American Ballet Theatre to Leave City Center

[ABT Fan]

"To have a ballet company that I love, perform in the David H. Koch Theater – which bears my name – that I am proud of, is a dream come true," reeks of ego and a desire to make it appear that he owns the building and everything in it. It's a horrifying contrast to funders such as Lincoln Kirstein who served the art and not the ego.

I nearly gagged when I read that. Koch doesn't own the theatre nor the ballet companies (or the other arts institutions) that perform there, no matter how large his contributions.

[ABT Fan]

I think in general that this is a great move for ABT. Although CC is smaller, I will miss it purely for the grand beauty that it is, especially now following their renovation.

I just hope that with moving to the Koch Theatre, ABT will still continue their fall tradition of showing only mixed repertory and not throw in any big full-length ballets since Koch will be able to handle those productions, obviously. I'm a big lover of the Swan Lake's and Giselle's, etc., but we get enough of those classics during the Met season. From what I've read here and heard elsewhere, the public (and I think the dancers too) and hungry for more mixed rep, so I hope that doesn't change.

[ksk04]

Among many things that Mr. Koch "stands for", it seems to me that the most (and perhaps the only) relevant one to this discussion board is that he stands for the prosperity of ABT and NYCB, and has been instrumental in enabling countless great performances that these companies have put on. Yet, somehow every time he makes a large donation to ballet he gets skewered on this board. I find this incomprehensible.

actually i disagree; i don't think he stands for ABT's and NYCB's prosperity but for the perceived benefit that a grand effort to bolster their stability does for him,i.e., the publicity.

Agreed. On top the the fact that his political policies directly affect his relations to the arts. Where the support for the National Endowment for the Arts? For smaller, regional companies? Someone else mentioned he contributes to PBS...great-his political policies want to remove funding from all of these organizations that he supposedly values. I guess for him that'd be great--companies would be ever more reliant on individuals who would have ever more control over the artistic management of these companies. Not the future I want, so forgive all of us if we are suspicious of his motivations.

[Amy Reusch]

I have more respect for Joe DiMaggio than either Koch brother, and since so many of us still call that road the "West Side Highway", it seems completely right to continue to call the theater the "State Theater". It also honors the memory of the history before the Koch brothers.

[puppytreats]

Ballet theatre

[Ilya]

Quite frankly disagreeing with what the Koch brothers stand for is not what I would call being "intolerant" of his political views.

Intolerant is a loaded word, and I think incredibly poorly applied in this case. I'd love to say more but I don't want to cross the line.

Well there is disagreeing with someone, and then there is comparing him to a Nazi sympathizer and to a convicted felon, and alleging that he has done some (of course, unspecified) "despicable things"---all, it seems, because Mr. Koch supports conservative causes. I do not think Mr. Koch deserves this, and I for one am grateful for his support of NYCB and ABT.

Where the support for the National Endowment for the Arts? For smaller, regional companies? Someone else mentioned he contributes to PBS...great-his political policies want to remove funding from all of these organizations that he supposedly values.

He spends an enormous amount of money on philanthropy; however, even he cannot support everything. There is still a lot of good philanthropic work left for the rest of us.

He (and other libertarians) does not want to remove funding from all these organizations. He wants their supporters to contribute voluntarily, instead of being forced by the government to do so. One can argue about the pros and cons of this approach. However, considering that about 99% of taxpayers will never, ever watch a ballet, I do feel guilty sometimes about asking all of them to subsidize my expensive habit of going to lots of ballet performances.

[sandik]

However, considering that about 99% of taxpayers will never, ever watch a ballet, I do feel guilty sometimes about asking all of them to subsidize my expensive habit of going to lots of ballet performances.

Big chunks of my taxes, from the federal level down to the local, are spent on things that I have moral objections to, as well as those things I have no interest in -- I don't regret any of the public subsidy to the arts.

[ascballerina]

Hear, hear! We homeschoolers still have to pay taxes to help the school board....(hey, maybe we should ask to redirect them--to places we want to support)

[vipa]

Hear, hear! We homeschoolers still have to pay taxes to help the school board....(hey, maybe we should ask to redirect them--to places we want to support)

Taxes are spend on ballet, theater etc that some people don't attend because it's good for the economy. People who go to theater go to restaurants, frequent local stores etc. while attending events. The Koch brothers supported defunding state support of a theater because "a lot of people don't like Shakespeare." To me that is short sighted.

Home schoolers - I have friends in that position. I don't think we pay taxes to fund schools to pay for our own children's education. If that was the case childless people wouldn't pay taxes that go to schools. We pay taxes to fund schools, so that we have an education population, which is essential for a democracy.

The quality of public schools IMO is a separate debate.

[California]

This isn't much, but the (slightly) revised subscription brochure I received in today's mail says that the fall season October 30-November 10 will feature "an eclectic repertoire of one-act ballets," so I guess they're saving all the full-lengths for the Met seasons. It also says that on-sale dates for performance tickets for the fall season (and the Nutcracker Dec 13-22 at BAM) are TBA.