Testing year for ballet

Press, 16 May 1978, Page 13

Testing year for ballet

The withdrawal of support by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council created a financial emergency for the Southern Ballet Theatre last year, but it survived and looks forward to a progressive future.

Though 1977 brought a number of challenging decisions, it was also a year of steadily improving artistic and administrative performances, says the retiring chairman of the trust board (Mr Fergus Paterson) in his annual report. “For the first time we felt obliged to accept emergency financial help from ai trustee, Mr R. H. Stewart, on a loan basis,” Mr Pater-i son says.

“We then ‘battled in the, lobbies’ so successfully that]

our $5OOO grant was reinstated through the Southern Regional Arts Council and it seems certain that we will not be placed in that position again.”

The report also acknowledges financial support from the Christchurch City Council, the Waimairi County Council, the Riccarton Borough Council and Paparua County Council as well as a fund-raising project, the Near New Boutique. However, the loss for the year was 55244.

Mr Paterson said he had never worked with a betterorganised work force than the Southern Ballet Theatre — “a vast team and thousands of voluntary working hours which keeps, the company dancing.”

. The costs of orchestral accompaniment for performances and rehearsals has forced the theatre to revert to taped music. But it is hoped that this will only be a temporary measure. The board believes that with Mr Russell Kerr as the new theatre director, the company will have the highest artistic standards available in New Zealand. Mr Kerr is backed by Miss Lorraine Peters as school director and David Peake, principal dancer and a tutor. Mr Kerr’s first production will be a full-length version of “The Snow Queen”, wh*ch opens at thp Invercargill Winter Arts Festival and will be seen in Christchurch in August.