Ballet Chicago’s Close Call
Rumors were spreading swiftly late last week about a possible shutdown at Ballet Chicago due to a money shortage. But over the weekend new funds came in from members of the troupe’s board of directors and other friends of the organization, and a conference call between members of the board’s executive committee on Monday resulted in a decision to continue operating, at least for now. “We are moving forward,” says general manager Colleen Lober.
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The question of whether Chicago could support a full-blown ballet company has remained unanswered ever since artistic director Daniel Duell created the company out of the ashes of prima ballerina Maria Tallchief’s Chicago City Ballet in 1988. Since its inception Ballet Chicago has lurched from one administrative upheaval to the next while struggling to build repertoire and an audience base. The board of directors erred repeatedly in the early days by bringing in high-priced management executives who were just plain incompetent or who lacked passion for the dance. Part of the problem may also have been Duell’s tendency to favor the cold, precise repertoire of George Balanchine. A source close to the company thinks Balanchine may have been too abstract for some audiences: “This is a town where you have a very unsophisticated audience for dance.” Perhaps sensing a need to broaden the troupe’s appeal, Duell brought in choreographer Gordon Peirce Schmidt in fall 1990. Schmidt’s By Django remains one of the company’s most charming and accessible pieces.
The Natives Are Friendly, but They Don’t Know Much About Soccer
Last week at the Illinois Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus retreat, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism quietly unveiled a new advertising campaign. Created by the Chicago office of Ogilvy & Mather and set to debut as early as March, the new campaign will, in marketing parlance, seek to “brand” specific regions of the state. Southern Illinois, for example, will be sold as the Illinois Ozarks, while the region along the Mississippi River will be advertised as the Great River Road and central Illinois will be marketed as the Illinois Heritage District.
