Annual Report/2011 - Royal New Zealand Ballet

4 Annual Report/2011Managing Director’sReportIntroduction2011 has been an extraordinary year. As it draws to a close, whilst the main company ison holiday after a year with an unprecedented number of performances, a second smallercompany of dancers is about to open Angelina Ballerina’s Big Audition in Sydney, the start ofan eight week Australian tour.As the person responsible for delivering the vision of the Artistic Director and making surewe have the resources – be those financial or personnel – to deliver the shows, 2011 wasextremely busy, but rewarding.The arrival of Ethan Stiefel has been momentous for RNZB. With all our dancers onlyever having worked under Gary Harris this has been a new challenge and in some cases anervous time for them. Initially Ethan’s start date of 1 September was cause for concernbut having Matz Skoog on board as interim Artistic Director gave dancers and staff time forreflection and adjustment. As a result the transition has been extremely positive.A highlight for me, and I suspect many of the dancers and artistic staff, was the successof the international tour to the UK and France. The opportunity to perform in Londonand France was initiated by City of London Festival (COLF). A chance meeting with COLFDirector Ian Ritchie led to an invitation for RNZB to perform at the Barbican, London.From Here to There, an exhilarating triple bill programme was commissioned by GaryHarris (Artistic Director 2001 – 2010). It featured works by some of the most sought-afterchoreographers working today but that had never been seen in London before. There is nodoubt that the choice of programming attracted much media attention. RNZB had hopedfor one good broadsheet review from the notoriously difficult London reviewers. Thecompany received eight. The press was unanimous in their praise.“The company look wide awake, sexy and charged” – The Guardian“Royal New Zealand Ballet is a textbook case of how a small company can defy the definitionsthat size usually brings” – Evening Standard“These beautifully disciplined kiwis can really rock” - The Times“It’s a tribute to Royal New Zealand Ballet’s eclectic, open spirit that, once again, they visit the UKwith a programme of work never seen here before” – The GuardianTo receive rave reviews from every broadsheet newspaper in London, standing ovations inpacked theatres and fabulous feedback from our fans via social media was thrilling. Thenomination in the UK National Dance Awards for Outstanding Dance Company was ourversion of a Rugby World Cup win.Although we are far from reaching our goal of having a permanent ‘home’ in Auckland,the word is out that we would like to be on the ground for three months of the year. Ifeel confident that RNZB is now considered to be a major player in developing Auckland’scultural identity.Events in Christchurch saw the company accepting the reality of potentially working to asubstantial deficit. A lack of venues meant that we were unable to perform either Stravinsky