Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

LMCtech

Senior Member
  • Posts

    310
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by LMCtech

  1. I think I would disagree with that statement. That might be your experience but I don't think it is a typical one.

    I think it is also not realistic to expect the Artistic Director of every company to be a good businessman as well, which is why it is important to have someone who can reigh in unrealistic spending. If the higher ranked AD is willing to listen to a lower ranked business manager than that situation works well. But there have been too many examples of over-zealous AD's bankrupting a company beyond repair. DTH is just the latest victim of this highly avoidable and devastating managerial error.

    On the other hand, the business manager, whatever his/her official title, does need to be absolutely committed to the artistic health and vision of a company, and that person needs to understand that as priority one. An over-zealous corporate gladiator can be just as damaging to a company as an over-spending AD, with the damage being just as irreparable.

  2. As I understand it the difference between a company manager and a CEO/ Executive Director is this: the company manager oversees the day-to-day needs of the dancers themselves including but not limited to payroll, accomodations, rehearsals, performance venues, travel, etc. The CEO handles the business end of running of the company helping to oversee all the other departments including but not limited to development (they're the people who ask for money), marketing, operations, facilities, etc.

    Seems like the best run companies are the ones who have an artistic director and then something like an executive director who is of "equal rank". They serve to check and balance one another. Both should be answerable to the board and hired by them. The board should not be involved in the day to day running of company which usually includes mundane decisions like "What kind of toilet paper should we buy?" and "The computers are down again." They should be involved in big decisions like approving budgets and building remodels.

  3. The Joffrey's return to the Bay Area with the Ballet Russe program was a highlight for me. Also the Kirov's performances in Berkeley were also a highlight.

    I thought the SFB new works program was particularly strong. Muriel Maffree's send-up of the Dying Swan was definitely noteworthy.

  4. I agree with stacy. Completely.

    I had very strict theater etiquette training that started very young (first play at three). If we misbehaved in public we heard about it when we got home. My mother was (and is) a firm beliver in the correct time and place for things and she never reprimanded us in public. We were taken to the car or a bathroom or somewhere else and then severely lectured. As infants we were never taken to concerts or shows. It was a privelege we had to earn by displaying good behavior at extended family dinners or sports events or school shows.

    It is maybe unrealistic of me to expect all parents to act as mine did, but I do wish they would at least try to control their little monsters. The mother who yells at me because I asked her daughter to stop kicking my chair is particularly offensive. I have been known to say to mothers like this (and there are many in San Francisco), '"If you won't control your child I guess I do."

  5. I agree that they made poor programming choices for London, though I have to say that I would never expect the Kirov to look better in a ballet created by the Nijinksys or Balanchine or Ashton or MacMillan. They have had a very different history in the 20th century than "Western" companies and I would not expect that to make their performances less than the best ever seen. Their hearts are different than those of western dancers and that nuances thier performances of "western" ballets in a negative (my opinion only) way. Not that they aren't beautiful, but they are somehow not as "creative".

  6. I don't mind whispering. Talking over the orchestra is not acceptable. Jumping up and down and running up and down the aisles is also not acceptable.

    I don't mind babies who cry either, as long as Mom takes them out.

    I have a colleague who took her son to many ballets when he was young, but they always left at intermission. This kid reached the age of 10 and suddenly realized that the death of Giselle was not the end of the ballet, and Clara actually went somewhere in that darn sled.

    I know people who do the same thing at operas, i.e. they leave after the first act. There are a group of young, poor opera lovers who are known to ask people for their ticket stubs so they can see the rest of the opera. I have an acquaintance who has seen most of the SF Opera repertory, except for the first acts.

  7. There are also union rules that must be adhered to as well. A dancer has a certain number of hours they can rehearse or perform per week. If that dancer exceeds their hours in a week, they must be replaced. This is why you don't see the same dancer do 8 Suger Plums in a week. It's against union rules. Of course that only applies to companies with union contracts.

    Also, pro dancers often get sick and injured during a long run, and then they must be replaced by whatever is available, i.e. students.

  8. I have been known to tap on a persons shoulder and imform them that this is not a movie. I like the TV comment as well.

    At a Broadway show, a family next to us pulled out bags of cornnuts and started eating them in the middle of the 1st act. We were two rows back (really nice comps!) and I;m sure the orchestra could heasr the crunching during dialogue sections. My husband finally turned to them and said "This is NOT a baseball game. Save your snacks for intermission." He then informed the ushers on the way out for intermission that those people had food in the theatre and were eating it during the show. The half eaten cornnuts were confiscated and the family moved seats (possible as the theater was nearly empty) away from my husband. Leave it to a stagehand to get really irrate and get the house staff involved.

  9. And some people's opinion of themselves are very high indeed.

    She should be happy they are giving her anything to dance at all. If I were the new director coming in I'd be sure to move her to the end of the casting list.

  10. That is good advice. I always listen to bad reviews. They are usually very informative. It is good reviews that I find useless.

    For a fledgling company like Suzanne Farrell Ballet, it is probably hard to have proper understudies for every major role. The company is not that big. Many of them are pick-up dancers. Their season is not that long. They have been touring for many weeks. Having understudies is something that may come as the company expands.

  11. I agree. Her body type will hold her from of the roles she deserves based on her talent and technique.

    I haven't seen Megan dance in a while, but I was VERY impressed with her when I saw her a couple of years ago. I would not be surprised if her star rises quickly.

×
×
  • Create New...