Petition Tag - ballet

February 15, 2004 (RENEWED August 5, 2012)

CURRENTS REVISIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. INTERESTING THAT MOST OF THE PETITION STILL APPLIES EIGHT YEARS LATER.

New York City Ballet has been the resident ballet company during July at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center since the amphitheater was built.

George Balanchine, NYCB's founder, was instrumental in designing the facility and Saratoga Springs, New York, has been called, officially, "The Summer Home Of The New York City Ballet." Not only does the three-week (NOW REDUCED TO ONE WEEK) residency bring a much-needed cultural richness to this upstate New York area, it brings in many dollars that help to support the local economy.

The current Board of Directors of the Performing Arts Center has arbitrarily (and short-sightedly) decided TO CUT TO ONE-WEEK the Company's residency in Saratoga Springs after 2012. The rationale is that the bottom line for the Performing Arts Center is adversely affected by the small audience attendance (AND THE IMPOSSIBLE FEES CHARGED) for NYCB.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is a Not-for-Profit organization. With a one-year extension of the agreement between the Performing Arts Center and New York City Ballet, sufficient funds could be raised to cover the disparity in cost and make the NYCB residency financially viable. (IT IS NOW EIGHT YEARS LATER AND HAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.)

MOST OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 2004 STATE AUDIT HAVE NOT BEEN INSTITUTED, INCLUDING, VERY IMPORTANTLY, THE HIRING OF A PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISER TO LOCATE INFLUENTIAL DONORS BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE LOCAL AREA.

Please let your legislators (along with the Board of Directors of the Performing Arts Center) know that you would like for them to PERFORM ANOTHER AUDIT OF SPAC AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION THERE WHEN COMPARED TO SIMILAR VENUES, AND TO extend this residency AND WORK TOWARD MAKING IT FINANCIALLY VIABLE.

Please confine your comments and discussion to arguments that will help to bring about a positive change, one hopes, in which all of us will win.

Thank you.

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Hammersmith & Fulham Council have announced within the past few months that they wish to sell several community buildings to raise cash to pay off debt. In early July 2010, the Council wrote to the Village Hall (in Bulwer Street, just off Wood Lane in Shepherd's Bush) saying that the Village Hall might be seen as "surplus to requirements" and that it could be sold with a few months. The letter stated that the Council had this stance: "Our priority has to be people not buildings."

Community Groups have used the Village Hall (ground floor) for decades, and the Shepherd's Bush Families Project uses the first floor to support families at risk. The Project has also suffered a cut in its grant from the Council.

A consultation document states: "Alternative accommodation will be identified for the Children’s Centre and users of the ground floor community hall will be provided with information on alternative sites for hire in the borough. However, with extensive space to be available over the Edward Woods and NDC Hub sites, there is not a strong business case to also retain 58 Bulwer Street for 3rd sector premises use."

Alternative spaces could be beyond reach for many residents who use the Village Hall. Dates and times are set and groups would have to find a slot in the timetable for much busier centres (called "hubs").

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Hello! We are a group of grade sixes from the National Ballet School. All of our dreams are to become a ballet dancer. The National Ballet School is trying to build a new school for the staff and students, but are short of money. We are trying to raise a total of 56 million dollars.

We are competing with the ROM and an Art Gallery for money from the government. We really need this. Our current school's change rooms are disgusting. They have rats, ants, cockroaches, and the tiles are coming off. Once this year there was an over flow of sewage that leaked onto the floor. The cafeteria is very small. There are 150 students in our school, and there is only about 10 tables in the cafeteria (only 4 people are allowed to a table). The classrooms are very old. People who have allergies struggle to concentrate (e.g. mold). The bathrooms are filled with spiders. IT'S DISGUSTING!!

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