L.A. AND BALLET

Lewis Segal’s extremely negative commentary (“Hometown Ballet? Dream On,” July 28) was nothing more than “ballet bashing” based on last year’s flash in the pan of the so-called “L.A. Ballet.”

That incident was at best an unrealistic attempt to create an instant balletic empire for one John Clifford. What was perhaps the last hurrah for an egomaniac cannot be seen as an indication that there is no ballet audience in Los Angeles. On the contrary, there is a huge classical ballet audience in L.A. and they attend an abundance of performances.

The ultimate challenge for “hometown ballet” in Los Angeles is the magic combination of business acumen and artistic integrity, something not yet attained by the dozen or so attempts to build a company over the past 60 years.

If I may be so bold to state, the Los Angeles Classical Ballet has proven its devotion to the achievement of that end and--contrary to what Segal would have you believe--has accomplished more than any other home-grown ballet company in L.A. history. And we have only just begun, thank you.

DAVID WILCOX

Artistic Director, Los Angeles

Classical Ballet, Long Beach