|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
American Ballet Theatre Hits the Gold
| Article
# : |
17370 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1990 |
2,476 Words |
| Author
: |
Gary Parks
Gary Parks is the news editor of Dance Magazine. |
One year ago, Mikhail Baryshnikov threw a cocktail party at Tiffany & Co. to publicize American Ballet Theatre's lavish plans for its fiftieth anniversary. Six months ago, Baryshnikov stated that he would leave his post as ABT's artistic director immediately after the climax of the anniversary celebrations, the company's 1990 season in New York City. And three months ago, he abruptly, and angrily, announced that he was resigning "as of today" - the result of a fiery dispute with his board of directors over the troupe's finances and the future of his chief assistant.
Ironically, Baryshnikov had been toasted at the Tiffany party with the wish that he would lead ABT through its second fifty years. Grinning uneasily at the thought of bearing this responsibility until the age of ninety-two, Baryshnikov had replied, "I'm not sure about the next fifty."
The former Kirov Ballet star had directed ABT since 1980, or for almost one-fifth of its history, so his abrupt departure was no small matter. For newer dancegoers, those who began attending ballet during the last decade, Baryshnikov was ABT. His resignation threw into disarray the orderly search for a successor that the one-year notice given last June was supposed to ensure. It clouded the first months on the job of the company's new executive director, Jane Hermann, formerly the director of presentations at the Metropolitan Opera House, with whom Baryshnikov had locked horns over his assistant, Charles France. And one of the underlying causes of Baryshiknov's rash retreat - the troupe's reported one million dollar deficit - remains on ongoing problem.
An Exotic
... (1967 of 15406 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
