<B>Ballet star denies she put boot in</B> <BR> <BR>FROM ADAM SAGE IN PARIS <BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>ONE of France’s best-known ballerinas defended herself yesterday against hate mail that claims she insulted, intimidated and unfairly dismissed dancers under her direction at the National Ballet in Marseilles. <BR>Marie-Claude Pietragalla, 38, spoke out after anonymous letters purporting to be from members of the ballet were sent to Catherine Tasca, the Minister for Culture. The letters claimed that the notoriously fiery Corsican star had created “serious problems”, harassing her colleagues and subjecting them to “verbal violence”.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P> <P><BR><A HREF="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001193845,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Adam Sage's article</B></A> <BR>

<font size=2><B>Coup de blues au ballet de Marseille</B></font><P>Un collectif dénonce anonymement l'action de Marie-Claude Pietragalla. <BR>Par MAÏA BOUTEILLET - Libération<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><P>J'ai un moral d'acier, ma conscience pour moi, et mon amour pour la danse», affirme Marie-Claude Pietragalla, la directrice de l'école et du ballet de Marseille nommément mise en cause dans une lettre adressée fin mai au maire de la ville et au ministère de la Culture. <P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><a href="http://www.liberation.fr/quotidien/semaine/20010609samzj.html"target=_blank"<B>Pour en savoir plus</B></a><BR>

Thanks, Cathy. A translation:<P>Marie-Claude Pietragalla defends against anonymous hate mail sent to the mayor of Marseilles and the French Cultural Ministry by affirming her moral conviction, her conscience and her love for dance.

I really don't know if this is the case here but too often you have people thrust into positions of responsibility too soon without the proper training and guidance.

And, oh, it works both ways too. You have to prepare staff, especially the artistic side, for a new leader. Someone who is new to the position will face credibility issues among staffers who were his/her recent peers.