Dancer Is Trying to Get S.D. Ballet Back on Its Feet

David Shields has a dream. The ex-Royal Ballet dancer envisions a fully professional ballet company rising from the ruins of the long-defunct San Diego Ballet.

“We’re reorganizing what used to be the San Diego Ballet,” Shields said in a recent interview. “I approached Abbe Wolfsheimer (president of the San Diego City Ballet), and told her I’d like to take over the charter and the board voted us in.

“We have no real financial backing yet, but I’m going to make an attempt to raise $400,000 to begin our first season by the end of the summer. Now, I’m starting our first fund-raising plan to support a professional company.”

Though other local ballet troupes have tried in vain to achieve full professional status, Shields is confident the time is right for a golden age of ballet in San Diego.

“Things are totally different now, almost 10 years (after the San Diego Ballet folded),” Shields said. “There’s a different attitude toward support of the arts. The area has grown by leaps and bounds. There’s very good attendance for the visiting ballet companies, and I know there are audiences for us. Judging by other arts organizations, it should be possible to raise enough money to support professional ballet in San Diego.”

But Jean Isaacs, co-artistic director of San Diego’s modern dance troupe Three’s Company, is not so optimistic.

“I’d love to think it would happen, but even with a viable product like the San Diego Ballet (in its prime), they couldn’t raise that kind of money,” Isaacs said.

California Ballet director Maxine Mahon said she shares Isaacs’ sentiments, and added, “Even if they could get it, $400,000 wouldn’t be enough to pay for a professional ballet company. But I think it would be very hard to raise money without a proven product.”

Under Shields’ plan, the newly resurrected San Diego City Ballet would begin with a company of 14 paid professionals, backed up by 20 apprentices. Shields runs a ballet school at the old San Diego Ballet studio but has no intention of using students to flesh out the new troupe--not even as an interim step.

“I want to do it this way, not the way the California Ballet has done it,” Shields said. “They have a school with one or two professional dancers. As a result, the level of professionalism never rises above the student level because as soon as the students progress, they go off to another company where they can make money.

“Dancers are being well-trained in San Diego,” Shields said, “and I definitely believe we have a lot of good dancers here. That’s very encouraging, but I’m also going to audition dancers in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.”

If Shields can pull off the fund-raising effort, he intends to start off with one 25-week season this year and grow to a year-round operation in five years.

“We won’t be doing any ‘Nutcrackers,’ ” he said, “just mixed repertory, reviving small ballet classics such as those by Balanchine and Robbins, and we’ll be doing some of my own choreography. Because of the ethnic interest here, we’ll do some Hispanic ballets, like ‘Blood Wedding’ as well.

“Each season, we’ll add more pieces to the repertory, and we’ll add one or two weeks to our season. With all arts institutions, you have to go slowly. I know which direction I want to go.”

Shields said he will follow the lead of other ballet companies and seek out corporate sponsorship. He said he is starting with a clean slate, despite the fact that the former San Diego City Ballet folded in the midst of a financial crisis.

“There are no debts,” Shields said. “They’ve either all been paid off or forgiven, and a lot of people have told me they want to support a professional ballet company.”

Though Shields concedes his present board of eight is more of a “working board than a money board,” he believes the angels will come around.

“I’m talking to people, and we’re sending out mailings now. I think the old supporters will come back. I’ll see what happens in the next month.”