Big Names in Ballet

Regarding “Starless Nights,” Diane Haithman’s March 10 article about whether ballet companies can survive without big-name performers:

It was surprisingly naive for a writer in Los Angeles (film studios here perfected the manufacture of stars) to focus on the commercial exploitation of star performers but to ignore the creation of these public personalities.

Jane Hermann, American Ballet Theatre’s executive director, expects to get her audiences to pay money to “fall in love with somebody on the stage.” That attitude may have worked in the pre-television era when going to a live theatrical event was a common occurance and through repeated viewings audiences could develop favorite stars.

But today’s audiences are no longer willing to go through courtship with an unknown artist. Unless that personality is seen, heard and talked about on prime-time TV, he will remain anonymous to a mass audience from which new support for dance, music and other arts will come.

Baryshnikov’s and Nureyev’s stardom did not happen from talent alone or interviews in Calendar. It was won through front-page exposure in Time, People, and the National Enquirer and on “The Tonight Show” and “Entertainment Tonight.”

If potential ballet stars are unwilling or unable to accomplish this, then an organization such as ABT must risk a substantial part of its budget to commit to long-term contracts with talented artists and then to spend even more on pushing them through the media’s publicity mill.

JANUS PURINS

Los Angeles