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How Should ABT Renew Itself?


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Perhaps it tells us that the powers-that-be within ABT are too old. They don't seem to grasp that an outdated website is a HUGE no-no. As a 61 year old, I hate saying that. I think I've done a great job keeping abreast of what a current website should like and all the ways to "brand" yourself or your company, but that's because I have a son and daughter-in-law who do this for a living. They keep me relevant that way.

Who's keeping ABT relevant?

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We are! The audience.

Or we would be, if they cared a bit more for what we think and how we feel about them as an organization. That's another thing I'd add to the list of necessities for ABT to renew itself: cultivating a stronger relationship with audiences through, among (many) other things, subscription/exchange/etc. policies that make sense and that, while they may not benefit the company financially in the day-by-day short-term record books, could certainly benefit them longer term.

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I went back and reread some of last year's spring season Swan Lake thread today, and it made me realize just how much BA "airtime" has been taken up this season by discussions of the state of the company, of casting, of behind-the-scenes matters, etc. Certainly there have always been topics on the forum such as this one, and certainly the discussion of such matters has always played a role even in the production-specific threads. But I really got the (completely unverified, unscientific) sense that the proportion of time spent discussing actual performances and what was seen onstage at the Met this year is much lower. Seems like a clear sign (as if we needed one) that this company is not in very good shape.

It was also interesting to be reminded of what happened during last year's SL run: after stepping into Acts III-IV for an injured Gillian on Monday night, Hee Seo picked up Cojocaru's SL on Friday at very short notice (5 pm or so the previous day), leaving many subscribers unable to make exchanges. After dancing that night's SL, she and Bolle again danced the very next night. Quite reminiscent especially of this season's R&J drama!

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ABT's youtube channel is pitiful compared to some of the wonderful footage other companies have provided. Even their 75th anniversary interviews are so short that you wish a more extended version of the interview was posted.

Like look at this interview. It's so funny, so interesting, that one wishes it wasn't just three minutes long.

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I actually think the length is right -- Adweek is just one of many companies saying three minutes is optimal length for YouTube videos. I've had some experience with video analytics for an organization with viewer demographics very, very similar to ABT's, and the same holds true: viewing drops like a rock at minute three.

My problem here is more basic production issues (the difference in audio levels between Maxim and Irina, for example, is quite noticeable, and would be corrected by most producers), lack of compelling editing, and the overall dated "look" (the drop, even font choices). There's nothing to help viewers align the video they're watching with the company for which one would hope they buy tickets: there isn't a title card or end credits aligning the video with the brand -- and hell, the words "American Ballet Theatre" never even appear within the video -- never mind (gasp) an ABT logo.

I'm going on at length because the low, low quality of this video demonstrates just how bad ABT's marketing is. High-quality video is easy to find these days, so when ABT turns something that's so far below that standard out regularly, it just makes it look cheap. Same thing goes across all marketing efforts: they're not just outdated; they're also of a much lower quality than those of their peers, and the company suffers for it.

[Edited by tutu for clarity and typos]

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If ABT management were to form a female principals roster consisting of a core of Abrera, Boylston, Copeland, Murphy, Part, Semionova and Seo (w/ Vishneva as a Met regular and Lane as a utility principal), they would have 8+ principals. Ideally, they should have two more.

The name most currently in play is Maria Kotchekova. On her social media platforms, she is already billing herself as an ABT principal. I'm not sure what that means. Is she just inflating her status as a guest artist, or is she well and truly planning to become a full-time fixture during the Met season? I guess we'll have to wait for the official press releases to find out. In any event, her continued participation in the Met season would ease the pressure at the top while, ideally, the company either groomed future principals from within or went out into the free market to buy itself more female principals.

Coming next: The men

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The name most currently in play is Maria Kotchekova. On her social media platforms, she is already billing herself as an ABT principal. I'm not sure what that means. Is she just inflating her status as a guest artist, or is she well and truly planning to become a full-time fixture during the Met season?

I don't know the SFB performance schedule. Assuming MK were to become an ABT principal, would she be free to perform at other times in addition to the spring season?

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So, here's a question:

How is it that some of ABT's dancers have websites of their own that are FAR superior (more sophisticated, visual, etc.) than ABT's website? Whether or not these dancers funded the creation/management of the sites themselves or someone volunteered to do it, if they can find the means then why can't ABT do the same?

I concur ABT Fan, why can't the media department or whomever handles this website learn from these dancers, even if they don't want to use the same people at least learn that they need to get to the 21st Century. They added the 18 to 29 section but IMO they need to do more to attract new audience and gain attention. I add again that the NYCB has done a great job to introduce their dancers with video about each. This adds to the audience involvement and feeling like we know each dancer.
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I concur ABT Fan, why can't the media department or whomever handles this website learn from these dancers, even if they don't want to use the same people at least learn that they need to get to the 21st Century. They added the 18 to 29 section but IMO they need to do more to attract new audience and gain attention. I add again that the NYCB has done a great job to introduce their dancers with video about each. This adds to the audience involvement and feeling like we know each dancer.

Honestly, my suggestion for the company after this year is that they overhaul their marketing strategy. If there's anything that Misty Copeland should have taught ABT over the last couple of years, it's that a homegrown American ballerina can grow a following and bring a paying audience into the Met. Yes, there are unique elements to Misty's story, but a smart and committed marketing professional could (and should) study the blueprint that's been laid out and see which elements can work for the company and other dancers.

ABT's website and social media do look 15 years old. They need a complete overhaul, and there are so many things that they could do to make their basic outreach more appealing to new and younger audiences. If you compare for example, the NYCB's youtube channel, NYCB has made real effort to post content both on the ballets that they put on and the dancers and their story. It actually invites an audience in that might not otherwise be engaged with ballet.

I mean, really, what IS ABT's marketing strategy? Are they, like the Republican party, relying on an aging audience that's dying off by the day? Because frankly, that's not going to cut it if it wants to continue building an audience or even maintaining one in the long-term.

Re: the dancer websites referenced above. Other than Misty's, those are actually pretty simple websites which were probably built on off-the-shelf Wordpress themes. My guess is that each of them probably cost between $500-$1,000. One of my students could probably knock one of those out in a couple of days. Misty's was probably a custom site or built on a customized theme, but still not terribly complex or expensive.

A new website for ABT would inevitably be more complex and expensive than any of those sites (even Misty's), but yes, website design and development have come a long way and are much cheaper and faster than they were 15 years ago when that dinosaur was built.

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My impression of ABT marketing over the last several years is that it's aimed at potential donors rather than ticket buyers, with no recognition that marketing is not just development.

Language alert: I've seen some institutions have started using "organizational advancement" instead of developent, witch replaced the perfectly accurate but obvious findraising.

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My impression of ABT marketing over the last several years is that it's aimed at potential donors rather than ticket buyers, with no recognition that marketing is not just development.

I mean, really, what IS ABT's marketing strategy? Are they, like the Republican party, relying on an aging audience that's dying off by the day? Because frankly, that's not going to cut it if it wants to continue building an audience or even maintaining one in the long-term.

Re: the dancer websites referenced above. Other than Misty's, those are actually pretty simple websites which were probably built on off-the-shelf Wordpress themes. My guess is that each of them probably cost between $500-$1,000. One of my students could probably knock one of those out in a couple of days. Misty's was probably a custom site or built on a customized theme, but still not terribly complex or expensive.

A new website for ABT would inevitably be more complex and expensive than any of those sites (even Misty's), but yes, website design and development have come a long way and are much cheaper and faster than they were 15 years ago when that dinosaur was built.

Amen to both sentiments. This page in particular looks like something a 15-year-old learning HTML for the first time might dream up. Web graphics are, across the board, atrocious. And the site is more or less unreadable/unusable if you're viewing on tablet or smartphone.

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As I've griped a lot about ABT's Web site (and, for all I know, their entire Marketing staff could be grinding their teeth over their lack of budget to fix it), I thought I'd mention that they're starting to do social media right. Their Instagram account has been consistently good for months now. They've also just started to use YouTube better: the video quality is far higher than it was when they started (though nowhere near NYCB levels) and it looks like they've discovered a content strategy (interleaving videos of former stars with the most on-the-make corps members--Brandt, Trenary, and Baca--to lend them some glamour by association before role debuts).

One positive thing about Moore leaving is that any longtime vendor contracts--like the Web design firm and the print publicity agency---are bound to come up for review under the new regime.

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I don't know the SFB performance schedule. Assuming MK were to become an ABT principal, would she be free to perform at other times in addition to the spring season?

The standard San Francisco Ballet season runs from mid-December with "Nutcracker" and then from the last week in January to the first or second week of May. (Next season, from January 24-May 5, 2016.) This doesn't include any touring; the only "tour" that currently is on SFB's website is a performance at Stern Grove.

Since ABT has no trouble with casting Kochetkova as a guest with limited rehearsal time, she would miss the beginning of the ABT season, were she to become an ABT Principal. This year, it was mixed rep at the beginning of the season.

I don't know when rehearsals for SFB's season begin. It may be possible for her to perform with ABT during the Fall season without interfering with her SFB schedule.

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I don't think you can compare Wendy Whelan and Misty Copeland. Whelan was not dancing major full length classics.

I don't know if Whelan was the original Fairy of Courage when Peter Martins' "Sleeping Beauty" premiered, but she danced the role in the ballet's first season, and she was a stellar Aurora a few years later: aside from Judith Fugate's "Vision" act, she was by far the best NYCB Aurora I've seen, because she danced it simply and on her own terms. She also danced in Peter Martins' "Swan Lake," which I've never seen. I never saw her dance the Balanchine Act II, but Wikipedia says she did, and Balanchine's version is strictly classical, perhaps the only strictly classical work he did.

You can argue that NYCB's classical rep is not extensive, or that NYCB dancers shouldn't be held to the same standards as ABT dancers when performing the ones they do, but she did dance the two major Petipa ballerina roles, and she can be compared to anyone who danced those roles and carried those ballets.

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I never saw her dance the Balanchine Act II, but Wikipedia says she did, and Balanchine's version is strictly classical, perhaps the only strictly classical work he did.

She did, and she was splendid. Whelan stripped back everything unnecessary and showed us the ballet's essence in all its glowing purity.

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I don't know when rehearsals for SFB's season begin. It may be possible for her to perform with ABT during the Fall season without interfering with her SFB schedule.

SFB doesn't perform in the Fall, but it does rehearse their Spring ballets all throughout the Fall (though I'm not sure of the start date). So the company is in residence, though not performing until Nutcracker opens. Their time off period is the summer, barring their outdoor performance Stern Grove in July (which is just one show usually).

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So, here's a question:

How is it that some of ABT's dancers have websites of their own that are FAR superior (more sophisticated, visual, etc.) than ABT's website? Whether or not these dancers funded the creation/management of the sites themselves or someone volunteered to do it, if they can find the means then why can't ABT do the same?

http://www.marcelogomes.co/

http://www.isabellaboylston.com/

http://www.jameswhiteside.org/

http://www.mistycopeland.com/home.html

Maybe their Head of Marketing or their Online Media Manager should get one of these dancers to hook them up with whoever did their website. Copeland's was done by http://www.starvingartistwebdesign.com/ which is a do-it-yourself'er. Their elite plan only costs $12.99/month for crying out loud.

ABT, renew yourself by gettin' with the program.

This is probably more of the Wish list from another thread than this one, I thought I would do a bit of research and came up with a few more that maybe ABT should consider, if their some of their own dancers can have these why can't they consult them or whomever did all these sites?

http://www.gillianmurphy.com/

http://www.nicolegraniero.com/

http://www.marianelanunez.com/

http://www.paulinawaski.com/

I guess I just want to see something fresh after all these years.

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