California

I don't know if the Media Research Center posted that article to object to this expenditure of Federal funds. Perhaps they would be even more upset to know the amount spent on dance was even higher than they thought! The new Chair at NEA has made it his mission to remind people that artists working in the arts not only have jobs themselves, but generate other jobs. I just returned from sold-out performances at the Vail Dance Festival and the Central City Opera Festival in Colorado. It was great that all those artists (and support staff) had work this summer, but it was also great that a lot of restaurant and hotel owners and workers in those otherwise-deserted resort towns had work generated by the festivals. From the age and demeanor of the audience members, I seriously doubt that many would have visited Vail or Central City to go hiking in the summer! Both of those festivals had substantial private funding from individuals and foundations, along with small grants from NEA. But an important role NEA money has played over the years is the "seal of approval" that tells small foundations and private donors that this is a worthwhile group to support. That's an important role for NEA to continue, I think, regardless of the size of those grants.

I'm puzzled by today's news report in CNSNews, stating that $1.7 million was awarded to dance companies by NEA in 2010: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/70945 Here is the list from the NEA site of awards in the American Masterpieces program for dance for 2010 (62 awards totalling over $2.3 million): http://www.nea.gov/g....php?disc=Dance Another group is in the category of Access to Artistic Excellence: http://www.nea.gov/g...ccess&DIS=Dance Whether people think NEA should be spending more or less than this is another matter that I won't take up here.

This local newspaper reports that $90,500 was raised. They still have a debt, but the report says they'll continue next season. It's not clear what they will cut to make up for the remaining deficit or whether they'll just carry the debt. http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_15660988

Could you provide the link to the PNB blog? I don't see anything about Vail on the Director's Blog here: http://www.pnbunleashed.com/PNB_Unleashed/Directors_Blog/Directors_Blog.html

They are holding the benefit in a theater that holds only 600 people. With a shortfall of $150,000, according to the most recent Wenzel article in the Post, they'll have to sell a lot of $500 tickets to meet their goal. http://www.pcsarts.com/rentals/ Of course, they might be hoping to inspire some big donors to come up with more. But even assuming all the guest performers are donating their services, there are still out-of-pocket expenses to cover at the theater, travel, hotel, etc. for the guests.

A new column in the Denver Post, by John Wenzel, was posted July 23. He sheds more light on the problems: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_15580511 ". . . several former Ballet Nouveau company members contend that the board had no plan in place for Garrisons' departure — and that its fundraising stability was tied largely to her and others who have since left, such as former development director Amanda Stewart. "Lissy Garrison . . . was terminated in December in what appeared to me to be an underhanded, unethical, power play by a few of the board members," said former trustee Sue Shaffer. "The board was not forthcoming in their logic or reasons for this termination, so in January, I resigned.". . . It's still not clear why they will have to suspend operations if they don't meet their fundraising target by Saturday (as opposed to drastic moves, such as staff lay-offs, furloughs, etc.), but Wenzel does add a lot of interesting detail to this story and he seems to have talked with quite a few people

Donna Perlmutter on The Huffington Post today likes the ABT Sleeping Beauty far more than most critics: "A 'Beauty' in Tip-Top Touring Condition": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-perlmutter/a-beauty-in-tip-top-touri_b_652141.html "Cause for cheer: American Ballet Theatre's 2007 production of The Sleeping Beauty. Why? Because the show is jam-packed with the exquisite glitter of a Fabergé egg - enough gorgeous dancing, deeply coached 19th-century mime characterizations and fairy tale glories to satisfy even the most curmudgeonly among us. "Now that it's touring, with a weekend stopover at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, we can see definite traces of Gelsey Kirkland's fine directorial hand at work. She, along with Kevin McKenzie and her huband Michael Chernov, staged this quintessential classical ballet and, miracle of miracles, we can now gaze upon courtly characters who comport themselves as convincingly regal and at the same time are passionate in their causes. . ." She even likes the costumes and sets, widely criticized as "Disney-fied" -- but then, this is the home of Disneyland: "Critical punches against Tony Walton's sets and Willa Kim's costumes abounded in New York, but I found the lacey Valentine card of the Wedding Act somehow sweet, even in its overdone, sugar-spun state - albeit with flashes of chic wit scattered around, in scrumptious sherbet shades. After all, it is The Sleeping Beauty, in a kingdom of sugar and spice."

Does anyone know how early the on-line ticket sales start on July 19? Do they use the kind of seat-selection map you find now at the Met, OCPAC, and NYCB on-line sales, so you can see exactly what's available? I'm looking at ways to go see their production of Glass Pieces. One unknown at this point is what kind of single performance tickets will be available for their opening night, given that they consolidated the Thursday and Friday opening week subscriptions. I haven't seen any news about how subscription sales are going or how that consolidation worked out.

I see that blog posting was from February 2009. It's probably worse by now. California went over a cliff financially years ago. We're at or near the bottom on per capita funding for public education and a lot of other stuff. All state employees had to take 3 days of unpaid furlough each month for the last year, and now the Governor wants to pay all state employees the minimum wage until the legislature settles on a budget (which requires a 2/3 majority). All UC and CSU faculty and staff had to take 2-3 days of unpaid furloughs for the last year. etc., etc., etc. It's pretty ugly all around. But in comparing arts funding per capita, looking at funds provided by state government is just one measure. Support from foundations, corporations, local school districts, and many other sources can matter, too. People here can visit the Getty Museum for free, e.g., all day, every day; no state or other governmental funds support the Getty, just a very rich endowment (although that's been hammered in recent years). They do charge for parking, but you can also get there by bus. The bigger picture right now is that a lot of arts groups are really hurting financially, as are educational and cultural groups of all kinds. The sad thing is that so many people think the arts are "frills," so they will likely have a hard time recovering. I hope that people who care about these things do what they can to support struggling arts groups -- attendance, donations, whatever they can manage. It matters more now than ever, I think.

The website is back on-line this morning. Nothing looks different to me, so the missing week remains a mystery, possibly some pedestrian issue with the ISP. No news yet about their 2010-11 season: http://www.boulderballet.org/

A fundraiser has been announced for July 29 at $50: http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2010/07/15/ballet-nouveau-colorado-announces-benefit-with-national-dance-figures/ "'Moving Together — A Cause for Dance' unites Ballet Nouveau’s own 11-member company with dancers from the Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Washington Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Trey McIntyre Project and others. The company plans to announce more organizations as they are confirmed."

An ad on Craigslist on June 23, 2010, says they are recruiting for a new Executive Director: http://boulder.craigslist.org/npo/1807438954.html This June 14 interview with the Artistic Director doesn't hint at any management or fiscal problems, but who knows: http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_15285273 I suppose the job search might explain why they have had their website off-line for almost a week now.

Although I don't live in Denver, I have a lot of family there and visit a lot, so I'm always checking web sites to see what's on while I'm there. The Denver Art Museum seems to be doing well. They have an intriguing new building by Daniel Libeskind in downtown Denver that's worth a visit and seems to attract a lot of tourists. And the region does seem to have a lot of "arts fairs" appealing to tourists, wonderful appreciation of historic preservation, and many lovely little galleries and museums. But the Performing Arts Center in downtown seems mainly to show a lot of touring Broadway shows and plays. The only dance there since I've been paying attention is the Colorado Ballet and they'll only have three programs there this year. The historic (and recently restored) Opera House is beautiful and a wonderful venue, but it's huge, so smaller groups couldn't make that work. The Vail Dance Festival that we visited last year (and will again this year) was very well-attended, but the people we chatted with were mainly tourists who had planned vacations around the festival. University of Denver hosts small touring groups, but there's almost nothing at Boulder in the way of touring dance groups. (It looks like one performance by the Oregon Ballet Theatre is about it for the coming year.) But living in southern California, I'm used to regions that aren't great at supporting dance. Fortunately, these cities have good airports, so it's possible to head to New York and Washington, DC to see really good stuff a few times a year!

The Denver Post Arts blog has a new post asking if the fiscal prolems of Ballet Nouveau, like those of the Colorado Ballet, just reflect a lack of support for dance in the Denver area: http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2010/07/13/is-dance-just-a-tough-sell-in-denver/ "Certainly the Great Recession has played a major role in the struggles of both of these companies, just as it has hurt other non-profit groups of all kinds. But it is impossible not to wonder if something larger isnt at play here. Is the Denver metropolitan area just an inhospitable city to dance? And if that is the case, why?" Others have noted that it's not easy for companies on tour to add a Denver stop, as it is relatively isolated from other large cities that might support touring. That makes sense, and a look at programming in the region suggests there is something to that. The Newman Center at University of Denver brings in small troupes like Paul Taylor and the Aspen Santa Fe company, but there's no dance series at the historic Performing Arts Center in downtown Denver. The Vail Dance Festival in the summer brings in a significant company each year (Pacific Northwest this year, Miami City Ballet last year), but that's slim pickings for a populous state.

An interview with Gelsey Kirkland and her husband about the new school is posted on the blog 4Dancers: http://www.4dancers.org/2010/07/10-questions-with-gelsey-kirkland-michael-chernov/ The website for the school is here: http://www.gelseykirklandballet.org/ That video collage on the opening page includes very brief clips not available elsewhere, including her "Kitri" jump from the 1978 Don Quixote. (You can see that original production on archival tape at the New York Public Library Performing Arts Library, but it's never been released commercially.)

The Denver Post Arts Blog has a little more information from John Wenzel: http://blogs.denverpost.com/artmosphere/2010/07/08/just-in-ballet-nouveau-colorado-in-dire-straits-pleads-for-fundraising-help/ "The last-minute plea comes seven months after the Broomfield-based nonprofit fired its executive director of 11 years, Lissy Garrison, and announced plans for a 3,500-square-foot expansion west of its current space. Since then the company said it has been working to trim expenses in advance of its 2010-2011 season." . . . "Former executive director Garrison said the fundraising crisis was entirely avoidable and pointed to high staff turnover in recent months as a sign of unrest. "'(Ballet Nouveau) was an organization that for 15 years was run with integrity and best business practices and thats no longer the case,' she said. 'I would have a lot of questions if I were in the position of providing money for a bailout. I would want to know what would be different going forward versus what has happened in the last six months. Because to transform an organization with an absolutely brilliant reputation 'a professional business' into one making bailout pleas.'" "Garrison said when she left Ballet Nouveau it was in 'prime shape and 100 percent in the black.'" This is still very puzzling. The article says their annual budget is $1.6 million. With a shortfall of $198,000 (12% of the budget), why is the only option they mention "suspension of operations"? Many arts/cultural/educational organizations have suffered recent budget problems which they handled by laying off staff, shortening their season, etc., etc. We don't know from the article or their fund-raising letter if those options were considered and why the problem couldn't be handle that way.

The Ballet in the Park series was in June. My sister and her four-year-old granddaughter went to see the Broomfield performance. It was in an outdoor amphitheatre and there were only a few dozen people in the audience. They did the wedding pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty and the rest was contemporary. At the end, they invited the little kids onto the stage to show them some steps, which is a nice touch. But there was no hint of fund-raising issues or pleas for support. I've been checking the on-line Daily Camera (Boulder) and Denver Post, but haven't seen any news reports about problems, so I'll guess they are overhauling their web site. We all went to their Nutcracker fund-raising tea last December at the Boulderado Hotel. Boulder Ballet struck me as a very popular and well-supported school, with some nice performances during the year. Lots of dancers in their Nutcracker costumes circulated through the tables, signing autographs for the kids, showing the little kids their costumes, posing for pictures, leading a parade around the hotel, etc. Very nice. For ballet to thrive in the future, these kids need to be brought into the fold!

Has anyone seen reports of fiscal problems at the Boulder Ballet? Their website all weekend has been on a default to Boulder businesses: http://www.boulderballet.org/ They might be refurbishing the site for the new season, I suppose, but it seems odd to take down the entire site to do that. I hope they aren't having the kind of problems Ballet Nouveau is having!

Amen. I understand that for older recordings, they don't have all the necessary permissions for all the creative people involved, and it can be difficult if not impossible to go back and get those now. But that should be easier for recent performances. E.g., the Bringing Balanchine Home DVD has brief clips of things like Serenade, Western Symphony, and Symphony in 3 Movements , made when they visited the Mariinsky a few years ago. Surely they actually have tape of the complete performances. They control the company and the choreography. If they don't think there's enough of a market to release the complete works on DVD, then sell it on iTunes streaming video. They'll make some money, while avoiding the costs of producing, warehousing, and distributing the physical media of DVD. At least they've released a few things to educational libraries and archives, so they have some insight into the value of dissemination for educational purposes, but those are not for sale to the public. And it would be nice if the Robbins Trust considered the same approach. Wouldn't it be great to buy a download at iTunes of Dances at a Gathering and Glass Pieces? I'd happily pay for those, too. I suppose the Trusts worry that people would buy the downloads and then post them on YouTube, but they seem to be awfully good at pouncing quickly to get unauthorized postings taken down and that could continue.

Fortunately, you can still legitimately buy that one, as it's included on the DVD for the Balanchine documentary, originally aired on PBS: http://www.amazon.com/Balanchine-George/dp/B00019G8BA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1278652541&sr=8-1 The complete Baryshnikov-McBride version is available on the "Choreography by Balanchine" DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Choreography-Balanchine-Chaconne-Steadfast-Tchaikovsky/dp/B000228SX2/ref=pd_sim_d_2 I don't mind at all paying for an approved, commercial release of a copyrighted work. As others have noted, intellectual property is involved and the creators deserve compensation. My frustration is that a great deal of material is not available for legitimate purchase anywhere. I wish the Balanchine Trust would find more ways to release important work so people who don't live in/near New York could see more of that repertory. Theme and Variations and Symphony in 3 Movements are high on my "wish list," if the Trust would just sell those on commercial releases somehow.

This is very troubling news. I have a lot of family in the Denver area, and we had been told they have a great Nutcracker for kids; we were looking forward to taking a young niece this year. I see on their web site that they have posted the full text of the letter they just sent out. http://www.bncdance.com/ There's something odd in the timing and wording of that letter, almost as if this last-minute short-fall took them by surprise. "We are determined to never find ourselves in this position again." Perhaps a major source of funding abruptly pulled out (a local community grant or a major individual donor?). Or perhaps they haven't managed their finances as attentively as they should. Puzzling, whatever the explanation. I wonder why they didn't say: if we don't raise X, we'll have to cancel Y programs or lay-off Z staff...suspending operations entirely sounds ominous. Still, this is not surprising, given other struggles in the arts in recent years - the cut-back in the Colorado Ballet season for next year, the postponement of the Balanchine program to November by the City Ballet of San Diego, etc.

Some video clips are included in this brief report in IsRealli on the performances in Israel: http://www.isrealli.org/legendary-dancer-mikhail-baryshnikov-tours-israel/

I'm looking at Nancy Reynolds' Reperetory in Review (p. 203), a wonderful resource. She lists Verdy and Ludlow in the permiere. Dancers listed for "other casts" include d'Amboise but not Adams. Reynolds doesn't mention Adams, but says "Although obviously designed around the abilities of Verdy, the work was successfully danced by other ballerinas..." That makes me wonder if it was originally choreographed on Verdy or Adams, or if perhaps Reynolds didn't know about this history with Adams.

Balanchine's Symphony in 3 Movements and Robbins' Glass Pieces are top priorities on my wish list. Brief clips can be found on the DVD Bringing Balanchine Back, and the respective Trusts seem to have given permission to companies performing these works to post brief clips for publicity (e.g., Miami City Ballet), but to my knowlege, the complete works have never been released on VHS or DVD (nor shown on public television). These are major works and most people can't get to cities where they are being performed a few times a year. Theme and Variations with Kirkland and Baryshnikov, from Live from Lincoln Center in 1978, is a long-standing wish: I assume this has the enormous problems getting permission from all involved that have been discussed elsewhere, but those permissions were finally obtained for Baryshnikov at Wolf Trap (1976) and Giselle with Makarova/Baryshnikov (1977), so it can be done. Other than the permissions issues (huge for T&V, presumably), perhaps distributors don't think there's enough of a market. I'm wondering if distribution for sale through iTunes might be the solution. Book publishers are now moving increasingly to "print-on-demand" to eliminate the problem of warehouse storage costs of unsold books. Perhaps "distribute on demand" via iTunes (for a fair price, of course) is an analogous solution for films and videos. At least, I hope so!

That entire clip comes from the wonderful Balanchine documentary, originally on PBS, now available on DVD from www.kultur.com and elsewhere. The brief opening by Martins (used in the Balanchine documentary) was taken from the "Gala" in The Turning Point in 1977. (It's puzzling that they omitted Farrell entirely on the Balanchine documentary, as she appeared briefly in the Gala scene with Martins.) The complete McBride/Baryshnikov version is in the 1978 "Choreography by Balanchine," originally broacast on PBS, later released on VHS, now available on DVD. I don't know where the Verdy, Hayden, and d'Amboise footage came from -- although Balanchine did stage quite a few things for television in the 1950s and 60s, so that seems a likely possibility.