When I was Production Manager for Ballet Oregon back in the late 80′s, the company was in a sort of death spiral, which predictably ended in a merger of our company with the larger Pacific Ballet Theatre shortly after I left. To draw needed ticket revenue (and touring gigs in the hinterlands), struggling ballet companies [...]
In the spring of 1989 I was Production Manager for Ballet Oregon, and we took the sort of tour struggling regional ballet companies take: to small towns with absurdly underequipped performance halls, and me directing some local volunteers as my sole backstage help. Having only ever set up performances in the 2500-seat Civic Auditorium, where [...]
When I was in Seattle last week, I saw Pacific Northwest Ballet perform three modern ballets by Ulysses Dove and one by Victor Quijada at the beautifully renovated McCaw Hall near Seattle Center. Although I was unfamiliar with Dove’s work, I generally expect good things from PNB; it’s what’s known in the dance world as [...]
I’ll be interviewing one of the newest of the newly unemployed this evening, my buddy Aaron next door who just got laid off today, and seeing a visiting friend, Jo, from back in the old days, when I was the Production Manager at Ballet Oregon, 20-some years ago and she was our premier soloist dancer, [...]