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Marketing Brilliance
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20659 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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9 / 1992 |
1,836 Words |
| Author
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Camille Hardy
Camille Hardy is a New York-based critic who publishes and
broadcasts on the arts internationally. |
The American Ballet Theatre's nine-week season (April 20-June 20) at New York's Metropolitan Opera House seemed motivated, primarily, by marketing concerns, which gave a somewhat peculiar shape to the overall programming. To save changeover costs, weeklong runs were given to the series of story ballets, for which this ensemble is the national treasure house. The eight new productions, spliced between the classics, were allowed few performances as a rule and frequently appeared on bills that cautiously anchored the "new and remarkable" with the "tried and true." The revival of Antony Tudor's 1945 Undertow is a case in point. Sensitively coached by Sallie Wilson and splendidly performed by the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), the piece was presented only three times, sandwiched between Act II of Swan Lake and Act III of Raymonda.
Midway through the New York engagement, Jane Hermann announced her intention not to renew her contract as a director of the troupe, a post she has shared for three years with longtime mentor Oliver Smith. Citing the stringence of financial restrictions imposed by the company's board of directors as the reason for her exit, Hermann will remain with ABT until September 1, 1992. The recent season precisely reflected Hermann's imprint on the ABT--firm fiscal management, limited risks, first-rate performances--and revealed the fact that the essence of the company as an institution is its dancers who are grander than ever.
Besides conducting a regime that leaves the ensemble even more polished technically than when she began her assignment, Hermann deserves credit for holding the ABT together during a crisis period. In 1989, an unexpected change in artistic leadership was combined with a serious financial deficit and with the scheduled negotiation of new labor contracts. Hermann was hired by Mikhail Baryshnikov, the troupe's artistic leader at the time, to function as his executive director. When Baryshnikov left almost immediately upon her arrival, Hermann essentially filled both positions during her three-year tenure. Her background as an arts administrator, rather than as an artist, has been critical in such areas as fund-raising, "damage control," and refining the company roster.
Budget Conscious
The 1992 season owes its profile to Hermann's ministrations. With a close eye on the budget, she solicited nearly all the new productions intact from European choreographers or from within the ABT family of artists. If none was a blockbuster, all made thoughtful use of the company's deep wealth of
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