I agree Citibob that the City have the legal authority to make these cuts, which have not been stated officially yet as far as I know.

However, you can rest assured that this was not one of the issues in their election platform, so in that sense they do not have a mandate for this.

While the City does have a right to make these cuts, they can be confident that their reputation in this area worldwide will be sullied by this act. I will be writing to my Member of the European Parliament to lobby that Frankfurt receives no recognition such as European City of Culture 200X.

<small>[ 08-30-2002, 14:50: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Frankfurt loses Forsythe
World-renowned choreographer frustrated over cultural cut-backs
By Julia Spinola for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Frankfurt's renowned ballet choreographer, William Forsythe, announced he would not renew his contract with the city when it expires in 2004, a move that comes after long years of resignation over Frankfurt's persistently half-hearted and arts-averse cultural policy.
City authorities have been discussing the possible closure of Frankfurt's alternative Theater am Turm (TAT) for a while. On Monday, Frankfurt's head of cultural affairs, Bernhard Nordhoff, finalized this decision and at the same time announced a drastic cut in the city's ballet subsidies from 2004.
Even before Forsythe formalized his decision, onlookers feared that these announcements would cause the choreographer, who has directed both Frankfurt's ballet and the TAT since 1998, to throw in the towel. After all, these planned budget cuts would effectively scrap his sphere of activities. And the short-sighted discussions on whether the culturally derelict banking city wants to keep financing a choreographer of world renown has been simmering for quite a while.

[url=http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?rub={B1311FFE-FBFB-11D2-B228-00105A9CAF88}&doc={77753860-2E65-4884-AABD-C093902494A9}]click for more[/url]

A kind reader has translated the start of this light-hearted piece for us:

WALTERSWOCHENENDE (Walter's Weekend)
By Walter E Baumann for Frankfurter Rundschau

Dear ladies and gentleman readers - in spite of everything, good morning! In
spite of Herr Nordhoff-Mordhoff, in spite of Forsythe's departure, in spite
of the threatened closing of the Städel school: a glorious good morning and
welcome to dead Frankfurt. And what shall we do first today? We'll give Herr
Dr. Hans-Bernard Nordhoff a call (business nr. (49 69) 21 23 31 08, fax
21240514) or e-mail (kulturdezernat@stadt-frankfurt.de) and protest! And
then you can read the weekend tips (but no cheating: first write, then
read)...

Here is the link to the original German text:

click for more

<small>[ 08-30-2002, 15:47: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Alan Riding writes in the NY Times:

Click for More

I admire Forsythe's courage to try something new, even if I feel the wind knocked out from me after all the work ordinary folks like ourselves did to help him and the Company get reinstated. But then again, as Citibob and others have mentioned above, it didn't look he had a choice -- the City was out to get him with the very uneven cost reduction. As Stuart suggested, this does sound very much like bad faith on the part of the City of Frankfurt.

I am glad to hear that through all this Forsythe is still intent on honoring the remainder of his contract.