I don't think the ballet community is entirely at fault here. For more
than a decade now, artists in this country have, essentially, been told
that this society (in the form of its chosen government) does not, and
should not, provide any real support for artistic activity. If artists
cannot stand on their own and generate either ticket revenue (bums on
seats), or corporate sponsorship (I hesitate to say this, but without
Phillip Morris (puff puff) "big" dance in NY would be very hard to find),
they do not deserve to exist. Unfortunately, America's arts administrators
and artistic directors seem to have taken this core belief on board, and
have not only utterly failed to stop the decline in arts funding, but
continue to undermine themselves by pandering to it. What hope of
experimentation is there with these large companies if they have to rely
utterly on popularism in order to survive?
Having just returned to the US from two years in Europe, I'm finding it
very hard to adjust to a country that has no respect and no concern about
artistic endeavour and excellence (sorry to use that word :-) ). I wonder
how many Americans on this list voted in the last election :-( Sorry to
be so negative.
R
R i c h a r d P o v a l l
Assoc. Prof of Computer Music and New Media
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email: Richard.Povall@oberlin.edu
website: http://timara.con.oberlin.edu/~RPovall/RPHome.html
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