Update 4 pm Thursday, Sept. 24: WW has obtained a print copy of the letter to the OBT board from OBT staffers. Here it is: http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/09/24/obt-staffers-call-for-ouster-of-director-jon-ulsh/
Original Post:
A letter signed by at least 20 Oregon Ballet Theatre staffers, including dancers, that was delivered to the dance company’s Board of Directors last Thursday, Sept. 17 is ruffling feathers inside OBT. According to OBT spokesman Erik Jones, the letter essentially called for a hard look at how both executive director Jon Ulsh and artistic director Christopher Stowell are running the two-decade old company.
According to multiple anonymous sources inside and outside OBT, the letter, which WW has not yet been able to obtain, may have been penned more in reference to Ulsh’s financial management skills and job performancethan Stowell’s work. No OBT staffers would respond to WW’s calls for comment. In fact, employees were told to button up about the missive or face termination. [See clarification at the bottom of this post.]
According to the staff page on OBT’s website, the ballet company employs about 30 people in its admin, marketing and production departments, plus 26 dancers. So about one-third of the company felt strongly enough about forcing internal change to sign the document.Spokesman Jones confirmed that it did indeed call for “a review of the leadership of both executive director Jon Ulsh and artistic director Christopher Stowell.”
The OBT Board met last night to discuss the letter among other company business. Rumors were flying through the arts community that the meeting would lead to the ouster of either Ulsh or Stowell. This morning, OBT Board Vice Chair Kathleen Cosgrove told WW that didn’t happen. “Neither of the two gentlemen are leaving. We have a great deal of respect and confidence for both of them.” she said.
As for the fact that so many OBT staff signed a letter demanding a review of its leadership, Cosgrove refused to answer direct questions about the letter, noting it was an “internal matter.” But she did say that Ulsh and Stowell are currently receiving their “annual review” and acknowledges there was an issue: “If there was an [OBT] Board failing, it was that the Board needs to do a much better job communicating inwardly of what we are doing. It was a great chance to listen to what people [staffers] had to say.”
It’s not the first time this year that OBT’s internal workings have made headlines this year. In May the company revealed it needed to raise $750,000 to keep afloat. OBT blamed the recession and poor Nutcracker. ticket sales on the cash shortage. But insiders grumbled that financial mismanagement and bloated budgets were also at fault. Thanks to a star-studded Dance United benefit, the company succeeded in raising more than its $750,000 goal this summer. Cosgrove, who is also the president of Skyline Consulting Group, noted that the OBT board is working hard on a new way of thinking about its budget.
“It’s a revenue-based, data-driven budgeting process. We are being more conservative about projecting fundraising dollars. Before anything gets spent we have to identify where those resources are coming from. That sounds basic, but often in the arts world you develop a program and then go out and market it,” she said. “I jokingly said to the board [about our new budget process], this is a novel idea.”
I’ll have an update if OBT’s leadership situation changes.
Photo of Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Director Christopher Stowell courtesy of obt.org.
[Update- 11:30 am Wednesday, Sept. 23: Erik Jones emailed me to clarify he did not tell staffers they'd be fired if they talked to media. He sent OBT staffers an email yesterday that noted that they: "are not at liberty to talk to the media about internal company issues (as outlined in your contracts and on page 12 of the employee handbook)." Staffers were told to direct all media enquiries to Jones.]
Tags: Oregon Ballet Theatre
OBT needs a new artistic director, why not get a woman to lead the company for a while, these stuck-up know-nothing male directors are so boring, get a creative enlightened female in there and bring some life, vision and ticket sales back to OBT.
Must beg to disagree. Christopher is a comming directorial star. He will take the company places it will take a geration to get to otherwise. Oregon Ballet Theater would be irreprably harmed if he were to leave at this time. OBT should hang on to Christopher Stowell like the future depended on it. It does.
WWire – get the letter. The community that saved OBT deserves to see it.
p.s. please forgive the horrible typos in my first post – feel free to edit.
[...] Tuesday, OBT told WW that letter called for a review of the leadership of both executive director Jon Ulsh and artistic director Christopher Stowe… It does. But the bulk of the letter actually focuses on the staff’s lack of confidence in the [...]
WW has obtained a print copy of the letter to the OBT board from OBT staffers. Here it is: http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/09/24/obt-staffers-call-for-ouster-of-director-jon-ulsh/
Rumor: After OBT was financially saved by the graciousness of the Portland community, they went and spent $10,000 on suits for one of their dances.
if this rumor is true then I am disgusted.
Wow, I hadn’t heard that one. Can you be more specific, like…what kind of “suits”?
I mean, you can get a suit from Men’s Wearhouse for barely over a hundred bucks, so ten grand would be really bad, unless they needed 100 of them.
But most ballets require hand-crafted, custom-tailored costumes that have to be close-fitting yet not restrict movement, and those could easily cost hundreds of dollars each, if you count labor (which of course you do). You know, even $500 apiece for 20 dancers is $10,000. Hell, toe shoes alone cost $70 and last less than a week of rehearsals or a day of performances; so it’s pretty easy to rack up big bucks on what seems like “just shoes and clothes.”
Anyway, maybe you can provide more information.
@pdxculture has been both advised and asked to desist from stirring the pot regarding the internal dissention @oregonballet. All in all this seems to us a wise course at this point, now that some modicum of truth and transparency has been forced upon OBT’s administration and board. However, before leaving the subject to the internal workings of the organization we do want to get a few final observations into the record.
During this summer’s funding crisis many, many supporters in the community rallied around OBT, giving extra time and money according to their ability and packing the Dance United concert to put OBT over the top of its emergency fundraising goal. At the time much was said about the need for more transparent administration and community engagement. Indeed much has been done on the latter score due largely to tireless efforts of company members throughout the summer. The current Nixonian stonewalling, deliberate misleading of the press, threatening meetings with staff, and general circling of the wagons is however, sadly, short of the mark on the transparency factor. We believe that the community that rallied to save OBT deserves better than this. The attempt to portray the above letter as being equally critical of Christopher Stowell’s leadership as of Jon Ulsh’s was calculated disinformation. It is clear that the staff and company have expressed an unequivocal vote of no confidence in current administrative (i.e. not artistic) management. As Willamette Week pointed out the full letter shows a majority of employees endorsing the views expressed by Linda Besant. It is not inconceivable that there were more potential signatories, too afraid for their livelihoods to sign. That so many did take that risk is notable.
That OBT exists today to celebrate its 20th Anniversary must be credited in large part to Christopher Stowell. His personal contacts across the country made Dance Untied possible and the strong audience support engendered by his programming and direction lent credibility to OBT’s claim to future viability. Without those components OBT fails to survive the crisis. Mr. Stowell’s work is ably supported by the dedication and talent of the company in turn fostered by Damara Bennett at the school and Lisa Kipp, Ballet Master. Nearly without exception the improvement in the company and the diversity of the repertoire during his tenure has been noted by critics and reviewers alike.
What should be clear to the board at this point is that many people are watching. No attempt at whitewash will be successful or tolerated by this community of observers. The ultimate fate of Mr. Ulsh is neither here nor there. The end of the toxic atmosphere at OBT, the fostering of true transparency, and an end to a barricade mentality is what is called for. Whether Mr. Ulsh or someone else is the engine for these reforms is for the board to determine. OBT must settle down to the next 20 years and follow Mr. Stowell’s lead to destinations only he can discover. His loss at this time means a mass exodus and a decade long setback rather than a decade of accolades. The community will be watching for the low tactics of reprisal and disinformation and for the ugly face of crony –ism, and shortsightedness. We expect transparency and disclosure when all is said and done. Collectively we have earned it. Now go to, go to.
One final note for the record: none of the information used for our tweets or other commentary came from OBT staff. Much of the heavy lifting on this was done by Willamette Week and we combined our knowledge of the organization, our own experience in 501c3 management and board positions and our own observation of the company over the course of some years in making our comments.
[...] the 12 months between the 2009 Dance United concert, a fundraiser for the financially struggling, internally fractious Oregon Ballet Theatre, and the 2010 edition, which marked the company’s 20th anniversary and a [...]