RATHER BE IN OMAHA

I would like to applaud Martin Bernheimer for helping to bring to public attention a problem that the community of Los Angeles cannot seem to reconcile (“Balletic Blight Still Plagues L.A.,” Oct. 16).

The lack of a major ballet company in a city of this size is a travesty. With no disrespect to Omaha, how can they support a company and we cannot? Young dancers such as myself are forced to leave and find employment elsewhere.

Bernheimer only touched briefly on the possible reasons for this gap in our arts triumvirate. Part of the reason is a lack of suitable space. Rent within Los Angeles drives many companies out of the city to rehearse, and they are therefore not a true part of the community. Suitable performance spaces are also at a premium.

Another problem is our media, which help to force-feed the movies as the primary art to us and starve us of information related to the talent within the city.

KENNETH WALKER

Dancer, Sacramento Ballet

Torrance

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While I am not the most learned dance devotee, I enjoy being able to see some of the great companies our country has to offer.

Bernheimer’s commentary doesn’t even seem to make logical sense when in one paragraph he says that “Costa Mesa impresarios--past and present--deserve credit for keeping the spark alive” and in the very next paragraph he berates James Doolittle as a “veteran huckster-hypester sponsor” for previously bringing Los Angeles County some of the very same companies: American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey and the Kirov, to name a few.

I think you should retire Bernheimer and let him see what he can bring to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

LYNN WANLASS

West Hollywood

Wanlass is a secretary to James Doolittle.