SPAC drops NYCB

[Leigh Witchel]

As a suggestion, if you opt to sign a petition, write letters as well and preferably via surface mail rather than email. A flood of paper mail coming into an organizations mailbox is the hardest thing to ignore. Faxes work reasonably well, also. Don't just sign a petition and be done with it. Compose your own letter, keep it short and polite, and if you went to see NYCB at SPAC that should be the first point you make.

[Alexandra]

Followers of the SPAC story: be sure to check today's Links thread. There are several articles about the SPAC issue, including a group of fans who've banded together to try to stop this.

[dirac]

Just seconding Leigh's comment on the importance of "snail mail." It does get more attention than e-mail. Write, write, write.

I'm amazed, although I should not be, at the matter-of-factness with which the bottom line and the greater drawing power of pop are cited. There was a time when those justifications would have gone unstated -- some other rationale would have been presented to the public as a fig leaf. No more. They assume that no one will care, or that their position will be seen as reasonable. Let's hope they assume wrong. An appalling business.

[sandik]

Living at the other end of the continent, I've never been to SPAC, but I'm both fascinated and disheartened by this turn of events. I was bemused by the observation in several of the articles that the ballet always cost more to present than they brought in through ticket sales. Well, of course they did -- that's why non-profit organizations are allowed to offer tax deductions to donors, because as a community we feel these events are important enough to our well-being that we will subsidize them. If SPAC is a non-profit, then part of their mission is to bring artists to their community that would otherwise be unavailable -- a group that covers its expenses through the box office could perform there without the assistance of a non-profit presenter.

If (the more complicated situation) SPAC presents a certain number of pop events to help make cash to defray other expenses, then it's a question of how much is enough. If Dave Matthews is there to support NYCB, it's one thing -- if he supplants NYCB, it's another.

[Old Fashioned]

This is unbelievable. Even though I've never been to Saratoga, I've always dreamed of going there someday to see City Ballet perform. I'm writing a letter, too, telling them this is one future audience member they have lost.

[Alexandra]

Way to go, Old-Fashioned. Don't forget to tell them that you're A Young Person with disposable income.

[Anna NYC]

Yes, I agree with Leigh, a flood of letters would be a very good way to reach Saratoga. However, the on-line petition is being sent to George Pataki, Joseph Bruno, Hilary Clinton, as well as the Chairman of SPAC's Board. Every effort is needed.

Here's the link again for the petition to keep NYCB at SPAC:

www.gopetition.com/online/3702.html

[Hans]

Here's a clickable link for the petition.

[Amy Reusch]

And if you need material to get your creative juices flowing, try out this quote from Wednesday's links

The decision to drop the company wasn't based just on funding, Chesbrough said, but on '40 years of doing the same thing.'

SPAC will continue another high-art dance performance in the company's absence and might bring in the New York City Ballet every few years, Chesbrough said.

The New York City Ballet 'reached its plateau. I don't see growth or don't project growth,' he said. 'I expected a reaction to this. Everyone, including myself, thought this would go on forever.'

Saratogian.com

[BW]

When Alexandra posted

Way to go, Old-Fashioned. Don't forget to tell them that you're A Young Person with disposable income.

She made an important point - a Young Person with disposable income!

If you fall into that category, or would like to , make sure you let them know.

Have any of you noticed any activity related to this issue at the New York State Theater? One would think it would be the ideal place to get some NYCB grass roots growing.

[Calliope]

But they have said they will be replacing the time with other ballet/dance companies.

Perhaps NYCB will be able to go to another location (like in MA) and expose another area to their vast repetoire.

[perky]

Well Calliope if NYCB needs to find another performance area for July in the future my backyard is open!

But seriously even though I'm not from that area and have never been to Saratoga, I have signed the petition, emailed and snailed mailed all the relevant people involved. Ballet fans have to stick together. In my letter I mentioned that although I don't live in the area I had been looking forward to visiting Saratoga in the future and seeing NYCB there. Sadly that won't happen now.

[Manhattnik]

I don't know if this article from the Albany Times Union was in the links section, but it's worth mentioning both for the comments of Christopher Ramsey, director of external affairs of NYCB, and, with perhaps more import for the future, those of a spokesman for State Senator Joseph Bruno, who represents the Capital District, and, as leader of the State Senate, is one of the most powerful figures in New York politics. I would not want to incur Mr. Bruno's displeasure, as the article implies Chesbrough may have done:

Bruno, whose district includes SPAC, is expected to meet with Chesbrough in the next two weeks, according to his office.

The senator was not informed ahead of time of the SPAC vote, a point that may well be part of the Chesbrough meeting.

"Over the years, Sen. Bruno has been very supportive of SPAC," a Bruno spokesman said Thursday. "Given its cultural and recreational importance, he would have liked to have been made aware of a decision of this magnitude."

On Wednesday, Bruno told WROW radio that in his meeting with Chesbrough, state funding to save the ballet "will be part of the discussion."

As Senator Bruno's website says, "Please feel free to contact Senator Bruno at the following offices:"

Albany Office

Room 909 Legislative Office Building

Albany, NY 12247

(518) 455-3191

District Office

368 Broadway

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

(518)-583-1001

And/or email him using this form.

Apparently his office has already been deluged with calls complaining of SPAC's decision to get rid of City Ballet. It might not be a bad idea for members of the public to be on hand when Bruno does meet with Chesbrough, to let Bruno know just what the public thinks of Chesbrough and his decisions. The ballet has been a big feather in the District's cap, and perhaps this loss won't go unchallenged in Albany.

Also, this article in Albany's Metroland magazine by Mae Banner, longtime dance writer for The Saratogian (which has been oddly passive in its coverage of this debacle, printing not one single anti-Chesbrough letter, and leaving the investigative reporting to the Times-Union, and Banner). Among other interesting points, she reveals that according to Chesbrough, only about half of SPAC's board was present at the meeting where they "unanimously" voted to support Chesbrough's outsing of NYCB.

I'll bet Peter Martins' invite got lost in the mail. I wonder about the others'?

I also wonder what Marylou Whitney, who resigned from the SPAC board because she disagreed with Chesbrough's more-money-for-less-work compensation, has to say about all this.

[Farrell Fan]

Thanks for the update and the links, Manhattnik.So now we know the "unanimous" vote of the directors included "about half" of them. And it's true The Saratogian is acting very passively in this shameful affair. I sent them an anti-Chesbrough letter which they neither printed nor acknowledged. I hope Sen. Bruno uses his clout on Chesbrough's head.

[Alexandra]

TV News report of a town meeting to discuss the SPAC/NYCB issue:

Residents organize petitions to keep ballet

[Alexandra]

From Newsday:

NYC Ballet invited again to Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The New York City Ballet has been invited to return for the 2007 summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

The city ballet had been told it was too expensive for the arts venue 28 miles north of Albany and would not be back after this summer, which has caused a public outcry among fans. The ballet has called Saratoga Springs its summer home since the performing arts center opened in 1966.

SPAC President Herb Chesbrough, who said the not-for-profit center would fill the vacancy with other dance troupes starting in 2005, suggested the ballet's return in a letter last Friday, the Times Union of Albany reported.

"I believe that we will be in a position to present a three-week season of New York City Ballet in the summer of 2007," Chesbrough wrote to Peter Martins, the city company's ballet master-in-chief.

Martins said it was "premature" to talk about 2007, and the company right now is concerned with scheduling 2005.

[Alexandra]

From Troy and Saratoga Springs (the same article was in several upstate New York papers):

Supporters say SPAC can't dance around issue

While the Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced Monday that it has invited the New York City Ballet to reappear on its stage in 2007, about 200 people met at the city's library Monday night to oppose any arrangement that keeps the company away from the city at all.

The New York City Ballet could not be reached for comment Monday about SPAC's 2007 offering. Less than two weeks ago, the company was informed that despite its 38-year run of summer residency at SPAC, it would not be included in the venue's 2005 plans.

[Mel Johnson]

Earlier in the day, Helen Edelman, a spokeswoman for SPAC, said the marketing effort for the ballet was as aggressive as for any other event, with an $85,000 budget last year. She suggested that it might just be time for a change.

I think that's an excellent idea - she and Chesbrough should look for other jobs as soon as possible.

[Amy Reusch]

Just curious... have they said yet with what specifically SPAC was filling in the 3 weeks that were formerly NYCB's?

[Hans]

I believe it was MCB, DTH, and the Paul Taylor co.

[Amy Reusch]

And in previous years was NYCB the only dance offered, or were companies like DTH, MCB and Taylor offered in addition to NYCB?...

[rkoretzky]

Wow! What a difference a few days makes! I've been on vacation, and in sporadic internet contact---wish in a way that I had been home to be a part of all of this... going home tomorrow--from sunny Florida to frigid NY--but happy to be able to help with this marvelous groundswell.

A brief answer to the above question: when I first came to Saratoga in 1978 we were at the end of a wonderful era of modern and small ballet companies performing at the Spa Little Theater (on the SPAC grounds) and four weeks of NYCB at SPAC. We had Merce, Taylor, Graham, Hubbard...just to name a few. We had Ailey at the small, and then for one season at the big theater. We had two years of MCB in the 90s. So we have had other companies, but NYCB has always been the cornerstone of the SPAC dance world, just as it was envisioned, and as it should always be.

I say--restore NYCB AND hold Chesbrough to the three other companies as well!

[Clara 76]

I read all of this with interest as we are facing a similar problem here, since our local association for the performing arts hired a monster from Clear Channel.

His decision to open ticket sales the same week that our Nutcracker opened cost us. Get this-the Broadway show opens in JUNE. They could've waited to sell those Broadway tickets until say, January, when not much else is happening here, and everybody would've been happy.

Not to mention the havoc he wreaked with the local stagehands union.

Oh, and also never mind the fact that the ballet and the symphony are responsible for the main theatre not being torn down in 1969. Together we held a money-raising campaign that saved this historic theatre from the wrecking ball and what do we get?? THE ROCKETTES 36 years later.

I believe that not only are letter-writing campaigns in order to those in charge of these venues, but also letter-writing campaigns to our politicians demanding that our educational system be revamped to not only include the arts, but USE the arts as teaching tools.

Studies prove that children who are involved in the arts are more focused, learn quicker, and fulfill their potentials better than those who are not. Our curricula as it is today, consists of individual subjects that stand alone. This dissassociation I believe helps produce the problems that are evident today. The thing that seems to be the missing link here is how much these subjects overlap, intertwine and should be combined. I believe this could be accomplished by utilizing the Arts.

There are many benefits to restoring the arts to our schools.

Art is what civilizes and inspires us to the great technological advances that we achieved thus far. I am certain that Einstein was inspired by music. I know that African-Americans were inspired to rebel using the only tools their masters couldn't take from them-their feet. Leonardo Da Vinci came up with the concept of human flight centuries before it's fruition. I am certain that all major advancements in humanity can be traced back to the arts. Seeing a beautiful or disturbing painting helps one to define one's own parameters. Listening to an opera can produce tears in the average man. And seeing a ballet can spur you on to your own greatest heights.

For example: Take a famous ballet or Opera. Dissect the musical notes and you have numbers (math), read the words and you have poetry, languages, reading. Take note of the period and study the history. Look at the story to understand older civilizations. Compare costuming to today’s fashions, look at the treachery to learn the morals. Take famous paintings and learn how to really see things. Learn about the painter’s time. Participate in a game and learn how to plan ahead. Take a rap song and listen to the anger to learn empathy. Dance and you learn how to live.

By achieving a truly educated populace we lose the base instinct to war with others. We learn to use our brains instead of our bodies to relate to others. We learn to live as though we do not own the land upon which we inhabit. We understand and are tolerant of others. We learn that working for a living can be rewarding as well as a financially sound idea. Those who strive for great wealth alone will learn that philanthropy has other rewards besides just a tax shelter. In summation, the more educated we become, the less reliance is needed upon the government for welfare, gun control, crime, and even arts-funding. Imagine a day when tickets for ballet, operas, and symphonies will be purchased alongside sporting events. If people grow up with it, like sports, (which imo are funded by the government) they will support it in the future.

Whew!!!! I better get off the soapbox now!! Sorry but I believe we are the Keepers of the Flame, and I believe we have some work to do!! :yes:

Clara

Edited March 4, 2004 by Clara 76

[Manhattnik]

As this columnist from the Times Union observes, it looks like the SPAC board is running for cover:

After the meeting, a brief statement was issued saying that the board will meet again in a month. In the interim, it will try to find new ballet funding. "If support is found, the board plans to continue the NYCB residency through 2005."

I liked this bit even better:

Hours before, the SPAC offices in Saratoga Springs had received a letter sent by registered mail from Peter Laudato, chief counsel for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The letter informed SPAC that a team of auditors will be at its doors at 9 a.m. today.

Everything will be looked at, and then looked at again. The sleeping giant that is political Albany has been roused by the din, and that can only mean perpetual indigestion ahead for SPAC decision makers. A grumpy giant, too, because the SPAC board broke a cardinal rule. That is, not keeping Albany informed of an important decision that might rebound unpopularly, making those Albany politicians appear spectacularly out of the loop.

A not-for-profit organization created by the state, operating in a state park, that doesn't keep the state a partner in its decision-making brings on its own doom.

[Manhattnik]

And in The Saratogian.

I really love this quote from a SPAC board member:

Dake said the ire directed at Chesbrough was unwarranted.

'I never questioned any judgment that he had,' she said. 'He loves the ballet and loves the orchestra. SPAC wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't for Herb.'

Sad but true.

You can't help but wonder at a board which decides to do fundraising for the ballet AFTER it's already decided there's no money to be found. Also, SPAC's estimates of the amount of money it loses on the ballet every summer keep on going up and up. Funny how that works.