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Stecyk

Senior Member
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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    Fan
  • City**
    Calgary
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    Canada

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  1. The harsh reality is that the affected ballet dancers don't care what you, I, or any other Ballet Alert member thinks about the stupidity or intelligence of France's government. At present, their backs are against the wall. When they leave ballet and start new careers, they are often paid poorly because they are starting from the bottom. As highlighted by Mr. Carniato, he needs every extra dollar to supplement his new earnings to help make ends meet. Please see Prime Minister Édouard Philippe's quote, shown below, from the same Wall Street Journal article mentioned in the opening post.
  2. Indeed, this situation is challenging for the dancers. The article discusses Mr. Carniato, who is 41. Having danced from the age of 6, his body is beginning to fail him. He had hoped to retire next year and begin teaching. Salaries for new teachers, however, are just above minimum wage and are at about half his €2,500 month salary at POB. He was counting on his pension of about €1,000 to help make ends meet.
  3. The Wall Street Journal: "Macron’s Stiff Opposition in Pension Battle: Angry Ballerinas: In a tutu at 62? France wants to add 20 years to the age dancers can claim their retirement pay" (subscription required)
  4. Here's another article about the state of print magazines, one that was published by the New York Times on September 23, 2017 "The Not-So-Glossy Future of Magazines." The New York Times allows non-subscribers to view ten, I think, free articles per month.
  5. For those that might be interested in the health of print magazines, there's a good article in today's Financial Times "Battle against free digital content takes gloss off magazines." A subscription is required. The article contains a couple of interesting graphs. The future will certainly be challenging and interesting.
  6. Many different industries share similar business models. For example, the oil industry and pharmaceutical industry are very similar. High capital and high uncertainty. With regard to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, dirac got it right in a prior post. As far as the target audience, those that can afford and appreciate the product. Full stop.
  7. Estée Lauder is a prestige brand. If you go to the Estée Lauder website and look at its fragrances, I think you'll agree that the price points are rich for "typical" poor teenagers. And, when we go to ballet performances, most attendees are not poor teenagers. Indeed, many appear to be reasonably affluent, the very market that EL is targeting. Companies tend to pick spokespeople who are young, attractive, and well-spoken. It helps when they possess a strong media presence. Those affluent ballet goers appreciate having young, attractive, well-spoken people market goods and services to them.
  8. Well said, Helene. All these things cost money. One can look at pharmaceuticals too. The actual drug itself might be inexpensive. But that doesn't account for all the costs incurred to develop the drug. If you look at publicly traded companies, very few earn outrageous rates of return. When they do, they attract competition, which then destroys the excessive rate of return. The same applies to the fragrance industry. If excessive returns were being generated easily, venture capitalists would flock to the industry and new companies would be formed overnight. Scrappy companies happen all the time. And, it ain't happening. Consumer goods are notoriously difficult industries.
  9. For many people, even if ballet performances were free to attend, they would be overpriced, regardless of their actual cost of production. Cost of production is irrelevant to value. Which fragrance companies are earning excessive rates of return? If it is so outrageously profitable, then why isn't every company engaged in producing fragrances? Are new companies being formed right, left, and center to capture all these easy profits?
  10. It's unfortunate that some immediately assumed the worst. And, I should have contacted Alberta Ballet before making my first response. That would have saved some confusion and made this thread succinct. As far as the "ballet world" is concerned, Alberta Ballet talks to its stakeholders, which extends beyond the Ballet Alert "ballet world."
  11. That's helpful information volcanohunter. With respect to the eight more dancers, do you know if they perform the same number of performances. In other words, is it possible that Alberta Ballet has fewer dancers who dance more performances so that helps to explain the discrepancy? That speaks to the season duration part of Alberta Ballet's response. Or, are wages, because of higher living costs, higher at Alberta Ballet? I don't know the answers to my questions, but I know you're a passionate follower of ballet, so perhaps you might know.
  12. @kbarber, I sent you a private message dated December 5. I note that you haven't read it yet. I am just letting you know that you have unread mail. It's not important and definitely not urgent.
  13. I did receive a response. Because it's inappropriate to repost someone's email without permission, I will provide my quick take. As expected, Alberta Ballet does believe that the definition is subjective. In addition to number of dancers, they look at operating budgets, school affiliation, and season duration. While some of you might not be satisfied, others will understand. If you have ever run a company or been involved in a company at senior levels, you understand that it is a complex organization. For those that are balletomanes--many of those who participate in this forum--they will probably refer to the number of dancers. While those who are not balletomanes might take a broader view. As I said in a prior post, there is no one definition that we all can agree upon.
  14. Given that this question of company size has generated such interest, I have sent an email to Alberta Ballet asking them for a response. Let's wait and see what they write.
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