Longish Article on Hartfort's legal dispute from New London Day newspaper
Amy Reusch
believe it came out 2 Fridays ago… I would refer you those of you interested
in the subject to the original paper, but I don't think it's that easily
available... I had hoped to find a copy in the library here when I heard the
article was upcoming, but they only carried the Sunday paper. (New London is a
large town on the shore of Connecticut, famous for the nuclear submarines it
produces)...
"American Nutcracker" Caught In Three-Way Dispute
Mashantuckets, Hartford Ballet and Fired Director Fighting For Control of a
$500,000 Production
By Sharma L. Howard
What's in a name? When it comes to "The American Nutcracker" -- the ballet
that made its world premiere last year in Hartford -- the answer is $500,000.
That's the sum the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation gave to the Hartford
Ballet to cover the cost of sets and costumes for Kirk Peterson's new spin on
the holiday dance classic "The Nutcracker".
But Peterson's May 11 firing as artistic director of the Hartford Ballet left
the ballet and the tribe, temporarily at least, at an awkward impasse.
Facing possible legal action if it continued using Peterson's choreography,
conception or even the name "American Nutcracker", the ballet at first reverted
to using "The Nutcracker" in its promotional literature for the coming season
-- even though the costly sets and costumes placed the action squarely in the
rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevadas. Ballet board president Branko Terzic
said the board had been questioning whether the "American Nutcracker" name hurt
ticket sales last year, speculating that some people worried that the new work
would include American music rather than the traditional Tchaikowsky score.
But, after the Mashantuckets balked at the name change and the ballet rescinded
announced dates for performances at Foxwoods Resort Casino, the Hartford Ballet
decided this week to revert back to the "American Nutcracker" designation.
Choreography will be by the new ballet master, Stefan Hoff, but the characters
and storyline from Peterson's original production will be retained, says the
ballet public relations department.
"We think it's our show," says Trevor Cushman, the ballet's CEO. "We have the
rights to it, and that's it."
Language in Peterson's contract with the Hartford Ballet -- which still had one
year to go when the artistic director was fired, allegedly for going over
budget on his productions -- called for the ballet to retain rights to his work
for five years, sources say.
But many in the dance world question the ethics of using someone's work without
the input of the choreographer or his designated ballet master.
"Let's take (Martha Graham's) 'Appalachian Spring' as an example," says Richard
Philp, editor in chief of Dance Magazine. "And say you copied Martha's
costumes and used Martha's plot and Copland's music but put it to somebody
else's choreography. People would raise hell. … It would seem to me to be very
iffy territory." "People might way, 'Anyone can do 'Nutcracker', but this is a
very specific 'Nutcracker',," Philp concludes.
Peggy Lyman, co-artistic director of the Hartford Ballet, alluded to this
ethical dilemma in an interview before the Hartford Ballet's name flipflop,
saying "The production belongs to the company, but we felt that if it's not
(Peterson's) choreography that defines the characters, then it should not be
called '(American Nutcracker')."
Asked about possible legal action over the "American Nutcracker" name, though,
Cushman becomes adamant: "It's unequivocal. It's clear: If anything (legal)
were done about it, we'd be suing him."
Peterson's attorney, Robert Kor, refused to say what his client will do after
the latest turn of events. And Peterson would only say, "I'm in a total state
of disbelief."
But Peterson, in an earlier interview, appeared skeptical of allowing the
ballet to use any of his works.
"I've never given my work to a company focusing on the Graham technique," he
says. (Lyman, a former Martha Graham dancer, is setting a number of Graham
ballets this season). "I'd have to reassess if the company was up to my
technical standards. There are only three or four original dancers left in the
company that I know."
Peterson says the Hartford Ballet recently approached him about signing an
agreement that he would not sue the company, which he refused to sign.
But the ballet, caught between a possible Peterson lawsuit and concerns from
the donor tribe, evidently decided that using the "American Nutcracker" name
posed the least risk.
Cushman, for his part, says the Mashantuckets "never put any pressure on us,"
though he earlier acknowledged a tribal attorney had called to inquire whether
the ballet still had legal rights to the work.
And Byron Quann, marketing and communications officer for the tribe, indicated
its position for the initial name change by saying last week: "I'm not sure the
name has officially changed. ('The Nutcracker') would not be the ballet we
underwrote, the one we paid for with sets and costumes."
Quann points to the name "American Nutcracker" as the key in making the
distinction between the old story line set in German and the American one set
in the Sierra Nevadas, which the sets and costumes delineate.
Adding to the awkwardness between the tribe and the ballet, the Hartford
Symphony Orchestra will provide live music for performances at The Bushnell in
Hartford during Thanksgiving weekend, but no live music currently is planned at
Foxwoods.
Ballet CEO Cushman says he initially told the tribe that the orchestra was
available (though he is not sure about that now), but the Mashantuckets would
have to pay about $40,000 for the music.
Quann would say only that live music at Foxwoods is being discussed.
In his "American Nutcracker," Peterson transplanted a ballet with Russian roots
to America.
The backbone of the ballet, Tchaikowsky's score, remains, but an altered story
line uses characters who were part of California's folklore in the mid-1800s.
The heroine at the center of the action, Clara, becomes child star Lotta
Crabtree. Herr Drosselmeyer, "The Nutcracker's" dark force becomes Hermann The
Great, a flamboyant magician who etched his mark in history. Mark Twain as a
young journalist is given a cameo role.
Act II of traditional "Nutcracker" ballets thrusts the audience into a surreal
fantasy in which the ballerinas dance as candied sweets.
Peterson attempted to strengthen the plot by presenting the second act of his
"American Nutcracker" as a celebration of winter solstice, flowing from the
depths of a magical forest.
The little children who in traditional versions toddle out of the skirt of a
looming figure now buzz out of a giant honeycomb, donned in black and yellow
bee costumes.
Like all of his ballets, Peterson's "The American Nutcracker" was in the
process of being copyrighted at the time of his firing.
Along with its California concept, what made Peterson's "Nutcracker" unique was
its original choreography. Most productions of the ballet are based on the
steps by Lev Ivanov, the original Russian choreographer of "The Nutcracker".
The work that will be performed this season will use Peterson's conception but
dance steps by Hoff, formerly associated with the American Ballet Theatre. The
Hartford Ballet hired Hoff as dance master after it declined to renew contracts
for Peterson's associates, ballet master Raymond Lukens and rehearsal assistant
Maria Youskevitch, as it cleared house at the end of last season.
Lyman points out that it's not unusual for "nutcracker" productions in ballet
companies to be quilt works, with choreography and costumes patched together
from several artistic and guest choreographer regimes.
# # #
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Amy Reusch - eye4...@aol.com
Dance Videographer, now based in Hartford, CT
DANCE LINKS: http://www.dancer.com/dance-links/
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Alexandra Tomalonis
Amy Reusch wrote in message
<19980916200...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
>Article in the New London Day newspaper… no date on the photocopy I have,
but
>believe it came out 2 Fridays ago… I would refer you those of you
interested
>in the subject to the original paper, but I don't think it's that easily
>available... I had hoped to find a copy in the library here when I heard
the
>article was upcoming, but they only carried the Sunday paper. (New London
is a
>large town on the shore of Connecticut, famous for the nuclear submarines
it
>produces)...
>
>"American Nutcracker" Caught In Three-Way Dispute
>Mashantuckets, Hartford Ballet and Fired Director Fighting For Control of a
>$500,000 Production
>
>By Sharma L. Howard
>
>What's in a name? When it comes to "The American Nutcracker" -- the ballet
>that made its world premiere last year in Hartford -- the answer is
$500,000.
>That's the sum the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation gave to the Hartford
>Ballet to cover the cost of sets and costumes for Kirk Peterson's new spin
on
>the holiday dance classic "The Nutcracker".
>
when Diaghilev traded him in for Nijinsky. The Ballet Russe retained the
Fokine ballets, but they were supervised by someone else -- and not just any
someone else, but I think I remember that, at least at one point, they were
supervied by Massine. The methods of the two men were, to say the least,
quite dissimilar. Whether this set a precedent that has been consciously
followed, or whether it -- now as then -- is just that money will always
win, I don't know.
(Should it be necessary to so state, I support a choreographer's control
over his work, whether he's Kirk Peterson or Michel Fokine" -- or anyone
else. I don't write this to imply otherwise.)
alexandra t.
www.balletalert.com
alexandra t.