<B>Ballet director upset at dismissal</B> <P>By JAMES KEERAN for the Pantagraph <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Twin Cities Ballet Board of Directors has fired its artistic director four days after his latest production.<P>The contract of Alexander Bennett, only the second artistic director in the 20-year history of the dance group best known for its Christmas-season productions of "The Nutcracker Ballet," was not renewed Tuesday.<P>Board President John Morris said the vote was not unanimous, but he would not elaborate.<P>"It was an executive decision that (we) needed some changes made," Morris said.<P>Barb Stephens, board member and general manager of the ballet company, agreed. "He's just on a contract year to year," she said of Bennett. "It's just a contract that wasn't renewed."<P>Bennett was not pleased.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>Considering that he held the position for 15 years, this does sound like a brutal way to end a career with a Company.<P><A HREF="http://www.pantagraph.com/news/news0503-06.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More...</B></A>