Byelorussian Ballet Trying to Pick Up Pieces of Botched Tour

With its 18 tons of sets, costumes and equipment sitting in four huge container cartons on Pier 234 at the Port of Long Beach, the management of the Byelorussian Ballet of Minsk is trying to pick up the pieces of its canceled Los Angeles and San Diego tour.

Already in the red “about $911,000” in advance advertising and booking fees, according to the tour management, costs could still mount for equipment storage.

In Long Beach harbor, Phil Pouncil, import manager of All Nations Forwarding, which is holding the company’s sets and costumes, said: “We are trying to move as quickly as possible on this, so the client will not have to pay more.

“After 10 days, extra charges will be added, and we would like to minimize the cost for the shipper. We’re attempting to have customs charges of $4,000 waived, since the cartons, which cleared customs on Nov. 27. are going to be shipped straight back to Russia. Our import laws specify that charges can be waived if the nature of entry is changed.”

Originally scheduled to open in San Diego Civic Theatre Dec. 3 and then in Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on its U.S. debut, the 150-member troupe never left Minsk.

According to J. B. Uberoi, chairman of International Cultural Promotions, Ltd., of Bangkok, Thailand, the company canceled its tour last Friday when entry visas were held up because the company had not filed work permits through its presenters in San Diego and Los Angeles.

“We had simply not been told we had to file those,” Uberoi said. “When we tried to do so, we came up against the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We want patrons to know they were not conned. This is a real company, the No. 3 company of the Soviet Union, and it has never canceled a tour in its history.

“We will attempt to bring the company back in some future season,” said Uberoi. “In its 73-year history, it has never canceled a tour. And the company has traveled all over Europe for many years.”

Thursday, a State Department official confirmed that the failure to file work permits was the reason visas were denied.

Uberoi returned to Bangkok Wednesday night, according to his daughter and associate, Rasina Uberoi, who told The Times on Thursday that there was “absolutely no connection between ticket sales and the cancellation.”