It’s tiring.
Every three years we have to go through this tug of war between NYCB dancers and management over the contract. There are practical solutions that NYCB’s board, along with other nonprofit boards, can advocate.
But first, the obvious. $378K for Justin Peck needs to be eliminated. $378K / 100 or so dancers = a pay increase of nearly $3800/yr.
Secondly, Katherine Brown at $745K — come on. For $32 million in contributed revenue, how can NYCB justify more than $250K for an Executive Director? Cut her loose or cut her back. Re-evaluate those administrative salaries and redistribute them. The gap between a nonprofit Executive Director and the lowest paid full time employee should not exceed 4:1. Corporate wage gaps of 281:1 and salaries based on for-profit corporate budgets should have nothing to do with what a nonprofit organization pays its executives. The claim that high executive salaries in nonprofits are required to get competent people simply isn’t true.
Thirdly, re-open the 4th ring to the 4th Ring Society @ $10-15 per seat and assertively push those seats to all the past members, seniors, employees of other nonprofits, and city employees.
Next, plan programing that the core audience wants to see and enjoy. It is arrogant for programmers to think they know what an audience needs to see. This has been a dreadful Fall Season of programing. The company is so off course that it really needs to reset itself immediately.
NYCB is producing artists who acquire formidable business educations in their off-time. Hire from within, not from outside.
NYCB needs streaming income, and that income must be shared equally among all current employees—penny for penny, equally. Just stop haggling over this and Get It Done.
We need some forward-thinking on state tax legislation. It doesn’t make sense (to Haglund) that a nonprofit organization does not pay income taxes so that all of its revenue can be poured into the charitable activity on behalf of the community, but the nonprofit employees who are actually engaged in the activity must be fully taxed. Maybe a better alternative would be to redistribute the charitable non-tax privilege to part organization and part employees of the organization.
There’s not enough imagination going into potential solutions. It’s always the same exercise of people trying to beat each other down, the same arrogant lawyering, the same stress-inducing nonsense.
It’s tiring.
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Congratulations to Victor Abreu, Dominika Afanasenkov, Naomi Corti, India Bradley, Mary Thomas MacKinnon, Andres Zuniga on their promotions to soloists at New York City Ballet. Now, if we could move six or seven soloists up to principal, that would be nice. We’re happy to see all of these promotions, but it’s going to take a lot of work and time to get them to the next level, if in fact that can be done. Meanwhile, newer corps dancers with possibly more potential are starting to stand out: Flacke, Klesa, Sautter, Mia Williams, Kloe Walker, and even apprentice Keenan Kiefer.
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