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Opened last week in Brooklyn's Metrotech Center is Trapdoor, a group show put on by the Public Art Fund. The standout piece is Martha Friedman's Waffle, a seven-foot-tall "waffle" that's either melting or taking shape, emerging from the pool of syrup on the ground.
I've always said that frozen waffles are works of art!
Nermal helps me with a conference call with my classmates for an upcoming presentation.
City Ballet Cuts Corps as Deficit Widens
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
The ax has fallen at New York City Ballet, where the ballet master in chief, Peter Martins, has let go 11 members of the corps to help confront the same economic woes that have afflicted most performing arts institutions amid the recession.
Ticket sales and donations are both down about 6 percent to 8 percent, company officials said, causing a major shortfall in revenue. The company expects to record a $5.5 million deficit this season, even with extra cost-cutting measures, Kenneth Tabachnick, the general manager, said on Friday.
Mr. Tabachnick called the $5.5 million deficit, on a budget of $62.3 million, “extraordinary.” He said the company had already planned for a $3.7 million deficit going into this season.
Other cost-cutting measures include 10 percent salary reductions for senior staff, a hiring freeze and cutbacks in marketing, communications, production, development and administration, he said.
“We have, over the past several years, had an increasing level of deficit,” Mr. Tabachnick said. “This year with the economic environment around us, as you can imagine, like everybody else, it’s even more pressing.”
If the economy does not significantly worsen, the layoffs and cost-saving measures at New York City Ballet should mean a deficit of $2 million to $3 million next year, Mr. Tabachnick said. Junior staff members will have their salaries cut by 5 percent next season, Mr. Martins said.
Mr. Martins said he spent the whole day on Thursday telling the affected corps members individually that their contracts would not be renewed for next year. “This is the hardest thing I’ve done my entire professional career,” he said. He also said he included himself in the 10 percent pay cut.
The cuts will bring the company’s complement to 90 from 101 unless other dancers are added, although no decisions have been made, City Ballet officials said. The officials were quick to point out that the average number of dancers was 93 over the last 20 years.
There were no plans to reduce the number of principals and soloists, and their salaries remain fixed by collective bargaining agreements, Mr. Martins said. He said the cutbacks would not reduce the quality, quantity or scope of performances on the stage of the David H. Koch Theater, the former New York State Theater, where City Ballet performs.
The cut in corps numbers came now because the deadline for renewing contracts is Feb. 28.
New York City Ballet said it would not release the names of the corps members whose contracts had not been renewed because the members have another five months of dancing to do until their contracts expire.
City Ballet’s endowment, reflecting the dismal results for many other nonprofit investment funds, is down to about $138 million from about $187 million. City Ballet said it decides how much it will draw down from the endowment at the beginning of the fiscal year, so the drop will be reflected next season.
From the Cats in Sinks website:
Do you have a cat in a sink? We're looking for more images for the site.
You can upload your cat using the form below. All submissions will be reviewed and the best pictures selected for online use.
I will be pissed if Nermal's photo is not deemed "good enough" to be posted to the Cats in Sinks website.
L.
Nermal's photo still has not made an appearance on the Cats In Sinks website, however, repeated clickings through the site looking for her picture have given me an opportunity to select some favorites:
This is one of my favorite dancers at NYCB: Robbie Fairchild. His sister Megan is a Principal Dancer in the Company. Robbie was promoted from Corps to Soloist after only a year and is on track to be a Principal one day. He is getting lots of really great roles lately; one of my favorites is him as Tony in West Side Story Suite. I actually met him once when I lived over on 57th Street; he was in the lobby of my building with another dancer who lives there. I introduced myself and now we are Facebook buddies! *gloats*
Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Choreography by George Balanchine
© The George Balanchine Trust
Performance date: February 4, 2009
Dancers: Robert Fairchild,
Yvonne Borree
In this performance of Stravinsky
Violin Concerto Mr. Fairchild
made his debut as one of the
male leads.
Photo © Paul Kolnik
Greetings faithful readers! I am on Day 4 of a long weekend here in the city. I took Friday as a vacation day as there was an Open House at SAB (School of American Ballet) for donors above a certain level and I try to go to events like this as often as possible. One of the great things about SAB and NYCB is seeing the students in class when they are 15 or 16 years old, and then seeing who is accepted into the Company and watching them progress throughout the ranks. The class I made it to on Friday was an Advanced Boys class, made all the more exciting by a couple of Company members who decided to participate as well. Today we have off from work as it is President's Day, but I am here in the office for a few hours as I wanted to finish my taxes.
Photos:
This sign was sitting outside a farmer's market near Lincoln Center on Friday, February 13 in anticipation of Valentine's Day:
Nermal has ventured from her favorite spot on the window ledge to the SECOND, even HIGHER ledge. She is so brave! She is so sporty! It's amazing to me that she is so relaxed 40 stories up.
The Grinch has been put away until next Christmas:
That's all for now. Have a good week everybody!
New York City Ballet announced today that Adrian Danchig-Waring has been promoted to soloist. Danchig-Waring was born in San Francisco, California, and began his dance training at the age of 11 at Dance Theatre Seven with David Roxander. He entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 2001. Danchig-Waring became an apprentice with NYCB in October 2002 and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in June 2003. Since joining NYCB, Danchig-Waring has danced featured roles in numerous works, including George Balanchine’s Agon, Divertimento No. 15, The Four Temperaments, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Cavalier), Orpheus, and Symphony in Three Movements; Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, I’m Old Fashioned, and Glass Pieces; and Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, Les Gentilhommes, Swan Lake (Benno), and Romeo + Juliet (Paris, Benvolio). Danchig-Waring has originated featured roles in Douglas Lee’s Lifecasting, Christopher Wheeldon’s Rococo Variations, and Christopher d’Amboise’s Tribute, and the NYCB premieres of Eliot Feld’s Backchat and A Stair Dance.
Divertimento No. 15
Choreography by George Balanchine
© The George Balanchine Trust
Performance date: January 30, 2009
Dancers: Adrian Danchig-Waring,
Ana Sophia Scheller
In this performance of Divertimento
No. 15 Mr. Danchig-Waring made
his debut.
Photo © Paul Kolnik
