CALIFORNIA BALLET FACES CRISIS OF COMPETITION, DIRECTOR SAYS

In a letter to patrons dated Feb. 13, Maxine Mahon, director of the California Ballet, invoked a passionate appeal.

“It is with great concern and desperate feelings that I write this letter,” Mahon said. “The future of the California Ballet--school and company--is in serious danger . . . Even our annual ‘Nutcracker’ is in jeopardy . . . I am literally begging for whatever help you can muster to save us from the disaster that could possibly befall us (in March).”

The Ides of March, as Mahon sees it, may mark a turning point. Her own company performs “Coppelia” on March 14 and 15, less than a fortnight before another San Diego performance by Mikhail Baryshnikov’s American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

Ticket sales for “Coppelia” are not going well, and Mahon blames, in part, the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts, which books touring dance companies and is sponsoring the ABT.

“People say more (dance) companies coming in is enlightening and wonderful and good for the city,” Mahon said. “I say there’s a mistaken thought there. People say competition is good for the city. It ain’t necessarily so. In the arts, in San Diego, we’re nearing a saturation point--a breaking point.”

“I don’t view it as competition,” said Diane Annala, director of the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts. “There’s a dance audience in this town that never existed before we started (in 1982). People go to see our groups because they are name groups. They have a good experience, they want to know more about dance, then they go to the locals as well.

“I’ve heard some people say that in the years we’ve been here, the performances of the California Ballet Company have improved markedly. There must be something to that.”

Asked specifically whether her company is in danger of folding, Mahon sighed and said, “Always.”

She hastened to add, “I don’t believe in crying wolf every month like the (San Diego) Symphony does. But I look at our bank account, and it’s always less than $1,000, then lo and behold I get a $5,000 check from somebody. The check hasn’t come this month, but in the past it always has. God must want us to survive, because so far we have. But our support is no more than sugar water. It’s just never enough to make us strong.”

Virginia Chasey, president of the board of trustees of the California Ballet Assn., said a need for greater support is predicated on rising costs. She said the upcoming run of “Coppelia” (two matinees and one evening performance) will cost about $120,000. She said the organization has a deficit of $100,000, which she hopes can be reduced through ticket sales.

She denied, however, that the company might fold.

“Absolutely not,” she said, predicting that 1988--the company’s 20th year--will be “its best ever,” with performances of “Dracula,” “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake,” as well as a possible appearance at the arts festival of the ’88 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Chasey admitted that touring companies “are a real threat to us. In San Diego’s desire to be a cosmopolitan city, we’re emerging as nothing more than a tour stop, often to the detriment of local groups.

“We’re not opposed to other ballet companies coming in,” she said. “My goodness, no. We want to see the very best come here. But we have to pay attention to scheduling to make sure local groups aren’t hurt. We have to make people understand we want San Diego to be a creator and producer of art, not just a consumer of art. We can have both, but we must work together.”

Annala said “I applaud Chasey’s comments,” adding that booking the ABT, the Joffrey Ballet and various modern troupes often comes down to one date two years ahead of time. She’s now booking a March 1989 appearance by the ABT.

“The flexibility of moving a date is more their option (the California Ballet’s) than it is ours,” she said.

Chasey disagreed, saying California Ballet often books Civic Theatre dates four to five years ahead of time. Mahon said she tried to reschedule “Coppelia” but couldn’t.

Mahon scored the print media in San Diego for “lack of support,” saying the reputation of the California Ballet as little more than a student dance troupe makes her furious.

“Some of our dancers have left major companies to come here,” she said. “Maybe they felt the quality of such companies was surface only. Maybe they hated the art director. Some don’t like a professional schedule, where you’re tossed on a bus and performed to death, where there’s never adequate rehearsal time. Many have passed up a livable wage to dance for us in San Diego.”

She listed these members as having professional credentials:

--Charles Bennett, associate director, formerly of the American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet.

--Principal dancers Denise Dabrowski danced one season with the Joffrey Ballet and Karen Evans, a graduate of San Diego State University, danced two seasons with the Louisville, Ky., Ballet.

--This season’s guest artists include Michael Aurer, who came from Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Stephen Hook, an eight-year member of American Ballet Theatre.

--Soloist Patrick Nollet is co-founder and co-director of the Three’s Company dance troupe. Soloist William George has danced with a number of professional companies, including the New York City Ballet.

Mahon claimed that out of 22 resident dancers, only four are students of the California Ballet School; the others are professionals.

“What’s wrong with having students on the back line?” she asked angrily. “Every major company does it. They couldn’t exist without it. A ballet company without a school--without students--is a joke. The Bolshoi or the Kirov couldn’t operate without a school. By constantly saying we’re a student company . . . Well, we’re not. We have a budget of half a million dollars. Instead of people having pride in the school, they hold it against us.”

Mahon, 46, describes herself as a fifth-generation San Diegan whose greatest asset is “stubbornness--I don’t give up.” She was “the original number one dancer” with the San Diego Ballet, which started in 1958 and folded several years ago. She later left the company, a move that “filled a lot of people with anger.

“Ever since, it’s been like I’ve had a scarlet ‘A’ on my forehead,” she said. “San Diego Ballet had the media and the socialites in its back pocket. No one expected us to survive, but we did. They didn’t. There was a time when San Diego Ballet was after my blood, very, very negative behavior at one time. I look back on it and realize I just ignored it. We just kept on doing our own little thing.”

To keep doing what it is they do, Chasey said, the California Ballet needs immediate improvement in group sales, which have recently suffered sharp drops.

“Maybe we’re just not doing a good enough marketing job,” she said.

In words Annala echoed, Chasey called Mahon a “talented, very dedicated woman who combines a fine sense of artistry with excellent business skills.”

She admitted, however, that Mahon’s strengths may not extend as well to marketing and public relations. Chasey doesn’t see that as a shortcoming.

“Maxine doesn’t have the time to devote to PR, which isn’t the same thing as not having the skill,” Chasey said. “It’s more a matter of how much can one person do. This is something the board needs to look at and soon.”