Two Deep Along the Bar!

Most diehard Beatles fan award goes to two British guests who attended the Charleston Ballet Theater’s Piccolo performances of The Magical Mystery Tour , this past weekend. Apparently, so enthused were they about the Beatles-themed ballet that they reportedly spoke seriously with choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr about the possibility of bringing the CBT to a London stage. The answer, not surprisingly, was “hell yes!,” as long as there is a generous benefactor to back the entire production and travel expenses. (Hello people, we’re in a recession, remember.). 

 Beatlemania has definitely made a comeback to the Piccolo festival and their songs have been partly responsible for the significant buzz The Magical Mystery Tour has been receiving. The last-minute addition of a pre-show mini-piano concert in the lobby has also contributed to their success. Pianist,Jordan Alexander plays for 30 minutes solid from a huge Beatles songbook pre-Mystery Tour as well as some classic ragtime tunes before the much regaled CBT’s Great Gatsby.

 And besides the aforementioned Brits, Kyle Barnette, CBT’s administrative director, has heard first-hand the word on the street, and he says the word is good. First, snug in his seat at Spoleto theater favorite, Don John, Barnette (ears open, always) overheard the couple in front of him chatting about their upcoming theater plans and recommendations they’d received.

 Apparently, Magical Mystery Tour was number one on their list. Randall Goldman, managing partner of Patrick Properties (which includes Fish Restaurant, practically CBT’s neighbor), is sending Fish customers over to the CBT with nothing but positive word-of-mouth ratings. The Beatles show has been getting plenty of buzz in his restaurant since the festivals began, and always the neighborly neighbor, he keeps the CBT recommendations coming. “This is the time you really find out who your friends are,” says Goldman, alluding to the current economic depression and the business Barnette loyally reciprocates. Not surprisingly, he counts Charleston’s local ballet — which he describes as non-traditional, progressive, and appealing to a younger, hipper generation — as one of his strongest relations. Goldman says Saturday’s late-night business boom at Fish was a direct reflection of the Charleston Ballet Theater’s Piccolo success. “We were two-deep along the bar all night!” exclaims Goldman. With a CBT playbook beside the hostess stand inside Fish, it’s evident Goldman truly believes the critical importance of supporting locals first. It would seem that the CBT has a true ally in Goldman. The Great Gatsby opens June 4 at 7 p.m., and Charleston Ballet dancers have been hard at work on the new ballet with a rigorous rehearsal schedule.

Posted by Gervase Caycedo

Charleston City Paper

on Thu, May 28, 2009 at 3:38 PM

Alive & Kicking!!!!!

 

Dear Friends and Patrons,

One day of Spoleto Festival is behind us, and the good reviews and crowds are solid.    We all know what sort of year it has been for the economy and its effects on the fine arts in Charleston and across the nation. Through your devoted support and deep affection you have displayed for the Charleston Ballet Theatre this past season, we have been blessed to produce some of our most acclaimed and artistically satisfying productions in years. From the unprecedented response of our rocking new Magical Mystery Tour to the stunning imagery of Marilyn Monroe in Jill Eathorne Bahr’s new interpretation of Afternoon With the Faun, it has been a season that has defied the darkness of the storm overhead. While we have made it through this season with a satisfying sense of great artistic accomplishment, we are far from being out from under that cloud of uncertainty regarding our future.

Our upcoming 2009 -2010 season is aptly titled Alive & Kicking, a tongue-in-cheek nod to our resilience over the past year as well as a promise to our multitude of fans and supporters that we are determined to move forward, continuing our reputation for producing only top quality live professional dance entertainment for the people of Charleston and beyond. In an effort to increase our own earned income for the next year, we will be premiering exciting new works by Jill Eathorne Bahr, returning with the second year with our new Children’s Series, adding a performance of The Nutcracker at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. .

As we move forward with our heads held high, determined to overcome our still sizable deficit gap, we ask that you do your part to help keep us “alive & kicking” into the next year, so our ambitious and responsible 2009 -2010 season can reach its fullest potential. As stated before, we are still a far cry from even the funds needed to push the company ‘into the black’ by the end of this fiscal year, projecting a deficit of $70,000. We desperately need these funds to assure we  can begin the 2009 -2010 anew, confident in the knowledge our company is able to complete the sensational Alive & Kicking season we have planned.

As a patron of the arts, it is not necessary to expound to you the importance of the survival of the ballet in Charleston and its obvious cultural significance. We only hope you feel it is meaningful enough that you will consider a contribution to Charleston Ballet Theatre, one that will propel us forward into the new season while allowing us to meet our immediate financial goals of our current fiscal year ending in June. We ask that you take a moment to consider a generous contribution to the ballet, one that will keep us alive and kicking and able to  provide you the top quality entertainment you have come to expect   and certainly deserve.

Contributions can be made online at www.charlestonballet.org .   

With Gratitude,

Charles W Patrick

Chairman of the Board, Charleston Ballet Theatre

A Little Help from Friends: CBT, One Flew South deliver a double dose

 

CBT’s The Magical Mystery Tour

A Little Help from Friends: CBT, One Flew South deliver a double dose

by Jason A. Zwiker

Charleston City Paper

 

The discography of the Beatles is like a literary anthology.

With just a few lyrical brush strokes, Lennon, McCartney, and their mates made us mourn the lonely death of Eleanor Rigby, taste the strange bittersweet kiss of the girl who came in through the bathroom window, and wonder what life would feel like were we living in a yellow submarine.

The lyrics presented the images that went straight to our hearts: shot us into the sky, dropped us to our knees, danced us dizzy, and brought us back.

The Magical Mystery Tour, choreographed by Jill Eathorne Bahr and performed by Charleston Ballet Theatre, is exhilarating for that Fab Four storytelling and for the symbolic motion that flows naturally from it.

The North Charleston Performing Arts Center, a venue much larger than CBT’s Black Box Theatre on King Street, lent the show a fresh look and sound. A few songs had been swapped out and the dancing tweaked and polished in spots since Mystery Tour’s debut last year, but the classic bits were preserved, as they should be.

Stephen Gabriel danced “Rocky Raccoon” spot on — cowboy burlesque from the opening note to the close — and the bluesy twang of Memphis musician Matt Tutor’s cover of “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” made the sassy strut of Andrea DeVries ever so much more tantalizing.

The dance interpretations of the classic Beatles songs were only part of the treat, however. Those who dipped out early missed out on the second half of the ticket: an intimate mini-concert of Beatles covers and country rock by Nashville-based One Flew South.

The trademark harmonies of One Flew South inspired impromptu dance from more than one member of the audience and kept the crowd grooving. The band, featuring Lowcountry favorite Eddie Bush and boasting the band’s early gems like “My Kind of Beautiful” and “Last of the Good Guys,” is an act to keep an eye on in years to come. There’s a bit of the classic Eagles sound in the way their voices mesh, as well as some full hearted country grit.

While the back-to-back performances of Charleston Ballet and One Flew South definitely made for an entertaining evening, it also left at least this reviewer wondering how cool it would be to see both acts on stage together.

Like the proverbial chocolate slipping into the peanut butter, they might just be two great tastes that taste even better when taken together in one bite.

 

Food for thought.   Plenty of times to see it during Piccolo!

Round One: Ballerina VS Ballerina.

 AKA : Why Ballerinas continue to try to steal  

the magical tiara from the kingdom . 

How ironic it is that the May 9. 2009 The NY Times article talks of women in all types of work forces that are facing  exactly the same predicament the dance profession faces.

Backlash Women Bullying Woman at Work

By Mickey Meece

It’s probably no surprise that most of these bullies are men, as a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, an advocacy group, makes clear. But a good 40 percent of bullies are women. And at least the male bullies take an egalitarian approach, mowing down men and women pretty much in equal measure. The women appear to prefer their own kind, choosing other women as targets more than 70 percent of the time.

Just the mention of women treating other women badly on the job seemingly shakes the women’s movement to its core. It is what Peggy Klaus, an executive coach in Berkeley, Calif., has called “the pink elephant” in the room. How can women break through the glass ceiling if they are ducking verbal blows from other women in cubicles, hallways and conference rooms?

Women don’t like to talk about it because it is “so antithetical to the way that we are supposed to behave to other women,” Ms. Klaus said. “We are supposed to be the nurturers and the supporters.” Ask women about run-ins with other women at work and some will point out that people of both sexes can misbehave. Others will nod in instant recognition and recount examples of how women — more so than men — have mistreated them.

Same story… different setting

The Dance Studio

Artistic Directors have always experienced the “shadow side” of sisterhood: women treating each other badly. From Bette Davis, the modern century Mommie Dearest, to Shirley MacLaine contentiousness with Anne Bancroft in The Turning Pointe, -  The 1977 movie with the most Oscar nominations (11 without a win) is the story of two women whose lives are dedicated to ballet. Deedee left her promising dance career to become a wife and mother and now runs a ballet school in Oklahoma. Emma stayed with a company and became a star though her time is nearly past. Both want what the other has and reflects back on missed chances as they are brought together again through Deedee’s daughter who joins the company.  Turning Pointe exploited those human frailties than by a modern tale of two close friends bond together for life in the face of roads torn apart.

It was a movie… but it is also a day to day reality sometimes.

Secret conversations in the dancers lounge, conniving and indirectly sabotaging alliances over martinis: all are the betraying secret language of an intimidator at work. They noiselessly manipulate traps for other dancer victims at every pass. Each May I ask myself why this has to happen.   Why is female friendship so important to women, despite the prevalence of female betrayals? Women depend upon each other for emotional intimacy and bonding, but their power to form cliques, gossip about, and shun one another enforces conformity and discourages self-confidence and psychological clarity from girlhood on.  And this season is like so many others, though probably much more devastating, surfing this current glib economic slump. As the end of a season approaches, stress levels rise, it never fails workmates are likely to narrow their stare and ratchet up their attacks.

I recently asked the question to three ballerina victims ….

“ Over the last 12 months, have you regularly: been glared at in a hostile manner, been given the silent treatment, been treated in a rude or disrespectful manner, or had others fail to deny false rumors about you? All three answered

Yes ….with tears in their eyes. 

And now pushing 25+ years in the business I have to say. .. I continue to experience year after year, this phenomenon while watching from afar as many ballerinas who are still in the work force are hesitant to speak out publicly for fear of making matters worse or of jeopardizing their careers.

“Man’s inhumanity to man”–the phrase is all too familiar. But until Phyllis Chesler’s Woman’s “Inhumanity to Woman “, now a classic book, a profound silence prevailed about woman’s inhumanity to woman. Women’s aggression may not take the same form as men’s, but girls and women are indeed aggressive, often indirectly and mainly toward one another. They judge harshly, hold grudges, gossip, exclude, and disconnect from other women.

Like men, women are exposed to the messages of misogyny and sexism that permeate cultures worldwide. Like men, women unconsciously buy into negative images that can trigger abuse and mistreatment of other women. But like other social victims, many do not realize stereotyping affects members within the victimized group as well as those outside the group. They do not realize their behavior reflects society’s biases.

My ballerinas  feel a  bit exasperated when I have cohobated their experienced back to The Feminine Mystique by Betty  Friedan’s suburban wives, their low-level depression and seething dissatisfactions, their “problem that had no name.” If they were so unhappy, why didn’t they, you know, do something about it? I know none of my ballerina planned to spend their days waxing the kitchen floor; even their mothers hadn’t done that. But if they did, it would be–the magic word–their choice.

Now I have to say personally,   The Feminine Mystique didn’t change my life; I was only 6 when it came out . The book I loved was Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics, which was about literature. Still, whenever I open Friedan’s manifesto I’m carried away by its directness and pungency, its moral seriousness, its Emersonian call to women to use their best energies and be true to their best selves. It is so contrary to the caricature of feminism put forward in today media down to this day-. – Friedan doesn’t disparage love or motherhood (in fact, for women’s liberationists, she was far too devoted to conventional domestic arrangements); she doesn’t insist you get up from the delivery table and go straight back to your desk; she doesn’t, like Hirshman, belittle majoring in English or art history as a ticket to nowhere. On the contrary.  all she every wanted was for each female to be true their self.

Its 2008 census found, only 15.7 percent of Fortune 500 officers and 15.2 percent of directors were women.  I sit in that 15% but I agonize over the way I see my fellow sisters, colleagues, dancers and friends continue on the devastating path that shows no future except that of hurting each other at work.

I think it goes back to the core issue that if you through the many levels of thinking goes into this eternal problem … The Feminine Mystique had a larger and deeper vision: Women, like men, have a duty to their minds and talents and selves that cannot be fulfilled by living vicariously through someone else.. An equal cannot live a happy subordinate life; an adult cannot thrive in a culture that infantilizes her.

At this point, do I have a solution? 

 I don’t .

All I know it is such a waste of energy that only holds down the growth of everyone who succumbs to the sin of bullying.

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Marilyn

I have been away from the blogging scene since January.  The part of me that likes to hound myself for not continuing the regime, would say I haven’t been blogging because I am lazy and have wasted my days with friends, sippin’ a lovely red, and going to movies. Those of you who know me well will know that I Twitter and Facebook alot.  When I see something that I really like and want to share, I post it in 140 characters to Twitter.  It’s not being anti social but on the contrary, it has been a rough and tough year, maneuvering the CBT ‘Air Force One Plane”   through the financial skies.

The economic downturn is hitting home for the region’s arts and cultural nonprofits. Groups across the spectrum have been cutting back, laying off or, in a few cases, closing up shop. Of course Charleston is not alone in this trend, reflecting the nationwide effects of the collapsing financial industry. The upside, if one could call it that, is more interest in shared services, new marketing techniques and a tighter focus on core mission. The three largest arts organizations have been working in tandem getting some bang from collaborative thought processing as well as hand holding and support.

 The down side is, well, everything else. However its Spoleto time!  I am happy to see we are here… Alive and Kicking!   I return to blogging this month because the hits can be BIG  in May and June due to the upcoming Spoleto and Piccolo Festival.   

So yes I am back in the saddle again!

Charleston Ballet Theatre is getting ready for its annual participation in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival USA, May 22-June 7. The city influenced tandem festival that presents arts all over the city works in conjunction with an internationally known Spoleto Festival USA.

This 2008-2009 season, Charleston Ballet Theatre produced ten ballet and dance programs; Our Main stage Series consisted of six productions at both our King Street Black Box Theatre and the Sottile Theatre at the College of Charleston; our new Children’s Series l produced three family friendly programs at our Black Box Theatre and CBT produced on Special Event Performance during the 2007-2008 as an addition to our regular series. 

Out of the glut of work, CBT will offer a variety of programs at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

Brown Bag and Ballet

SCHEDULE

5/23 12PM – 1PM, 5/24 1:30PM – 2:30PM, 5/28 12PM – 1PM,

6/5 12PM – 1PM, 6/6 12PM – 1PM 

Lindsey Koob of the Charleston City Paper talks of the world premiere of Afternoon with A Faun

The enchanting realization of Claude Debussy’s beloved Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. But here, we had an “Afternoon WITH the Faun,” who turned out to be the dance incarnation of Marilyn Monroe! We bore fortunate witness to the work’s world premiere performance.

The classic opening scene is forever seared into my memory bank … there she was, as the curtain rose: all pouty and simpering and blindingly blonde, at the top of a staircase – trying (not very hard) to resist the blast of air from below that blew her flimsy skirt around.

From there, things unfolded as if in a dream: Marilyn – achingly realized by Jessica Roan – dripped raw sex appeal as she drifted down the stairs to dance in turn with three of her legendary lovers. Alexander Collen nailed Joe DiMaggio’s athletic swagger, with only slightly less stylized machismo (but more menace) from Stephen Gabriel, as Howard Hughes. Jonathan Tabbert radiated a more subtle, but equally potent brand of power and authority in his portrayal of JFK. If this had been a movie, their utterly mesmerizing, erotically-charged dancing would’ve earned them an “R” rating (and maybe even an Academy Award)! Bahr told me afterward that she had a BALL putting this one together.

The Lullaby of Broadway

Broadway is the street in New York that has come to symbolize live theater entertainment throughout the world. And because of the magnificent illumination of the Avenue, Broadway had been christened “The Great White Way”. CBT revisits the Golden Age of the Broadway musical with a collection of show stopping numbers from some of the most cherished musicals of all time including 42nd Street, Cabaret, South Pacific, The King and I and many more. A non-stop heart-pounding extravaganza comes to life! 

SCHEDULE

5/29 7PM – 8PM

6/6 7PM – 8PM 

 

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that The Beatles’ legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in.  It was time for Charleston Ballet Theatre to take its own take on The Beatles.  I created Magical Mystery Tour. “The thing about Beatles music is that everybody knows it. If you play Beatles music, the audience is already there, and they’re waiting to be entertained by you. All of a sudden, they’re transformed to another place.

SCHEDULE

5/23 7PM – 8PM 5/24 7PM – 8PM 5/25 12PM – 1PM 5/28 7PM – 8PM

5/29 12PM – 1PM 5/29 9PM – 10PM 5/30 7PM – 8PM5/31 7PM – 8PM

6/4 12PM – 1PM 6/5 9PM – 10PM 6/6 9PM – 10PM 

The Fab Four got the royal treatment in the world premiere of CBT Resident Choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr’s latest masterful creation The Magical Mystery Tour opens Jan. 23rd at the Black Box Theatre. Inspired by the Masterworks of The Beatles, this innovative interpretation of the lyrics and settings of the legendary band’s catalogue features a celebration in dance of rock n’ roll classics from the tribal energy of “Lady Madonna” to the haunting beauty of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, the simplicity of “Penny Lane” and the dreamy escape of “Yellow Submarine”. 

As Jason Zwicker from Charleston City Paper reported on Magical Mystery Tour in Jan. 2008:

After so much time has passed and the world has changed so much, how do you paint the picture of those early days, now almost the stuff of legend, when America first met The Beatles?  The first few years of the 1960s were a simmering mix of hope and anxiety: international confrontations threatening to turn a Cold War hot, charismatic leaders rising to inspire us only to die by the hands of cowards, and a growing discontent with stifling social status. 

We went to school, went to work, lived, and loved like good little boys and girls, but deep inside, we were ready to scream. Then, all at once, four lads from Liverpool were right in front of us, guitars ringing out, telling us to let it out, twist and shout.

Years of pent up tension burst free all at once, and nothing was the same again. No wonder it was called a musical revolution. That’s the mood Charleston Ballet resident choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr hopes to evoke with The Magical Mystery Tour, an interpretation of not only the vast catalog of rock ‘n’ roll classics that the Beatles produced, but also the unparalleled social phenomenon of Beatle mania itself.

“This is not a chronological story. It’s a visualization of the lyrics,” says Bahr, a self-described Beatles fanatic. “Listening to the lyrics of these songs can take you in so many different directions, and that’s what I wanted to create for the audience: the feeling of being on a journey.” Everything from “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” to “Yellow Submarine” is fair game, according to Bahr, who promises surprises aplenty during the show. “It isn’t just the Beatles themselves, but also songs they inspired,” she says. “There’s this bluesy version of ‘She Came in Through the Bathroom Window’ by a Memphis band called The Glass Onions that I put in there. I’ve also woven in documentaries. It’s going to be all over the board.”

 The Great Gatsby

The East Hamptons set the scene for this sweeping jazz age balletic interpretation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel. This true dance drama features colorful acting and narration set to the music of George Gershwin and a memorable trip back to a timeless era. 

SCHEDULE

6/4 7PM – 8:30PM, 6/5 7PM – 8:30PM 

As Dottie Ashley for the Charleston Post and Courier quotes:

“The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s portrait of the Jazz Age with all its idealism, excesses and decadence, will be transformed into an elaborate evening of dance by the Charleston Ballet Theatre on Saturday at the Gaillard Auditorium.

The famous novel was made into a film in 1974, and now Jill Eathorne Bahr, resident choreographer with the CBT, has set it to music. Bahr feels the story of the rise and fall of self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby and his love for beautiful socialite Daisy Buchanan touched a nerve in the American psyche.

“While ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a highly specific portrait of American society during the Roaring ’20s, its basic story has been told hundreds of times,” says Bahr. “It tells of a man who claws his way from rags to riches, only to learn that his wealth cannot afford him the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. Gatsby becomes primarily known for the lavish parties he throws at his ostentatious Gothic mansion.”

Another character is the honest, mild-mannered Nick Carraway, who has moved from Chicago to Long Island to learn the bond trade and has a bungalow in West Egg, the nouveau riche area where the wealthy, mysterious, party-loving Gatsby lives. Carraway happens to be a cousin of Daisy’s and is drawn into Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Daisy’s husband, Tom, who has a married girlfriend on the side, causes two deaths in this high-rolling scenario, where the rich feel absolutely no guilt at destroying the lives of ordinary people.

“The lavish scenes of Gatsby’s parties contrast with the intricate web of the entangled relationships of the main characters,” says Bahr. “Their reckless actions turn an American dream into something akin to a Greek tragedy. The story has a number of plot lines and characters, and I felt it was important to engage a narration so that the work would almost have a movie like feeling. “Fitzgerald wrote the novel in dreamy scene overlaps and flashbacks. I wanted the audience to experience some of his words, and so I have the character of Nick narrate on stage.”CBT co-artistic director Patricia Cantwell adds, “The narration is taken directly from the book in most cases, and I think it helps the audience keep up with the drama of the story.”

Using the big band music of the ’20s, Bahr also has manipulated clips of the music of Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jimmy Johnson, and Irving Aaronson and his Commanders.

Dancing the role of Gatsby will be Stephen Gabriel, who says, “Even when his wealth and stature are at their greatest, Gatsby will never be content unless he has Daisy. Although Gatsby seems very kind, he is not afraid to be unscrupulous to get what he wants. His drive is what makes him who he is, good and bad. It’s this drive that ends up ruining his life.”Taking the role of Carraway will be Jonathan Tabbert. “Nick is the hardest character to understand because he is the narrator and will, therefore, only gives us an impression of himself that he would like to reveal. Nick comes from a well-to-do Minnesota family, and though he is honest, responsible and fair-minded, he, nevertheless, frequently neglects to take the emotions of others into account. But of all the novel’s characters, he is the only one to truly recognize Gatsby’s ‘greatness,’ thereby revealing himself as a young man of unusual sensitivity.”

Jessica Roan says of her role as Daisy: “She’s trapped in an unhappy marriage and is at the mercy of her husband. She was born into money and early in life had an endless assortment of men who, she imagined, would continue to spoil her.”

So NOW… you decide your dance card for Spoleto— is it the jazzy variations on the foxtrot, the jitterbug and the Charleston from the dance adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” or is it is a breathtaking, fun-loving  and euphoiric risk-taking production Beatles extravaganza Magical Mystery Tour ,  the familiar strains of South Pacific, King and I and Cabaret of the Lullaby of Broadway or  an Afternoon With A Faun.  During Brown Bag and Ballet at noon.

 

Marilyn Monroe’s influcence during a tough couple of days at the Post and Courier

I open this post with a quote from the world’s most famous blonde bombshell”.

I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.”  Marilyn Monroe

It sounded like a very tough day for the newspaper last Friday.  I am sorry that so many of the Post & Courier employees have had to be let go with incentive retirement packages last summer and now the new current announcement of the 25 employees being laid off.  The Belt tightening is trickling down onto every face of the city   I can’t deny that every single business won’t possibly have to face the same layoff considerations in this crisis.

As the paper trudges through the reorganization, The CBT Board, Staff, and dancers are wondering if any decision has been made yet on how the arts will be covered with Dottie Ashley being let go. The main reason is just even handling events that are coming up this weekend.  The collaboration of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Charleston Ballet Theatre Valentine’s show is very important to the ballet – I hope it can be reviewed and covered.   I wondered if I could be offered any assurances in that regard.   Is there a chance her dismissal could be reconsidered?  Or can she be employed on an assignment basis. ?

I asked the Post and Courier that question early today.  I did get a plausible response from Larry Tarleton – he assures me that despite the reduction in staff they had to go through, The Post and Courier remains committed to the arts in Charleston and to providing the very best coverage they can.  Stephanie Harvin, Bill Hawkins and Steve Mullins will be making plans to insure that coverage.  I talked with Stephanie as well, she offered the same promises. Dottie will have the opportunity to contribute as a reviewer and free-lance contributor if she wants to and he wished us a very successful show this weekend.

On the personal CBT front, Dottie Ashley was a staunch support arm for the ballet, I am saddened by the choice – and hope the paper has thought through the complete realm of possibilities before they made their choice. . But as one of the provider of entertainment for the Charleston – I know that the bottom line needs to be brought to attention – The arts should be part of the solution!  The arts are a powerful economic engine and play a vital role in the Charleston community, enhancing each of our individual lives.  The arts are shovel-ready – each dollar of arts funding goes to work immediately creating jobs, attracting investment, generating tax revenue, and stimulating local economies through tourism and consumer purchases. 

So in an effort to make sure my blog readers hear about the CBT/CSO performance I add some of the information I shared with Dottie.  Marilyn Monroe serves as the muse for my new Hollywood interpretation of the classic ballet “Afternoon with the Faun” set to the music of Debussy when the Charleston Ballet Theatre joins artistic forces with The Charleston Symphony Orchestra this Valentine’s Day for an unforgettable collaboration of live music and movement in celebration of the ballet’s Masterpieces of Dance program, 7:30pm at the Sottile Theatre located at 44 George Street in Downtown Charleston. 

Patrons can expect to see the blonde bombshell, recreated by CBT principal dancer Jessica Roan, as she glides across the beautiful Sottile Theatre stage encountering the many loves in her life including Joe DiMaggio (Alexander Collen), Howard Hughes (Stephen Gabriel) and John F. Kennedy (Jonathan Tabbert).

“Marilyn was warm, vibrant and full of a very special romantic intimacy. She was a mythical figure and I felt this particular ballet served as a gateway of exploring her iconic status and celebrating her beauty and individual spirit.”

This one night only collaboration will feature two other ballet masterworks underscored by celebrated composers performed by the two Charleston powerhouse arts organizations. The complete visual artistic experience will also feature George Balanchine’s celebrated tribute to Broadway Who Cares?, set to the music of the great George Gershwin and the epic grande scale of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra set to the music of British composer Benjamin Britten. Tickets to Masterpieces of Dance are available now exclusively through The Charleston Ballet Theatre Box Office at 477 King St., 723.7334 and online at Charlestonballet.org (convenience fees apply).

 When we increase our investment in the arts, we’re investing in an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, what we do is the cornerstone of tourism and economic development, and drives a creativity-based economy. A strong art and culture sector and a creative workforce attract and keep businesses in a community. It is one of the top ten attributes businesses look for in a new business site.

 I do think it is extremely important not to forget what brings people to our beautiful city.  Lessening Arts coverage might saw off current expensive appendages for the Post and Courier, but in the long run without people everywhere in the world getting our news.. We all will lose even more money.  No Press coverage allows imaginations to run wild.

 I hope we can consider weighing in my concerns as our country’s reorganization begins;  Let start it here.  And as far as Marilyn…. Let hope this world-premiere performance “Afternoon with the Faun” promises to be a show stopping event worthy of the timeless screen goddess with or without Post and Courier Paparazzi present.    

 

 

 

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It’s All Muscle and Bone

President Elect Obama commented this morning to CNN’ correspondent John King, “Anyone can go as far as their work ethic and imagination can take them!

I still agree with that assumption as well.  I might be older and I hope wiser now;  maybe even as I descend into the 2^nd half of life,  I might not move as fast, get up and down  in rehearsal as easy but I still believe in the power of creativity and sweat equity.  

Using politics as an analogy….  the Reagan Revolution seems as distant as Kennedy’s Camelot.

 There was a time when those in power knew they had squirreled away their golden parachute for security or found millions of ways to cover up mistakes by creating a cash cushion to fall back on when times got hard-hitting.  Gone, however, are those untroubled, vicarious days of spending.  Now we face years of refunding those mistakes by cutting to the bone, sawing off expensive appendages that grew on the caterpillar of corrupt capitalism.

So how does it affect the ballet?

Let me get the snivel out before I answer. To sum it up: It’s a brutality. To begin with, we’re not in a part of the world where culture is something you give money to, and fund-raising is not easy.  We thought we planned ahead at the end of last season by moving back into Black Box theatre, starting a children’s series and offering additional shows.  As we tried to peer into our crystal ball, to view the future, we thought we were wonderfully balanced to weather the coming year. Then, just before our opening season in the fall, came the crash. Our single-ticket sales went down at first. Some people couldn’t make good on their pledges. Some foundations canceled grants. As CBT Board President Charles Patrick states there’s no fat to cut back on — it’s all muscle and bone.

But after all the whining of above I quote the teaching of Erik Erikson

 Erik Erikson was a psychologist who did most of his work in the post-Freudian era, in the 1930s to the 1950s. Erikson gave a great deal of importance to the social environment in a person’s psychological development.

Erikson’s theory posts that every human being passes through several distinct and qualitatively different stages in life, from birth to death. According to him, the stages are universal, and the ages at which one is said to have passed from one to another stage are also fairly universal.

The key idea in Erikson’s theory is that the individual faces a conflict at each stage, which may or may not be successfully resolved within that stage. According to Erikson, although there is a predominant issue at each stage, the stages are not watertight. Issues of one stage overlap with issues of another; how one has dealt with earlier issues determines how one will resolve later issues. Most important, there is a connection between present patterns of thinking and feeling, and earlier unresolved or resolved developmental issues.

So in regards to the ballet’s progress in this extreme financial upheaval, I am cautiously optimistic. Like Obama..  Anyone can go as far as their work ethic and imagination can take them!  That is why art and imagination is crucial part of our lives, because it is some piece of us, and what a poor life without it.” Art is necessary in life, as it helps us to deal with everyday ordinariness. “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”

 I thank all of the supporters who have sent CBT contributions at the end of 2008. I  appreciate all volunteers who have supported getting all the mailings out.  We are climbing toward our fundraising goal but there is still almost a third of the way to go.   Don’t forget about us…  Attend upcoming shows are the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour which begin next weekend, buy a table at the Oscar Gala, join us at the CSO/CBT Collaboration night, and bring children to see Snow White.

 With that imagination and lots of sweat – we live voraciously even in hard financial times and we can pledge an existence will never be boring or bleak.  

I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Holiday Wishes from the Choreographer

 

Dear CBT Friends,

 Charleston is blessed to have its own professional ballet company — a fact that is readily evident when other cities pay to import Charleston Ballet Theatre in for performances of the holiday favorite.

Charleston Ballet Theatre is nationally acclaimed, and locally revered.  We are proud to be an ambassador of the Lowcountry as well as  a source of great pride and entertainment for the people who call South Carolina a home. From the creative inspiration and artistic soul of the Company, to the dancers whose artistry and talent have awed cities as far North as Caribou, Maine and as far South as Miami, Florida: Charleston Ballet Theatre brings a soaring standard of excellence to the cultural landscape of our community.

 Both the Nutcracker and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas  are over and Now- I am home, frantically buying gifts, standing in line at Pak Mail to send gifts home and abroad, and hopefully getting Choura and Zorina’s picture with Santa. If you’re like most Americans, you’ll probably be shopping the day before Christmas The mere thought of spending a perfectly good afternoon in a windowless maze of overpriced chain stores, overrun with harried shoppers and “ho-ho-ing” elves simply petrifies me.  Season greetings from me therefore will land via internet lines.  !

The dream in our 21th Anniversary Season is our company would grow in ways to simplify life, both at work and at home. CBT made those huge changes last spring and this fall, with the goal of creative perfection driving us all.  We share more of our days with our supporters and friends, in the most pleasant ways.  We welcome back former veteran dancer Janet Meister to the administrative team , as well as all the wonderful CBT Board Members, and new company members!

We are proud to say that Charleston Ballet Theatre is a company that most communities can only dream about. The brilliance of the ballet is your gift; but, it is also your charge. To have a top-ranked organization takes the commitment of many people and a caring community with the passion and dedication to support it.

 Please consider your personal contribution before the end of the 2008 year to help the ballet company make its $170,000 goal. Consider playing your part in making us shine. In addition to many types of memberships, there are many specialized giving opportunities to support CBT, including sponsoring programs, underwriting new ballets, and participating in special events.

 It takes more than great dancers to make a great dance company. It takes the dedication and support of people like you. Without you, much of what we do would not be possible.  Thank you for all that you do for as we celebrate our 21th Anniversary Season.  I leave you with this beautiful quote from CBT Guild Member, Connie Granza:

Art always suffers in hard economic times; yet, the amazing irony is that it is the most beautiful reminder that the human spirit prevails over despair. If only we can act to preserve the best healer for a broken world.

 Please mail your contribution to:

Charleston Ballet Theatre

477 King Street

Charleston SC 29403

 

or visit our website www.charlestonballet.org  to make your contribution online at our secure website. 

 

 See you in the New Year!!!

Don, Patty and I wish you and your loved ones all the best !

 

Jill Eathorne Bahr, Resident Choreographer

 

Charleston Ballet Theatre

 

                     

What Do I want for Christmas? … KEEP OUR DANCERS DANCING

$270,000 fundraising goal of which $180,000 is needed immediately by Dec. 31, 2008

 Charleston Ballet Theatre is a vital cultural asset to the community and contributes to the quality of life in Charleston and the Lowcountry.  The current economic crisis we are experiencing has created a significant shortfall of $270,000 for the company of which $180,000 needs your immediate attention and support to maintain the Charleston Ballet Theatre. The projected immediate shortfall we must fulfill has a deadline of Dec. 31st, 2008.

Usually at this time of year we are in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the “Giving Season,” a time when many nonprofits receive the majority of their donations, and are wistfully looking forward to some free time when we can reflect on the activities of the past year and craft our goals for the coming year. But this year, we have a new concern—the global financial meltdown and the impact it will have on the nonprofit sector. I think it is too early to tell if nonprofits will be adversely affected this year. It seems unlikely that we won’t. On the other hand, Giving USA Foundation has written that donations continue to increase year after year, even in bad times, and I certainly believe we should never underestimate the generosity of Americans. At the moment, though, this downturn appears different from others we have experienced in our lifetime. It seems deeper and more widespread, affecting every aspect of our economy. It feels as if some fundamental beliefs about government, regulation, and many of our institutions may forever be changed.

The future of the ballet is contingent upon the meeting of this important goal. We need your help to make that happen and to secure the vitality of this wonderful performing arts organization. As one of the creative leaders of the company, I have created a personal target of $50,000 to raise for the ballet by reaching out to my own network of friends and colleagues.  And for your  gift I  offer to you my promises to scale the company in accordance with this current financial climate

Several guarantees come to mind:

Leading a team through tough times calls for similarly open and frequent communication from the top. People need to know that leadership has a handle on the problem and a plan to address it. We promise to let you know where we stand, what the organization’s prospects are, how and if they change, and what you can do to help .

We promise taking immediate action: to manage costs aggressively; to do away with nice-to-haves (both because they are easily expendable and because of the signal it sends to the whole organization); and to delay undertaking new initiatives. It also entails developing explicit contingency plans, as waiting to get specific until the wolf really is at the door will not make the choices any easier, but it will sharply increase the likelihood that the available options will be fewer and more strict.

I also know the push for transparency and accountability will pick up speed. With fewer dollars available to support nonprofit activity, individual, corporate, and foundation donors will be under increased pressure to invest their money wisely, in organizations doing the best work and having the highest impact. Transparency is already a given for most donors. Now the demand for demonstrating and measuring effectiveness will move front and center.

Coupled with the move to effectiveness, I promise we are considering new ways to operate more efficiently. We’ll need to challenge our assumptions about how we deliver services. There will be increased emphasis on mergers, partnerships, and outsourcing. We’ll be challenged to justify our way of doing things like never before. This is why initial talks began with our sister organizations, Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Charleston Stage.

Finally, these challenges to us offer exciting opportunities for rebirth. The needs of our society are significantly different from what they were when many of our organizations were created. How can we redesign ourselves to be more responsive to today’s world? This new opportunity to break old habits and structures, coupled with a recommitment to public service inspired by the Obama administration, leads me to hope that 2009 could become one of the most important years ever in the history of the nonprofit sector, increasing our roles, responsibilities, and impact in American society

 For that reason, I am writing to ask you to either renew, or start, your own personal commitment to securing the dancers future.

I know this is not an easy time for me to ask you for financial commitments to Charleston Ballet Theatre  All of us our dealing with an increased cost of living, while at the same time many of our retirement accounts or other means of savings have been hard-hit by the global economic crisis.

“We need you to help us keep the stage filled with the magic, the vitality and the other-worldly escapism live professional ballet and dance brings to us all. We need you to help us maintain our educational outreach programs so that the next generation of artists and patrons can continue to enrich their lives and the lives of others. Make the choice to keep us alive…not just for this year, but for many more years to come.”

 The best present you could give me this season is your financial support of this vital “crown jewel” in the Lowcountry. To simplify your contribution here is a direct link where you can make a donation that is meaningful to you. 

http://www.charlestonballet.com

I’d like to close with a thought from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address. I find these words as inspiring today as they must have been to an America in the grips of the Great Depression in 1933:

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

 

 

CBT’s Habit-forming Holiday Tradition

In a lot of ways, “The Nutcracker” is the Holy Grail when it comes to ballet. Not only does it contain all the artistry of other, lesser-known works, but it is the one ballet that is almost guaranteed to draw a crowd. “The average father won’t go to ‘Giselle, “But he will take his family to ‘The Nutcracker.’”

“The Nutcracker” has been described as the ballet that dancers love to hate. Its incessant Christmastime presence drove one oversaturated critic to open his review with: “Well, we are all one ‘Nutcracker’ nearer death.” Ah, the holidays. For so many Nutcracker devotees, the two hours spent each Christmas with Maria and her candy land fantasies is an event to look forward to. Like Santa, it only comes one night a year. But for the dancers who can chart their Nutcracker evolution from high school auditoriums to 3,000-seat opera houses, the ballet represents not one magical journey each December but many, many trips, over and over again. This winter, a dancer may log anywhere from a dozen performances over a few weekends to 45 shows over a five-week period. How do these professionals deal with the familiarity some would say tedium–of a ballet that many have been performing annually their whole lives? Love for the art aside, when you’re faced with a giant mouse suit for the sixth day in a row, you start looking for creative ways to cope. I have to admit I have seen the occasional booty dance in the wings before “Waltz of the Flowers” to get dancers going.

I do always remember.   It’s a delightful thing, really, for children,” “It’s just like when you take them to the zoo and you delight in their response.”  So why does “The Nutcracker” endure? For audiences, it’s tradition – an instant dose of holiday spirit for the whole family. The eye-catching fantasy story is many children’s first exposure to ballet; it’s also an opportunity for young dancers to perform.” Just compare the tradition to other holiday mainstays:  I ask you – why do you pull out those same Christmas albums every year?”

So Dad..  Join us with your whole family.  I will be in the back audience left calling the show.. Stop by and say hello. !