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The Marks Magic: Backstage at the Boston Ballet
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11802 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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1 / 1994 |
2,306 Words |
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Doris Hering
Doris Hering is a senior editor of Dance magazine. |
Bruce Marks, artistic director of the Boston Ballet, has a vaulting corner office on the fourth floor of the company's Amelia Peabody Center. The uncluttered space, accentuated by dramatic circular windows, suits him well. He, too, is dramatic. Marks is a tall, solid-looking man whose thinning hair is offset by a close-cropped dark beard. His voice is forceful and expressive; he outlines his plans with enthusiasm, with conviction, and with an occasional touch of New York humor. As the conversation continues, one gains the impression that his mind is somewhere else. It is as restless as his gestures.
When he describes forthcoming repertoire or enumerates recent grants (many of them in six figures), it is easy to understand why the Boston Ballet's board of directors is not only impressed with him but offers him the kind of fiscal and moral support that few artistic directors encounter. He is endearingly positive. When he talks about the company's subscriptions, which have increased from sixty-five hundred to sixteen thousand during his eight-year tenure, he embellishes the fact with, "We can become St. Petersburg to New York's Moscow." Here he refers to the relationship between the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets. When someone asked him a year or so ago about the $2.5 million still owed on the company's new building, he shrugged and replied, "It isn't that much. Those personal fortunes are still around." The money has since been raised.
Unbridled Optimism
Sometimes this optimism, essential as it is, causes him to contradict himself. In one interview he dispelled the idea that the Boston Ballet should be considered one of America's regional companies by flatly stating, "We are a national company." Not long after, he commented, "We tour very little. It's just too expensive for us to spend money outside of our home area." And when he first became artistic director, he said he was not interested in eclectic programming, ostensibly referring to the repertoire of the American Ballet Theatre, where he had spent the bulk of his own dancing years. He subsequently told an interviewer, "The other thing I would like to see is a large, eclectic repertoire." In other words, like all true salesmen--and Marks is probably the most gifted salesman in American ballet today--he can shift gears if the point he wants to make requires it.
When Marks first arrived on the scene, the Boston Ballet stood at a turbulent crossroads. Under its founder, E. Virginia Williams, the company had enjoyed a distinguished history, but things had taken a downward turn during
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