Assis Carreiro leaves Royal Ballet Flanders

[Bruce Wall]

Source

[alison]

Ouch.  What a shame.

[aileen]

Well, that didn't last long.

[Ian Macmillan]

Indeed!  So what has gone wrong this week with her departure backdated to Monday, and when she had tweeted this just a week ago today?

 

@SuffolkBroad: Back #antwerpen from fab hols #valencia & #sicily new season mon @BalletFlanders & new Choreo, dancers, ballets! Can't wait 2 c everyone !

[Jan McNulty]

Sounds like this was done behind her back while she's been on holiday, judging by her tweet above.  Disgraceful!

[bangorballetboy]

Let's not make suppositions or judgements.  We don't know what has happened.

[Melody]

Graham Watts seems pretty unhappy over at Twitter. He said, about the email from the Royal Ballet of Flanders, that "..it's s bad that it looks like a malicious April Fool but regrettably it is clearly true.  To lose 2 women artistic directors in 2 years.....can't be good whatever the circumstances"

Edited August 1, 2014 by Melody

[Ian Macmillan]

Her departure is being covered in De Standaard and other Flemish media, but with nothing to add to what's in the Dancing Times piece which, in turn, reflects what's on the company website.

[Melody]

More from Graham Watts at Twitter (@SuffolkBroad is Assis Carreiro's Twitter handle):

 

Press release just received from @SuffolkBroad - rather more dignified than her erstwhile employers - she says that contract was terminated....on 1st day back from holiday and no formal reasons were given b4 going on to express her sadness and thank her team and staff and listing..a formidable series of works performed by the company over past two seasons - she concludes by wishing her team "the best of luck" ....

[Anon2]

Such a shame she won't be at there when they host Genee.

We witnessed all her hard work and determination when she pushed DanceEast forward to become what they are today.

[newballetfan]

Also means she presumably hired the lovely Nancy Osbaldeston among others but won't be there when they actually start dancing with the company. I don't know anything about how these things work but when an artistic director leaves unexpectedly with this kind of timing does that impact the immediate future of those new dancers?

[Bruce Wall]

I would imagine it will have an impact overall (e.g., on everything), but shouldn't think that previous contractual obligations on behalf of the Royal Ballet of Flanders itself would be called into question.  For this reason most contracts require more than one signature from the sponsoring body.  

Edited August 3, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[toursenlair]

article in :Flanders Today":

http://www.flanderstoday.eu/art/royal-ballet-flanders-parts-company-assis-carreiro

[aileen]

A very interesting article which puts a very different slant on the termination of Carreiro's contract. Tbh, I had always assumed that an AD of a ballet company would be a former ballet dancer and I was therefore surprised by her appointment at the time but I'm not knowledgeable about these things and perhaps there are a lot of ballet companies run by non-dancers.

[toursenlair]

perhaps there are a lot of ballet companies run by non-dancers.

 

no, very unusual indeed.

[Bruce]

A very interesting article which puts a very different slant on the termination of Carreiro's contract. Tbh, I had always assumed that an AD of a ballet company would be a former ballet dancer and I was therefore surprised by her appointment at the time but I'm not knowledgeable about these things and perhaps there are a lot of ballet companies run by non-dancers.

Interesting artcicle and always good to see more information out there, but I doubt very much it was informed by Carreiro's take on what she has been about as AD. It feels like part of one side of an argument.

[Ian Macmillan]

Bruce:  You may well be right.  If 69% of the Company (a very precise figure) wrote late last year that they had no confidence in her, then they covered such feelings very well when I saw them in a vibrant R&J in Antwerp in March this year.  And I wonder what period is covered by "Eventually" as regards 15 out of 45 leaving?  The annual joiners/leavers/promotions announcement this summer listed just 4 as leaving.  Yet there is a clear sign in that piece that she has not been at one with a number of folk with, perhaps, one side of an argument being pushed hard in support of the recent decision that she must go.

[Bruce]

 

I suspect we will never fully hear about it all - the 2 sides of the original contract will agree on terms for Carreiro's leaving and as part of that agree not to argue in public. Ultimately it's happened, won't be undone, and everybody needs to look to the future. But I suspect the board, or whoever is in charge of hiring a new AD, will have to be prepared to answer some very, very, tough and searching questions about their attitude to senior management - having seen 2 directors leave in unfortunate circumstances.

[aileen]

I'm not sure about the Board having to answer some 'very, very tough and searching questions'. The two ADs ostensibly left in very different circumstances. And who is going to ask these questions, anyway? Is the company funded by an organisation similar to ACE? It can be very unsatisfactory if an outside body starts to interfere with the management of an independent arts organisation.

[Ian Macmillan]

What follows is copied from the Company website - so subsidy is coming from the Flemish Region, the City and Province of Antwerp, and the Province of East Flanders.  (There is a bit below this stating that there's also some commercial support from a number of sources.)  Thus, it looks to me very much as another example of what Belgian friends used to call a 'parastatal' organisation, perhaps what we might call a Quango over here.  I doubt that it is 'an independent Arts organisation' as such - and, of course, the previous Director had to go when she had a run-in with the Flemish Culture mInister.

 

 

Royal Ballet Flanders is an institution of the Flemish Community and is subsidized by

   

[toursenlair]

 If 69% of the Company (a very precise figure) wrote late last year that they had no confidence in her, then they covered such feelings very well when I saw them in a vibrant R&J in Antwerp in March this year.

 

Of course they did. They're professional dancers.

[Bruce]

I'm not sure about the Board having to answer some 'very, very tough and searching questions'. The two ADs ostensibly left in very different circumstances. And who is going to ask these questions, anyway?

I had in mind the people who may be interested in applying for the role of Artistic Director.

[Klaris]

Very sad about this news - we also knew her from the Dance East CAT scheme and she was indeed a formidable dynamo, making so many amazing opportunities happen for young people and dance in the region. We are not alone in feeling very grateful to her.

 

Whatever the differences and problems may have been at Flanders, I feel for her - as in my opinion it certainly appears (at least from what I've read) like a rotten way to treat someone. Maybe the appointment was just not a good match ultimately - she is a strong character, but that is often what you get with people who have her kind of talent and ability. 

 

I can only wish her all success for the future.

[lorenzopillio]

 

 

 

  If 69% of the Company (a very precise figure) wrote late last year that they had no confidence in her, then they covered such feelings very well when I saw them in a vibrant R&J in Antwerp in March this year.

 

 

That production of Romeo and Juliet received poor reviews in the Flemish and International press, plus I would hope that professional dancers would be able to cover thier personal feelings while on stage. I applaud the managers for actually listening to the employees.  If 69% of the group voted no confidence in Carrerio then something must have been wrong with her management style. 

[PeterW]

Romeo and Julia did not receive poor reviews, lorenzopillio, do you have an agenda by any chance? Also, I understand that since the company saw fit to break M. Carreiro's contract, there have been cancellations by several well-known choreographers in protest at her rough treatment. I'm sure we will hear more about this in the coming weeks.