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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Texas Ballet Theater holding fundraiser

By Kevin Buchanan of West and Clear

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The Texas Ballet Theater, headquartered here in Fort Worth and the region’s only professional ballet group, is in some serious financial trouble. TBT needs between $1 and $1.5 million dollars in the next two months, or they may have to shut down. Tonight at 5:00 PM in front of Bass Performance Hall, the TBT will announce the Get Behind Your Ballet fundraising drive.

A friend of mine who has attended several TBT performances had this to say in a recent posting on the Fort Worth Forum:

I have attended several of the company’s productions over the past few years and have always been very impressed. That a company of such caliber is based here in Fort Worth is definitely something the city ought to be very proud of - and for those who enjoy bragging rights, for almost 20 years now, a professional ballet company is something that Dallas has not had but Fort Worth has. For obvious reasons, the company, in recent years, has sought to fill that void in Dallas by having performances there in addition to its performances in Fort Worth. But, despite its Dallas presence, according to recent news articles, 75 percent of the company’s donor base is in Fort Worth.



It would be a huge loss for quality, local live entertainment options if the company were to fold - and it would take many, many years, if ever, for another one to be formed and rebuilt to take its place.


Pegasus News content partner - West and Clear

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Comments

jtmbls

jtmbls Anonymous

Interesting. I attended a performance of Cleopatra by this ballet company a couple years ago and swore them off ever since. I hate to judge so harshly, but my friends and I sat giggling in the audience for nearly the entire performance. I think I will save my $ for Casa Manana.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice

Jason Rice Verified

Oh, fine, jtmbls. You'll travel to the southwest end of creation.... ::sigh:: ... why must you alway break my heart?

Yeah, the scuttle around town on their straits is pretty harrowing. The Classics goes out in Plano, these guys are hurting, man, it really puts a serious damper on the optimistic enthusiasm you have to muster each minute of any publicly visible art venture. I really need a good vice to take the edge off.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

jtmbls

jtmbls Anonymous

The Texas Ballet will be in Plano or are you talking about another company?

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice

Jason Rice Verified

you are merciless.

i weep.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

jtmbls

jtmbls Anonymous

Sorry Jason. Couldn't resist. Will try to be nice.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice

Jason Rice Verified

no. no. i'll be fine.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

phatjester2 Anonymous

Howdy

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

phatjester2 Anonymous

jtmbls Hi thank you for buying a ticket and giggling for nearly the entire performance at one of my shows. Now I know why I was distracted and twisted my ankle that night. I'm sorry that you can not understand and appreciate the beauty and subtleties of ballet. Yes sometimes it is easier to enjoy a show when there are words and silly songs that you can sing along with. No matter what you think about ballet or my company please just realize that all arts organizations feed off one another. Just so you know Casa Manana and other theater troupes in the area get performers from Texas Ballet Theater. (the company you think is so funny) I myself have done a large number of shows with Casa in my off seasons and I am not the only TBT dancer to do so. I understand that Ballet is not for everyone and I do not expect everyone to be a fan. (It's called art! you might love Picasso but I like Monet it does not mean one is better than the other we just appreciate different things) Please remember that in order for the cities of Fort Worth and Dallas to have thriving arts communities that we need more than one theater group or one opera. With out a ballet the symphony, Casa, the opera, and other arts organizations will not be as successful. And I do not like the idea of only looking at Picasso.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice

Jason Rice Verified

::you might love Picasso but I like Monet it does not mean one is better than the other

But what if we could convince people it DID? Imagine the profit! Monet, Picasso, and Renoir jerseys, hats, helmets, skateboards - all selling at twice retail. Imagine the "Fantasy Gallery Leagues" where people vie for position at "Virtual Sothesby's" and terabytes of forums and blogs based merely on arbitrary preferences - maybe color palettes, maybe presumed influences - lead people to wholesale fanaticism.

Then the performing arts get in on the rivalry. Themed products swarm the back to school aisles as teen agers wrangle mom back to the "Casa Manana" hip-huggers and weasel in a "Circle Theater" backpack - "because Amber has one," disdainfully refusing the Steppenwolf iPod case "because they're out of town and have lost their edginess."

But, no. ABC runs a season ender of Lost and the theater is empty enough to hear the concession stand ice melting. Your lead actor probably calls in sick to watch it.

Just be glad you got "Tumbles" out. Most of us can't ::sniffle::

I really hope you guys pull it out. As falls Ballet, so falls the Performing Arts.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

jtmbls

jtmbls Anonymous

phat - First of all, you are welcome. I did buy three tickets actually and do have a very deep appreciation for the ballet. It is not often that I get to splurge and go to a performance. Believe me, I was just as appalled at our behavior as you clearly are now. But honestly, we could not help it. In TBTs defense, it may very well have been just the fact that it was Cleopatra. I thought it would be interesting to see how a culture that is usually represented in very rigid forms would translate to such a fluid medium as ballet. My impression - It didn't work. Too much was lost and I'm sorry, but it was comical at times. I at least expected a more refined interpretation than the standard King Tut move over and over and over again. I didn't mean to imply that there was a lack of quality in the dancers, but more a lack of imagination in the production itself. As I said, I have only seen one performance. It just wasn't enough to move me. Best of luck to you all though.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

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