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Executive director Valerie Wilder is stepping down. (Bill Brett for the Boston Globe/file 2007) |
Several dancers among layoffs at Boston Ballet
Unable to dig itself out of debt, Boston Ballet has eliminated nine jobs, cut back performances, and finally taken the dreaded step of laying off dancers.
The cash-strapped organization confirmed this week it will reduce its stable of dancers from 50 to 41, which one ballerina, Melanie Atkins, said would be too few to make it a top-tier company.
Richard Johnson, the company's former chief financial officer, said yesterday that the layoffs took him by surprise.
"I know they've been having financial challenges but I didn't know it was that bad," said Johnson, who now holds an equivalent post with the Washington National Opera. "That's a major step."
The news comes less than a week after executive director Valerie Wilder announced she will step down at the end of the season.
Wilder said yesterday that her exit was not connected to the ballet's financial problems, and noted that laying off members of the troupe was not a decision made lightly.
"Everyone else has participated in these measures in enormous ways," said Wilder. "As long as possible, we kept dancers out of it."
In many ways, the ballet has been doing well, increasing its endowment and its subscriber base. Last summer it toured Spain and this summer it will play the prestigious Spoleto arts festival. But Wilder and artistic director Mikko Nissinen said they could no longer hold off making the cuts, which will save the troupe an estimated $500,000 a year on what is a nearly $25 million budget.
"We've been cutting for five years and this is the last resort," Nissinen said yesterday. "I'm here to build a company and to build in every sense. We've done every exercise possible and this is what we have to do right now. It's the only responsible thing for the future, but it's very painful."
Nissinen originally let 11 dancers go. Two principal dancers then announced they would also leave at the end of the season. Next season Nissinen will hire four new dancers, bringing the roster to 41. Nissinen and Wilder would not disclose the names of the dancers being released, though they said no principal dancers and just two soloists were cut. Nine of the 11 are members of the corps, dancers who typically perform as members of a group, not alone.
Nissinen said the plan is to operate short-staffed for two years, and then build back the number of dancers. The
The eliminated administrative jobs include the directors of human resources and special events, as well as posts in security and Web design. They saved the Ballet about $300,000 this year, Wilder said.
Nissinen, who earned $226,668 in the most recent year reported, has not taken a pay cut. But he said he has tried to help in other ways. He is paying personally for Finnish-born choreographer and coach Sorella Englund to fly to Boston to help the company stage "Swan Lake," and has found her a place to stay for free. In addition, Englund has agreed to volunteer her time.
The stark financial reality did not make the moment easier, a few weeks ago, when Nissinen informed the dancers of the cuts.
"Some people were crying, some people were shocked," said Atkins, a soloist who will remain with the company. "Now, the dancers are sort of resigned. It has sunk in and we sort of understand the reasons."
Atkins and other ballet members contacted would not provide names of any dancers laid off.
Still, Atkins said she expected the remaining dancers will feel the strain physically next season as they're asked to participate in more performances of each program. In addition, having a smaller company means there will undoubtedly be some big ballets that the organization can't take on.
"If you're one of the top-tier companies in the country, which our product certainly is, you can't be 41 dancers," she said.
Boston Ballet's supporters had high hopes when they hired Nissinen in 2001 and Wilder in 2002 to run the perpetually cash-strapped company. While the ballet's performances have largely drawn glowing reviews, it has not been able to solve its longtime financial problems. Last week Wilder, who earned $306,025 a year, announced she would step down at the end of this season. She said her family wanted to move back to Canada, where she worked before coming to Boston.
Bruce Bernier, the company's current chief financial officer, blames many of its problems on the decision by the now Citi (then Wang) Performing Arts Center to replace Boston Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" with a touring Radio City Music Hall Christmas show. In 2004, Boston Ballet performed "Nutcracker" at the far-smaller Colonial Theatre, before moving the show into the Opera House, where it has played since - competing for audiences, some years, against the Radio City Christmas show at the Wang.
"It's amazing this institution stayed in business," said Bernier. "You went from a theater when you were producing $6 million to $7 million a year - grossing - and went to a situation where we chose the Colonial for one year and the sales were basically cut in half that year. The operating loss that year was $4 million."
Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com. For more on the arts, visit boston.com/ae/ theater_arts/exhibitionist.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
