The ABT Issue

Concerning “ABT Cancels L.A. Dates; Frozen Out by Joffrey?” by Lewis Segal, Dec. 20, and the Dec. 30 letter from Charles I. Schneider, chairman of the board of the Music Center Operating Co.:

I am outraged at the Music Center Operating Co. and the Joffrey Ballet in denying ABT, one of the finest ballet companies in the world, the consecutive annual engagements necessary to make practical its Los Angeles visits. That the Joffrey’s opinion is even solicited, let alone given weight, regarding who appears at this county-owned facility seems to reflect a misunderstanding and over-glorification of its status. When politics at its worst gets in the way of the arts at their best, it is the public that suffers.

KATHRYN PETERS, Marina del Rey