Kathleen O'Connell

For the record, I'm agnostic as to whether Stafford (or any member of the current interim team) should be appointed as the company's new AD. There are a number of viable candidates and I hope that they each get the consideration they deserve and that the situation warrants. That being said, it's time to make a decision and let the company move on. Based on my own professional experience — which wasn't in the arts, but was for a time in academia — co-leadership arrangements were fraught with peril, and never worked out as intended. (Per NYCB's 12/9/17 press press release, Stafford leads the team, i.e., it's not a co-directorship. I don't know how much actual decision-making authority he has or whether he could overrule the other members if he believed he needed to.) Bu my experience is only anecdata, and I'd expect the Board and its search committee to do some research on the potential benefits, perils, successes, and failures of such arrangements in other arts organizations before making a decision.

OMG, yes. I have hated that shirt since forever. (OK, at first, in my earliest newbie days, I was mostly puzzled by it. "Why is that grown man dressed like Tsarevich Alexei?") I've assumed the costumes were a nod towards the kind of idealized peasant garb that's become so firmly embedded in productions of the 19th century classics that it's practically a uniform. I think that at some point (after Balanchine's death?) a sort of satiny peasant corset was added to the ballerina's bodice, which added to that impression. (Compare what today's NYCB ballerinas wear in the role to what McBride wears in the video with Baryshnikov.)

I was just getting ready to post this. It's about time! The current costumes are just ... blah, especially the lead ballerina's, which appears to have faded into a, bland, nondescript, and very un-regal kinda pink, kinda peach. This looks gorgeous.

Savannah Lowery performed the role a few seasons back.

Argh! I can't believe I misspelled Giddens' name. She is one of my favorite artists.

WNYC & the Metropolitan Opera have started jointly producing a new podcast called Aria Code, hosted by Rhiannon Gibbons of Carolina Chocolate Drops fame. Each episode examines a different (famous) aria in detail. The January 2 episode is about “Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” from Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila. I've started listening, and it's pretty good. Here's a video of Elīna Garanča, who is featured in the episode, performing the aria at the Met. You can hear Rachvelishvili sing "Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix" on her new album.

I really, really like the Met's production of Pelleas et Melisande, although I don't think it's universally beloved. I hope you enjoy the show! I last saw it on New Year's day in 2011; Simon Rattle was conducting and the great baritone Gerald Finely was Goloud. He stole the show, IMHO. That ticket was some of the best money I ever spent.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I only stumbled across Anita Rachvelishvili the other day! (Via this NYT article.) A few seconds into my first clip I wanted to run, not walk, to the Met box office and throw all my money at them for tickets to her performances.

Yes, and secure enough to neither take all the credit nor pass along all the blame.

You can view and download the whole text of Cubism and Abstract Art on MoMA's website. (Amusingly, there are a ton of proofreader's marks in the copy MoMA has posted, which is from its own library. I don't know if these were Barr's own corrections intended for a later edition or if someone on the curatorial staff was being cheeky, but some of the corrections aren't wrong. 😉) As a Matisse and Kandinsky girl, I'm not entirely enthusiastic about the whole "It Started with Picasso" theory of modern art, but no one is going to take my word against Barr's! And yes, I'd love to see the Barr chart of ballet.

I honestly don't know if Stafford is the best choice or not. It was simply my intention to point out that if experience doesn't matter, then the lack of prior experience alone wouldn't be an argument against his candidacy. (If he is indeed a candidate. He may not be interested.) Re gender: I'm sure I've lost track of this, but has anyone on the Board actually come out publicly and said they would prefer that the next AD be a woman? ETA: Sometimes the whole purpose of hiring a search firm — especially when it's done with some fanfare — is to give the in-house candidate legitimacy: "Well, we hired a search firm and carefully considered every candidate they brought us, and what do you know, it turns out that the perfect choice was right on our very own or chart all along!" I'm not saying that's what's going on here, but I've seen it done more than once.

Respectfully, I think that sounds like a nightmare for both parties. How would the AD's duties be divided between them? Who would have the authority to make decisions regarding repertory, casting, hiring, promotions, and commissions? I can easily imagine the formation of Team Stafford and Team Whelan, with plenty of behind-the-scenes lobbying for influence undermining company cohesiveness, regardless of how amicably the two co-ADs tried to work together. It's my understanding that the "Co BalletMaster-in-Chief" arrangement between Martins and Robbins worked because Robbins was mostly interested in making and maintaining his own ballets, not running the company. In addition, it would be perfectly reasonable for either of them to look at the Board and say, "Wait a minute, why don't you trust me to do this job on my own? If you don't have faith in me, why should the dancers, the donors, and the audience?"

Well, Jonathan Stafford certainly danced like a man of steady habits. (And I mean that mostly as a compliment. From the house at least, he looked like a terrific partner, but he also tended to look like the lead ballerina's Prime Minister rather than her Cavalier. ETA: But his droll Prince Ivan in The Firebird was *chef's kiss*. ) The institution NYCB mostly reminds me of is MoMA. It started out scrappy, and with a bold vision of the new, but now everyone shows up for the permanent collection.

Both Kirstein and Robbins were alive and actively involved with both the company and the school when Martins assumed the role of "Co Ballet Master-in-Chief." Indeed, Robbins was the other Co Ballet Master-in-Chief and Kirstein was President of SAB. The current Board does not have that luxury. If prior experience leading an arts organization doesn't matter, why not just keep Jonathan Stafford and his team in place? A year on, this team does in fact have some experience and from the outside, at least, seem to be doing a fine job. By the way, I stumbled across this 1985 NYT article while I was confirming Kirstein's involvement with NYCB / SAB post-Balanchine: Art and Money in a Ballet Conflcit "The current conflict between Lincoln Kirstein's supporters and those who have recently challenged his authority in the School of American Ballet - which he and George Balanchine established before founding the New York City Ballet - has raised issues faced by arts groups throughout the nation. The concerns involve fund-raising versus directorial independence and the influence of major donors or board members on policy. Also involved is the clash between a corporate mentality brought into arts organizations by recently formed boards and the unorthodox spirit that guided pioneering arts enterprises such as the Balanchine-Kirstein ventures during the last 50 years." La plus ça change ...

Might? I'd say "probably." 😉

In fairness to Gottlieb, the pool of candidates isn't a large one, nor is there likely to be a hidden gem of an AD tucked away in some ballet backwater that no one has thought of. Nor am I a fan of throwing handfuls of money at a bevvy of consultants for an answer your own team can give you in half the time with none of the folderol. That being said, there are more than a few viable choices, each with their strengths and weaknesses, and the Board needs a plan for choosing among them and negotiating the terms of employment. I don't have a lot of confidence that this particular board is up to the task.

Professional search firms can and do provide services that smaller organizations without a fully-fledged HR department, a team of in-house lawyers, a travel department, or big administrative staffs might find useful. They don't just draw up a list of potential candidates and hand it to the Board so it can start making phone calls. They can help the Board and the relevant staff personnel prepare a robust and accurate job description and identify the most important qualifications a candidate would ideally have. You might think that this would be obvious in the case of a ballet company like NYCB, but it's not. The organization has changed considerably since Balanchine's death and Martins' ascension, and so have best practices when it comes to the appropriate separation of duties between the AD and the ED. Martins might have taken on certain tasks out of expediency or personal preference that would better shunted off to the ED — or vice-versa. A search professional can help the Board and staff think through what the AD job could and should look like, rather than simply replicating what it was under the previous incumbent. Since it's unlikely that everyone will agree on what the AD's responsibilities should be, or what the most important qualifications are, the search firm can also help the relevant decision-makers get on the same page. (You know, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if a few Board members harbored the suspicion that Martins can only be replaced by a six foot three inch blond former dancer who speaks with an accent, danced for Balanchine, and once seemed to be a promising choreographer.) A search firm can also impose some degree of objectivity when it comes to evaluating candidates. It can vet their resumés for accuracy, conduct discreet interviews with people who have worked with them or for them, or suss out their reputation in the community of donors, funders, and civic/governmental agencies. (Someone might be an absolute dream on paper but sheer hell to deal with.) And, as Helene pointed out, it can do the kind of background check that a Board might be ill-equipped to handle. It can also tactfully point out that the candidate everyone seems to want is not actually the one that is most suited to the job as described. (I can personally attest to just how valuable a service this can be!) Finally, a good search firm can relieve the organization of a ton of administrivia it either doesn't need to do itself or might not have the staff to handle efficiently: everything from the nuts and bolts of the application process, fielding inquiries, arranging interviews, to making travel arrangements, etc. etc. etc. ETA: The firm can also provide assistance negotiating things like salary, benefits, spouse / partner employment, the timing of the announcement, and what goes in it. ETA 2: Remember the various communication debacles when Corella became Pennsylvania Ballet's AD? A good firm can help the Board and the staff plan how to rollout information about who's been chosen, when they'll assume the post, what happens next, as well as help them draw up ground rules for interviews, coach the new AD on what to say and how, etc.

Well, I for one am very glad you had the time to put this together - many thanks!

Thanks for the clarification!

Is Balanchine's version of the grand pas really Petipa/Ivanov's choreography "preserved"? I've always been given to understand that Balanchine either used or made reference to some of the material in the original pas, e.g., the shoulder-sits and the effect of the slide, but that the choreography was in essence his. But I'd be happy to learn otherwise.

Or, I gather, Shiryaev.

Thank you, Canbelto!

It's a mark of genius to know when to leave well enough alone. 😉 (And thanks for the info!)

Mark Morris' The Hard Nut. Best Party Scene. Yeah, it's raunchy and everyone (even Marie) behaves badly, but Morris loves these people anyway and forgives them — just as one should in the spirit of the holidays. Best Snowflakes. I can't help but laugh out loud no matter how many times I see it. Best choreography to Tchaikovsky's magnificent, ever cresting, never resolving "Journey Through the Snow." Morris uses this music for the Nutcracker Prince's transformation from a toy into young man, via a very tender duet with Drosselmeyer. The Nutcracker becomes fully human the moment the music peaks and it makes me cry every single time. No one really knows what to do with Tea, it seems. I don't know why the Land of Sweets divertissements seem inevitably to call forth so many tired ethnic stereotypes and character dance clichés — but Morris is guilty of this, too. They so often seems like paint-by-numbers choreography, as if the dance-makers couldn't imagine any other approach to the music — but which Balanchine actually did with the Candy Canes: there's not a Cossack to be seen in the Trepak. (An aside: I'm delighted to see that the "Kozotsky" i.e., "Cossack" dancing my uncles indulged in when things got rowdy at Christmas and Easter lives on in Hip-Hop.)

Hmmm ... It shows up when I log into my Prime account. I'm watching on my computer rather than on my TV — maybe that makes a difference? (It pops up on my iPad in the Prime Video app as well.)