A letter in The Scotsman from (REV) IAIN F PATON:<P><B>Ballet’s instability</B><P><BR>I have been dismayed by the recent criticism of the board of Scottish Ballet. This organisation has gone through a huge period of instability and the membership of the board seems to have been changed several times in the past few years. Surely they can’t all be wrong!<P><A HREF="http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/searchresults.cfm?id=128048&keyword=ballet" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

More trouble at mill. Article in The Herald.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>THE chairman of Scottish Ballet has been replaced as chairman of its core support group in a move which signals a widening chasm over the national dance company's future.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/11-12-19101-23-58-40.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A><p>[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited December 11, 2001).]

Article in The Scotsman.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Robert North is exactly where he wants to be: in a dressing room, on the eve of the premiere of his ballet, The Snowman at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. <P>Between the stage door and this tiny space, the buzz of anticipation is palpable. From time to time, a PA calls dancers and technicians to mysterious locations reachable through a warren of corridors and staircases. Sheri Cook, North’s wife and assistant artistic director, pops in and out, fussing with bits of costume. But amid the kerfuffle the director himself remains unruffled. This is a cool man in a crisis. <BR><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.arts.scotsman.com/headlines_specific.cfm?id=4778" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A><BR>

<B>Main sponsor of Scottish Ballet threatens to pull funding;Bank worried over publicity 'for the wrong reasons'</B> <BR>In The Herald <P><BR>Scotland's biggest commercial sponsor of the arts has issued a stark warning that the political and artistic row over Scottish Ballet's future is posing a threat to its financial backing.<P>Bank of Scotland, the biggest donor of private funds to Scottish Ballet, is voicing concern that the finance house's own reputation will be tainted by the battle raging for six years over its management, future direction and its partial merger with the bigger and more prestigious Scottish Opera. A veiled warning came this weekend that while ''the rug will not be pulled'' from current commitments, the 19-year association between bank and ballet will not be continued if it remains a political football between the culture minister, the education and culture committee of the parliament, the Scottish Arts Council and the board of Scottish Ballet.<P><A HREF="http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=011216004795&query=ballet" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

The latest volley - this time from James Boyle, Chairman of The Scottish Arts Council: <BR> <BR><B>Ballet changes</B> <P><BR>I must take issue with some of the views expressed in Mike Wade’s article on Scottish Ballet ("Battles at the barre", S2, 15 December). <P>Contrary to the assertions of Scottish Ballet’s artistic director, Robert North, the Scottish Arts Council is not driving the proposed changes at Scottish Ballet. The board and the senior management of Scottish Ballet have been exploring for some time how the company might develop.<P><A HREF="http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1713122001&rware=HYWUQSCGMGJV&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=3" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

I missed this one from Boxing Day. Everytime I've searched the web over the last couple of days it's been there and I kept thinking it wasn't so interesting that I should put it up after the event, but as there isn't much going on today:<P><B>Let us have the great ballets<BR>JACKIE KEMP: Opinion <BR>The Herald</B><P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>We will be watching Barbie Nutcracker the video for the thirty-third time when you read this. Barbie, stung by allegations that she has spent the past 40 years doing nothing more challenging than getting ready for dates with Ken, has kicked up in a new incarnation as prima ballerina with the digital ballet. <P>We are also looking forward to seeing the real thing - we have seats for the sell-out matinée of Nutcracker at Edinburgh Playhouse in January. It is sad, however, that the thousands of small girls in chignons and smart Christmas clothes, with boxes of chocolates, and programmes to treasure, clutching grandmas in fur hats, won't be seeing our own national company. The show is being brought by the touring company, Ellen Kent.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.theherald.co.uk/arts/archive/26-12-19101-21-30-55.html" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><P><p>[This message has been edited by Emma Pegler (edited December 31, 2001).]

I think this article on contemporary dance in Scotland appearing in today's Scotsman, belongs here:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>In a corner of Dundee College’s Kingsway Campus, dwarfed by the towering breeze block of the main buildings, a demure, curved building nestles. Bigger than it looks and as elegant inside as out, this is The Space, the £4.6 million home of the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance. <P>The Space, which will be opened formally in March, but is to be fully occupied from next week , is the first place in Scotland where contemporary dance will be taught to professional level. The school was established in 1998 in temporary premises and the first students to complete the three-year HND course graduated in May. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/s2.cfm?id=82002" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><P>

The debate rages on. Scotland on Sunday -<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A NEW review of Scottish Ballet has been ordered by the Scottish Executive only months after MSPs delivered their own stinging report on the troubled company. <P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=45942002&rware=HDTYMTFEVXKV&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=1" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

Article in Scotland on Sunday on SNP's Arts and education spokesperson Mike Russell.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>My suspicions were aroused last year by his commandeering of the parliamentary committee report on Scottish Ballet, which was a piece of meretricious tosh. They were confirmed by a column he wrote last week on the latest exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Called Great Houses of Scotland, it is a collection of paintings, sculpture and furniture from seven Scottish castles and gives a fascinating insight into the richness and diversity of Scotland’s heritage. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=129242002&rware=LCZCJNZFTZKV&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=1" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

I thought this article might be interesting; whilst not directly on the point (or the pointe!) it highlights the problems in the Scottish arts generally:<P><B>The Guardian profile: Gian Carlo Menotti <BR>Music and silence </B><P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>In 1936 this Italian composer wrote what has become the most-performed opera in America. He founded the renowned Spoleto music festival and moved to a stately home in Scotland in the 1970s, where his plan for an arts centre for young talent was foundered in the face of indifference. Kirsty Scott reports <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,3605,651033,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A>

Article from the Herald talking about Siobhan davies' work with the company.

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