Carabosse

Carabosse

A few weeks ago while on tour in the US, I was seated waiting for a meeting with the Artistic Director of a major American company. As I waited, his  secretary or assistant began chatting with me as if shed known me forever, although we had just met. I like talking, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it quite a bit actually, but I’ve never been the one for “small talk”; it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t know the “small talk” codes or what to do with them when directed at me. Nevertheless, I must confess, in this opportunity I tried my best to keep up and learnt a fair number of things, which I suspected but didn’t quite know up to then.

Mrs. Smith (lets give her this name for the sake of protecting her identity) was a very special woman yet not for that reason clever or good hearted although she pretended or thought to be. What surprised me the most was that although se had been working in that office and for the same ballet boss for at least the last ten years, (which she made clear by constantly adding this segment of her bio into every other sentence she uttered) appeared to  have no real thoughts of her own, surely no decency and certainly no loyalty at all.

During the course of her, what appeared never ending monologue, (which only lasted between six to eight minutes or the time I was kept waiting for the Director to see me) she was able to not only destroy her boss´s artistic career and vision, policy making, and identify his decision making as null, but also had the “charm” of openly discussing his sexual escapades and preferences not to mention his recent credit history as if talking about her worst enemy and not about the man she is hired to serve and assist and who pays a handsome salary that puts food every night on her table.

Impressed, yet not yet shocked I listened with some sort of interest (sexual stories about escapades and mishaps are usually fun if not funny) until she suddenly crossed the line of all decency in my book.

I am no angel my self, never have been, never pretended to be and it is very unlikely I ever will be, but I do know how to respect and honor the biggest asset a company and for this matter the Ballet World posses: The Dancers. It is in the instant in which dancers are wrongfully talked about and/or disrespected in any way or form that I draw my own line, and this is precisely what Mrs. Smith made me do.

I realized, not without horror, that as she went on an on with her soliloquy she was very freely going over and revising Curriculum Vitae of dancers who were applying for a job with the company and discarding the ones “she” (the secretary!) found not fit for the job. Not in a few occasions did she make unneeded and may I say insolent remarks after reading a few sentences of a CV and before throwing it to the trash. Not in a few occasions did she mock photos and how they were taken; some names she could not pronounce were laughed about and some physical appearances poked fun at (although she was fat and smelled a bit herself). She strangely enough had very few good things (to put it mildly) to say about the Latin applicants not knowing that I am Latin myself or about a few a bit older potential candidates who would’ve certainly been an interesting artistic or example assets for the company.

As I began feeling my blood boil and my eyes turn red with anger I was fortunate (or she was) that the office door opened and the Artistic Director very nicely called me in… needless to say I didn’t hear of and from (or smelled) Mrs. Smith again.

***

You see them in every company in the planet from Santiago to New York and from London to Sydney (normally in the office next to or in front of the Artistic Director’s); you have to hear their nonsense before some company classes and/or in some general rehearsals if they are bold enough to give it; you are forced to face them in every premier or premier party normally well dressed and terribly out of shape. They are normally ballet freaks, they think they know everything there is to know about the art form (and many do) yet have never stood next to a barre or on stage in their lives. They speak freely about everything and nothing at all and worst of all they dictatorially make choices which not only can but do damage the ballet World and all in it not even blinking or giving it a second instant of thought. Normally insecure to the core and power hungry these people are modern day Rasputins who desire the executive post but have not the mind, artistic foresight  or integrity to attain it.

It is not that I despise these kinds of beings; it is only that when I look in to their empty eyes I see nothing in them that represent not even in a fraction what I consider ballet should be about.

I know that I might appear to be naïve in many of my writings but I do still believe that things not only “could” but “should” be done better in our World, the World of ballet. I’ve written many a time about dancers and choreographers and styles and artistic views and definitions, reasons and likes and dislikes. Nevertheless we ought to consider as well that in the same way as we have healthy and toned dancers and giving and generous artists we must also have accountable, responsible and dependable offices that manage the environment they thrive in.

This is a call not only to the Mrs. Smiths out there asking them to be more responsible with their doings, but also to the Artistic Directors who hire these people empowering them to achieve certain statuses and decision powers they should not, if not prepared, enjoy. Politically speaking and just to clarify my point need it be: responsibility should rely on the head of state not on his secretaries or handlers, although they should support the decision-making strategies and goal setting each and any head of state might envision and pursue.

The fact of choosing a good managerial team, and I am not speaking about the tedious and inefficient “micro management” but about the good ol´style “meat and potatoes” management is just as important as selecting the best available dancers, the most competent ballet masters, coaches, and effective repertoire. He or she who leads therefore who chooses must do so with a clear mind and basing their choice on who the best candidate to accomplish such or such a job will be. Lets have loyal staff, lets be loyal to our staff and lets be loyal to our art form, to the same art form that pays our salaries and puts food on the table every night… 

Lets not slack off by being afraid of firing the bad apple because it is easier not to do so, lets not slack off because there are certain verdicts better left untaken, lets not be afraid of giving the right job to the right people, to he or she who is better prepared and not better connected, lets not be fearful of changing our cabinet when it becomes rusty and not efficient, lets not fear change when change is good, lets not forget that old statutes only demoralize and freeze growth, and lets not be afraid of loving what we do and who we do it with… only then will we flourish from the core, from the essence, and only then will our dancers our own people shine brighter during and at the end of every show... but then again, who is to say if the rose is greater than the thorn…

By: Paul Seaquist