died when he was 18).

I remember reading an article about Baryshnikov before he defected and he had a very grand place complete with a maid! And that was in the communist era.

[Catherine]

Tsiskaridze lives/works full-time in Moscow so you're referring to a former apartment he likely stays in only when he goes north to Petersburg for short performances here and there? Yes Baryshnikov lived on Moika, a very chic and expensive area. Near the Hermitage.

[Natalia]

The ca-2008 BBC-TV documentary about Wheeldon's visit to Russia to stage his Hamlet ballet at the Bolshoi included some footage filmed at Tsiskaridze's apartment in Moscow. Yes, it looks very 'standard' in a Soviet 'Kryuschev-era' building...but the wall replete with photos and treasures from Bolshoi past is TO DIE FOR! (NT is a huge collector of balletic memorabilia and films.)

[anin]

Tsiskaridze lives/works full-time in Moscow so you're referring to a former apartment he likely stays in only when he goes north to Petersburg for short performances here and there? Yes Baryshnikov lived on Moika, a very chic and expensive area. Near the Hermitage.

Yes he did but in a one room apartment no maid included.

[Mashinka]

It didn't look like one room in the picture I saw and he referred to a maid.

[abatt]

Here is a reference in a Reuter's article to Gergiev's position concerning the open letter.

http://www.nytimes.c...y.html?ref=arts

Gergiev states, "There's nothing terrible happening in the Mariinsky - no way."

[cubanmiamiboy]

Gergiev states, "There's nothing terrible happening in the Mariinsky - no way."

Other than the contorsionists...?

[Cygnet]

' "In a move to address concerns, however, he announced a plan to build 50 or more apartments to house performers: "They will be relatively cheap apartments, basically a gift to them from the company," he said. "But then they have to perform." '

.

O.M.G.!!!