Job posting for artistic director

[fondoffouettes]

28 minutes ago, Helene said:

And, apparently, has removed it.

Yes, and now this follow-up post:

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Ah, yes. Those things that older men of a certain generation did that were quite common. It was predation then and it's predation now, no matter how nice they are to you after you say no.

[canbelto]

I find this kind of relentless self promotion offputting.

[fondoffouettes]

1 hour ago, Leah said:

Clifford seems to really think of himself as a legitimate contender. 

I can't believe he has latched onto this little detail from the interview. The interviewer brings up Young Apollo and Woetzel drifts off into an unrelated anecdote, and then they never get back to Young Apollo. This happens all the time in interviews. It's a conversation, not an acceptance speech. Sheesh.

I thought Clifford was tagging dancers that were relevant to or mentioned in his posts, but now I see he's just tagging random NYCB dancers. 

[miliosr]

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

I find this kind of relentless self promotion offputting.

I would add 'insufferable' to 'offputting' -- insufferably offputting.

 

[Jayne]

You know, if he had simply stuck to posting videos with the occasional anecdotes, we would all sing his praises for providing this valuable contribution to the public's video library on youtube.  He would continue to book staging contracts, and might even be invited by the current or newly appointed NYCB AD(s) to help stage, or as a featured speaker.  But with these posts, I think he has hung himself by his own petard.  My goodness, social media can really kill careers. 

[Helene]

Do not diagnose at all.

The only legitimate comments to discuss here are those posted by ballet professionals, who must be identified.

[canbelto]

Wow, they've been deleted as quickly as they were put up.

[melissaga]

There has been a somewhat steady stream of former NYCB dancers who have visited the company to teach class, coach or set choreography this season. I read somewhere (perhaps here or the NYT or maybe Pointe Magazine?) that Peter Martins tended not to invite his former colleagues, those that danced in his time, back to the company. I have wondered if some of these former dancers are actually quietly being considered for the AD position or one of the other new and yet to be named positions. 

Examples would be Debra Wingert, Patty McBride, and her husband, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. I'm sure there are others. Those three were mentioned on social media from various dancers within a few days of each other. 

 

[Drew]

5 hours ago, melissaga said:

There has been a somewhat steady stream of former NYCB dancers who have visited the company to teach class, coach or set choreography this season. I read somewhere (perhaps here or the NYT or maybe Pointe Magazine?) that Peter Martins tended not to invite his former colleagues, those that danced in his time, back to the company. I have wondered if some of these former dancers are actually quietly being considered for the AD position or one of the other new and yet to be named positions. 

Examples would be Debra Wingert, Patty McBride, and her husband, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. I'm sure there are others. Those three were mentioned on social media from various dancers within a few days of each other. 

 

I have also seen mention/discussion of rehearsals with Villella and Baryshnikov on social media and in the case of the former, the NYTimes.

 

[mille-feuille]

John Clifford is an obvious no, so it rubs me the wrong way that Megan LeCrone is specifically goading him to make videos promoting his candidacy.

[Balletwannabe]

12 minutes ago, mille-feuille said:

John Clifford is an obvious no, so it rubs me the wrong way that Megan LeCrone is specifically goading him to make videos promoting his candidacy.

I'm curious as to the reasons why he's an obvious no?  Obviously he has a huge ego.  But so did Balanchine.  He thought his choreography was so brilliant (it was, to be fair) that individual dancers shouldn't think of themselves as stars.  His choreography was the star.  Talk about ego...

To be honest...I really liked his idea that he presented in his last videos (ballet to Broadway as a way to bring in more $$).  

Edited October 9, 2018 by Balletwannabe

[mille-feuille]

For me, a big reason would be that the company he founded and directed folded after only 11 years (according to Wikipedia, his LA Ballet existed from 1974-85). One of the requirements listed first in the job description was

• Demonstrated artistic leadership success as a programmer and/or company leader for an organization known for quality and excellence

I don't think Clifford has demonstrated that.

His age also isn't a plus; a quick calculation tells me he's about 71.

I think he would be invaluable as a stager/ coach of Balanchine works, however.

[Balletwannabe]

2 hours ago, mille-feuille said:

For me, a big reason would be that the company he founded and directed folded after only 11 years (according to Wikipedia, his LA Ballet existed from 1974-85). One of the requirements listed first in the job description was

• Demonstrated artistic leadership success as a programmer and/or company leader for an organization known for quality and excellence

I don't think Clifford has demonstrated that.

His age also isn't a plus; a quick calculation tells me he's about 71.

I think he would be invaluable as a stager/ coach of Balanchine works, however.

I didn't realize he was that old!  He looks good for his age.  

[Kathleen O'Connell]

You know, I'm interested in what Clifford has to say, but Lordy I can't wade through all those IG posts. How many little video spiels are we up to now? Do the comments add up to a 6500 word essay yet?

[DC Export]

I enjoy the the historical aspect of many of his older posts (Kurt Froman is excellent for this as well), but Clifford's lack of self-awareness in his campaign to replace Martins makes me feel like I'm watching a train crash. I can't subject myself to that kind of cringe-worthy discomfort!

[Kathleen O'Connell]

1 hour ago, DC Export said:

I enjoy the the historical aspect of many of his older posts (Kurt Froman is excellent for this as well), but Clifford's lack of self-awareness in his campaign to replace Martins makes me feel like I'm watching a train crash. I can't subject myself to that kind of cringe-worthy discomfort!

I gave up when he used the term "colored dancers" while opining about diversity.  We stopped using "colored" when we took it off the water fountains 50 years ago.

I don't expect the next AD to be a Social Justice Warrior, but I do expect that AD not to be tone-deaf when it comes to matters of race, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

(And lest someone cite Clifford's age by way of excuse, he is only about seven or eight years older than I am.)

OK. Now I will go be cranky elsewhere.

[Marta]

30 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I gave up when he used the term "colored dancers" while opining about diversity.  We stopped using "colored" when we took it off the water fountains 50 years ago.

I don't expect the next AD to be a Social Justice Warrior, but I do expect that AD not to be tone-deaf when it comes to matters of race, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

(And lest someone cite Clifford's age by way of excuse, he is only about seven or eight years older than I am.)

OK. Now I will go be cranky elsewhere.

Mamma mia!  I can't believe anyone still says "colored".  That definitely disqualifies him. Also, as someone here said, he seems to have neither interest nor much awareness of contemporary choreographers like Ratmansky, Peck, etc.  I doubt he would be the successful candidate. However, I said that about the current occupant of the White House too.

[Helene]

Oy. Just oy.

[canbelto]

"A wonderful dancer no matter his color" sounds like something that would have been said more 1958 than 2018.

[fondoffouettes]

13 hours ago, Leah said:

He just posted a picture of him with Eartha Kitt to show how totally colorblind he is (I don’t know how to post Instagram posts on here).

Where did he used the term "colored"? It's not in the Eartha Kitt post. In the Arthur Mitchell post above he says "people of color," which, along with ALAANA, is the terminology I see employed most frequently nowadays. I can only imagine using "colored" in an air-quotes sort of way, when referring to something historical.

[ABT Fan]

I have to say that reading these comments and Clifford's Instagram is some kind of strange entertainment. He is so tone deaf it's mind-boggling and he takes social media self-promotion to a completely different level ("I was the youngest...." "I was the only one who...."). I find it hilarious that he's tagging Sarah Jessica Parker is some of his posts, I suppose assuming that she's on the hiring committee.

[nanushka]

2 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Where did he used the term "colored"? It's not in the Eartha Kitt post. In the Arthur Mitchell post above he says "people of color," which, along with ALAANA, is the terminology I see employed most frequently nowadays. I can only imagine using "colored" in an air-quotes sort of way, when referring to something historical.

I believe @Kathleen O'Connell first mentioned this in a post above—I assumed in reference to one of his many videos (which I haven't been able to bring myself to watch), since I too haven't noticed it in his written posts.

[nanushka]

1 minute ago, ABT Fan said:

He is so tone deaf it's mind-boggling and he takes social media self-promotion to a completely different level ("I was the youngest...." "I was the only one who....").

The combination of relentless self-promotion and absolute deification of Balanchine (the father-hero of virtually every post, including the one devoted to Mitchell above) is exhausting.

[lmspear]

 

On 10/9/2018 at 10:41 AM, mille-feuille said:

For me, a big reason would be that the company he founded and directed folded after only 11 years (according to Wikipedia, his LA Ballet existed from 1974-85). One of the requirements listed first in the job description was

•  Demonstrated artistic leadership success as a programmer and/or company leader for an organization known for quality and excellence

I don't think Clifford has demonstrated that.

Here's some disqualifying info. from the time one of his own companies folded.

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-06-29/entertainment/ca-19543_1_los-angeles-ballet

I think the phrase "a legend in his own mind" applies to Clifford.

Edited October 10, 2018 by lmspear
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