The Art of the Turnaround by Kaiser Michael M.;

Author:Kaiser, Michael M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brandeis University Press

MARKETING

Taken together, the Studio Company, the summer camps, the new repertory, the exhibition, the new tours, Make a Ballet, and the City Center season created a completely different impression of ABT by 1998 than existed in 1995. While previously ABT simply danced at the Met and did some touring, now it was a much fuller and richer organization. The new financial position, with its roots in the Peter T. Joseph Challenge and the Mellon grant, completed the picture of a healthier, more vibrant organization.

If we were to sustain this new image, however, we needed to re-think the marketing of the organization as well. Bob Pontarelli had been marketing director at ABT since 1980. He had lived through the heady days of the Baryshnikov era and had suffered through the lean years. Bob and I thought alike about what was needed: a full-scale ramp up of our national marketing efforts with a focus on the new programs at ABT and, especially, a focus on the new crop of principal dancers, especially the new male dancers, at ABT.

I have long believed that despite Balanchine's statement that “Dance is woman,” male dancers sell a great many ballet tickets. And ABT had men. Julio Bocca, José Carreno, Vladimir Malakhov, Angel Corella, and Maxim Belotserkovsky were all at ABT when I arrived. Shortly thereafter, Ethan Stiefel joined the company. It was an astonishing group.

Of course the men needed women to partner. If our women were less remarked upon at ABT it is simply that many had been with the company for years. They were not news. Susan Jaffe, a dear friend, was ABT's senior ballerina. She had undergone a transformation in recent years, adding depth of characterization to her prodigious technique. Nina Ananiashvili and Alex Ferri were both world-class ballerinas who spent too little time with the company. Julie Kent developed into a first-rate dancing actress; I would place her Juliet against any other.

I was disappointed that my tenure did not coincide with Amanda McKerrow's happiest days. She suffered a series of injuries that prevented her from performing very often during my tenure. It was a joy to see her back in prime form after I left the company. There were so many other wonderful dancers at ABT—it was an honor to support them in their work.

The talent and diversity of our principal dancers gave Bob Pontarelli the ammunition he needed to develop a new and dynamic marketing program for ABT. The central feature was to focus on the new stars of ABT. One example: the radio advertisements we used for our Metropolitan Opera seasons had a background voice reading the names of the principal dancers. It was a not-so-subtle reminder of the renewed star power at ABT. This was controversial. Focusing on some people excludes others. There were hurt feelings, but it was essential to get the public talking about ABT's dancers once again and to get our audience to go several times to the same ballet to enjoy different casts.

We also changed the images we used.

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