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May 20, 2005

Dance shorts

A week later, I’m still slightly under the weather, though I think my husband will scream if I whine about it a minute longer. But this lingering cold hasn’t stopped me from writing, in large part because I’ve had so many deadlines to meet. There’ll be a flurry of articles by me in the Chronicle in the next two weeks, starting with a review of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company tomorrow. What’s kept me sane is that even a bit dizzy from Sudafed and facing down deadlines, I’ve managed to work on my fiction almost every day this week. The mild downside to that daily productivity is that I’m constantly reminded how much about writing I have yet to learn, and constantly craving more time to learn it.

So you’ll start seeing more postings of Chronicle articles starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, here are the major dance-related articles I made time to keep current with:

--James Kudelka is stepping down as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada:

“The switch -- effective June 30 -- will allow Mr. Kudelka to spend more time creating ballet and less time administering the 60-member company.

Although several of his dance works have enhanced the National Ballet's international standing, Mr. Kudelka is not particularly known for his administrative or people-handling skills. It was under his tenure in 1999 that the National Ballet lost an ugly and expensive wrongful dismissal suit filed by former principal dancer Kimberley Glasco . . .

. . . Mr. Banks acknowledged the conflicting pressures on Mr. Kudelka. "It's unusual that somebody stays as long as James has stayed as artistic director, it's very demanding," he said.

"And you've got to ask yourself a question, if you are James Kudelka: 'How many great years of choreography do I have in me? And do I take my salad years and spend them doing performance appraisals or joining in funding calls or all the other ancillary things you have to do as artistic director?'" A source close to the National Ballet concurred that the decision was very likely Mr. Kudelka's alone.”

--The Los Angeles Times’s articles are at long last available online, which means we non-subscribers can read Lewis Segal’s survey of fresh efforts to create substantial ballet companies in Southern California, and the challenges sure to beset even superstar Ethan Stiefel:

“At age 32, in fact, Stiefel is about to assume the reins of Orange County's Ballet Pacifica, with a view to building it into a major classical institution. Envisioning what he calls "a company for the whole Southern California region," he plans to launch touring repertory performances in September 2006, followed by a "Nutcracker" in Orange County.

Moreover, Stiefel isn't the only ballet carpetbagger aiming for a future in the Southland. In Santa Monica, former Royal Danish Ballet artistic director Thordal Christensen and his wife, New York City Ballet alumna Colleen Neary, are forming a company under the aegis of the Westside Ballet, a school with a junior company that has sent many of its finest students to major troupes.

Meanwhile, former Kirov Ballet principal Eldar Aliev has proposed moving his Russian-style Ballet Internationale lock, stock and barrel-turns from Indianapolis to L.A. to become the resident company at the Music Center.

All of these new players on the local ballet scene exude noble intentions. But they don't know the territory: the specific, daunting problems that defeated many equally well-meaning predecessors. For starters, all of them come from environments where ballet is at the top of the dance food chain, and a whole other set of realities awaits them.”

--And the New York Times’ Jennifer Dunning distills Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser’s lessons for selling dance:

“6. A PICTURE IS WORTH A LOT OF WORDS. "Dance companies do a very bad job of picking their images," Mr. Kaiser said. "They typically pick images that speak to their core audience and to themselves. If I see one more ballerina on point in arabesque, with a bun, it's going to kill me."

When he was working with American Ballet Theater, he recalled, the company chose a poster photo of Vladimir Malakhov almost bent over himself in midair. "I focus on people in the air," Mr. Kaiser said. "I typically focus on men, because women buy more tickets." Even better, he said slyly, if the men are not wearing much and have beautiful bodies.

"I'm not trying to cheat or fool the audience," he continued. "But there's so much excitement to dance. And we don't communicate that so well in our photography . . .” “

Posted by Rachel at May 20, 2005 04:50 PM

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