Culture Feed is the blog for arts and culture in the Bay Area – produced by the culture desk of The Bay Citizen. From breaking arts news to event coverage to YouTube videos, Culture Feed aims to bring you the best in culture from around the Bay. Please drop us a line and let us know what’s on your radar.
For two local ballet companies, 2012 is not off to a smooth start.
Lately, the drama provided by Ballet San Jose has not been on the stage, but behind the scenes. Dennis Nahat, founding artistic director, was informed in a letter from the ballet’s executive director that he was being removed from his post, according to a Jan. 14 San Francisco Chronicle article.
The Bay Citizen detailed the company’s woes in a Jan. 5 story that described an organization rife with internal turmoil. Much of the unrest was attributed to head-butting between Nahat and the leader of the ballet’s board, John Fry, who founded Fry’s Electronics and contributed more than $20 million to Ballet San Jose since 2003. Fry has since resigned from the board, but maintains his financial support.
In a Jan. 18 press release the Oakland Ballet announced they were postponing their 2012 spring season. They cited ticket sale shortfalls of 2011 performances of "The Nutcracker", failure to meet funding goals, and a budget deficit as reasons for pushing back a planned May 18-20 run of "Diaghilev Imagery".
From the press release:
“This was an extremely difficult decision to make, and one that we made with careful consideration and examination of all options” says Roz Perazzo, President of the OBC Board of Directors. “We are certain we have chosen the most prudent path to ensure the sustainability of the Company, have stepped up our fundraising efforts and are preserving many aspects of our programming, education and community outreach efforts to continue to serve Oakland and the Bay Area.” Perazzo cited a budget deficit for 2011 of approximately 15% of the Company’s $600,000 annual budget. “While this deficit is not yet a critical amount,” she says, “in keeping with our commitment to grow the Company in a responsible and planned way, we intend to continue to offer the highest caliber artistic experience to the public, and choose to be fiscally conservative in this economy. We are determined to see that OBC continues to thrive.”
The Oakland Ballet will still hold its srping fundraising gala, continue ballet classes, and plans to reschedule the canceled performances.
© The Bay Citizen, 2012
