ABT Executive Director Resigns

[dancemom101]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/arts/music/american-ballet-theater-chief-resigns.html

 

[nanushka]

Hunh. Very curious.

Quote

“What I think about is how to make that definition of being America’s national ballet company real and true for all Americans,” she said in the interview.

Is it true for any, at this point?

[matilda]

Yikes. I'm starting to fear for ABT's future. Perhaps she saw the writing on the wall. No Ratmansky (not that he was bringing in huge audiences, but at least he increased the company's respectability among critics and balletomanes), depressing ticket sales even for premieres and warhorse ballets (just look at some of the upcoming performances), competition with New York City Ballet which has its own issues but has a huge endowment and more name recognition, an overall decline in ballet popularity among the public, an overall lacking roster, etc. etc. 

[California]

Yikes is right! But when there's a change at the very top of a big organization, it's not unusual for there to be a string of departures. There has been enough time for her to get to know Jaffe and her vision and perhaps conclude...well...conclude that leaving might be a good idea.

It does seem odd that Jaffe will be interim ED -- isn't there an administrator somewhere in the top ranks who could handle that, especially with the new season upon them?

[nanushka]

12 minutes ago, California said:

Yikes is right! But when there's a change at the very top of a big organization, it's not unusual for there to be a string of departures. There has been enough time for her to get to know Jaffe and her vision and perhaps conclude...well...conclude that leaving might be a good idea.

True. But the timing seems unnecessarily disruptive. I'd have expected her to depart either sooner or later if that's all it was.

[cobweb]

I can’t get past the paywall to read the article. Does it not give a reason for her departure, or is it just anodyne like wanting to spend more time with her family?

[matilda]

Quoted from article:

Rollé, who helped lead the company through the turmoil of the pandemic, did not offer an explanation for her departure, saying only that she would turn her focus to service on corporate and nonprofit boards.

“It has been a privilege to lead such a storied company during such a crucial period of time, and I am grateful for this experience,” Rollé, a former leader of Beyoncé’s business empire, said in a statement. “I would like to extend my sincerest best wishes to A.B.T. as they embark on this new chapter.”

[On Pointe]

40 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I can’t get past the paywall to read the article. Does it not give a reason for her departure, or is it just anodyne like wanting to spend more time with her family?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/arts/music/american-ballet-theater-chief-resigns.html?unlocked_article_code=TEYq1k8UeyLCp7HghF7nwvi7IQbGhUKUqOtjvvZBxaLc_1EjuSFS3ztCNEWNoKC2qGSLKHXIoeMQwMaRjpWHeIe8gWaP3oQsgzIxU1iUevoQ4TFURrtxuh5JZA-8P8C8syfy0zYTyadLebK6QM4hc5qKSsPGrM0AkkMpz5yCmJLyuvnmQSrzT7bl11ckfO1PO5AXzLnGsUu8hwv4QB-ICRIhihvi6vdYlENvrduc-QXPs2wKrNmNRTVZnZvh0ZD7gbNcmtlXWJw3UL-xvKCJ2LXWNAX0NenfqMJjfOcKlXXWuRuj41pW8hasFL0kIrHuWUCwHonpmpZ3JBhmHfBFsDoyIFcLyECEAAjNOHzhFA13GQ&smid=url-share

[cobweb]

Thank you, @matilda and @OnPointe! This can't be good for ABT. I hope they can turn things around.

[MoMo]

43 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Thank you, @matilda and @OnPointe! This can't be good for ABT. I hope they can turn things around.

I think her timing is poor. One week before Met Season and NYC debut of Like Water for Chocolate. Why now and not after Season was over? What’s the rush? 

[pherank]

It's just interesting that both SFB and ABT have lost their executive directors, all of a sudden, this year.

[Barbara]

4 hours ago, MoMo said:

I think her timing is poor. One week before Met Season and NYC debut of Like Water for Chocolate. Why now and not after Season was over? What’s the rush? 

Indeed, and such a truncated season at that.  Seems unnecessarily harsh. 

[ABT Fan]

This certainly raises a lot of eyebrows. The timing makes me think she wants to distance herself from the Met season as quickly as possible.

[abatt]

The timing of the departure seems calculated to cause as much damage as possible.

[Helene]

The ED at San Francisco Ballet, who came from the museum world, left for a dream job sooner than anyone had expected.

Not everyone takes a job or is hired to be long term and open-ended: people take jobs expecting them to be short-term or to shepherd an institution through particular transition or accomplish a project with an end-point (like a new building or initiative) or to be in a place because their partner has a limited term opportunity there or because of family concerns.

We've had ED's come from other arts industries, like opera and symphonies: they are not lifers in ballet who've worked their way up the ranks and have gone to new companies for better jobs and opportunities and are beholden to a single industry for references and employment.  That means they have much more flexibility in finding or being offered other opportunities outside the dance world.  

These are all jobs, and people who have a lot of opportunities, which Rolle has if she's leaving to be on corporate and non-profit boards, often take them when they become available, even if that is less-than-ideal timing for their current employer or not necessarily at a time when they'd expected to move, but don't want to pass up something better for them.  It's her career and her life, and, frankly, ED at ABT is unlikely the be-all and end-all of her career.

 

[nanushka]

I assumed if it was a new role(s) she was stepping into, it might have been named, and I thought the NYT wording left open the possibility that these were board roles she’d already had. The timing is noteworthy, but it certainly may just be happenstance.

Edited June 15, 2023 by nanushka

[lmspear]

Here's a link to Rollé's post from LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/janetrolle_it-was-announced-this-morning-that-i-resigned-activity-7074761270733721602-evXf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

She may have been recruited for another opportunity.  She may have decided that the nonprofit arts sector is too much of a headache for a long-term career.

Edited June 15, 2023 by lmspear