"We're gonna win, Twins!"

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The boys of summer return to Minnesota with today's season opener at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Twins vs. Seattle Mariners at 7:10pm CDT. This is the last indoor Twins season at the Dome; they will play on real grass in the open air next year at the new Target Field.

Integration

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Integration is a process and goal applicable not just to one's personal life journey. In a recent post to his Influential Marketing Blog, Rohit Bhargava posits that "The real power of marketing comes through integration, and the tragedy is how easy that is to forget." Read the full post and its related comments.

Review: Buckets and Tap Shoes

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Please come tonight for our...show. We have worked very hard to make this the tightest and most entertaining "Buckets and Tap Shoes" performance EVER! –Facebook post by Rick Ausland, Mar. 29, 2009, for the last of 5 performances at the Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis.

In the year 2039, what passes for that era's version of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" might well feature the Ausland brothers, Rick and Andy, in the latest of their recurring appearances on the program. As always, their presence would include an energetic and accomplished funky tap dance segment that brings the studio audience to its feet while clapping and cheering to the rhythm.


The duo's conversation with Leno's successor might include reminiscences about their early steps toward stardom during the first, recession-wracked decade of the century when they tapped-out their reputation one gig at a time: Dover, Charleston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Rapid City, New York, Madison, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Denver, Kansas City, Hawaii, Austria, Finland, Russia, Ecuador. To name just a very few.

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Mention might be made of their beginnings, applying drum sticks to five-gallon paint buckets and tap dancing on the streets of Minneapolis outside the Metrodome and various nightclubs in the Warehouse District – improvised outings that garnered much applause and occasional abuse.


Some members of that futuristic Leno audience might recall their own presence on the electric evening of November 29, 2003, when Rick, Andy, and their accomplices exploded through the back doors of the Walker Art Center's old auditorium to thump and bump their way to the stage and into recorded history, while the audience for a Choreographer's Evening went totally nuts for the first time in years.


While the Ausland's memories of the blood, sweat, and tears of the early years probably will have dimmed by 2039, they may retain a deep reservoir of satisfaction and gratitude for the meaningful experiences they shared with countless people around the globe. One hopes so. We knew these guys were good long before someone writing in the New York Times said they were "utterly brilliant."


Rick and Andy have tap danced since they were kids. In 1997, they formed Ten Foot Five Productions with three friends as a vehicle for a dance competition (10 feet/5 guys). Known more popularly as Buckets and Tap Shoes, their company of musicians, percussionists, and hoofers presented a major series of five concert performances at The Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis, Mar. 26-29, 2009.


The well-paced program included elements of funk, jazz, classical, hip-hop, blues, and rock in two dozen segments. The proceedings opened with a parade by five performers entering from the back of the house, pounding on a variety of drums as they danced their way to the stage to the accompaniment of rhythmic clapping by the audience. Attired neck-to-ankle in navy blue industrial coveralls, the five lined-up across the stage for an extended section of original, percussive music, switching positions with each other repeatedly without missing a beat.


Costumes changed frequently throughout the show and reflected multiple, individual combinations of blue jeans, slacks, t-shirts, button-down shirts – with and without ties, occasional sport coats, and vests.


Episodes of call-and-response kept audience members participating and engaged – not that they required assistance in that regard. Boundaries between program segments were sometimes marked by moments of abrupt, motionless silence with each performer bathed in a straight-down square of light.


A tap dance in three parts ended the 40-minute first half. On a blacked-out stage, Andy tapped a virtuosic solo while shining a flashlight at his feet. This was followed by Rick's solo-with-flashlight, executed from the center of the orchestra audience while navigating stairs in the dark. A duet by both ensued onstage, accompanied by atmospheric smoke. The section worked well, but one wished for a brighter illumination, aimed more directly on the dancers's feet, rather than in front of, in order to highlight the complex footwork.


Rick and Andy returned precisely 15 minutes later to accompany a recording of Mozart's Turkish Rondo, hoofing in perfect sync with the music and each other. This morphed into a charming and jazzy, downstage interlude by bassist Dan Ristrom and trumpeter Aaron Wiener which, in turn, morphed into a set with the up-ended paint buckets, complete with juggled drumsticks and empty Culligan water bottles. More morphing followed as Ristrom and Wiener provided a funky interlude leading to a Funkeapolis tap dance that sequed into a Funkeapolis tune sung by all five, including drummer Chris Vanderpoll.


At that point, I stopped taking notes because the pace accelerated while the performers danced solo and as a group, vocalized, and stirred a cauldron of audience frenzy that bubbled over to a wild, standing ovation, an encore, and a second ovation. Six minutes before 10pm, everyone in the audience was energized and everyone on stage was exhausted. All were joyous.


The concentration of so much multi-faceted talent in these five individuals makes their enterprise shine like a jewel, one that should be treasured more widely and deeply than it is. Each has clearly devoted the requisite 10,000 hours of training to become a master of his profession, and each is well on the way to acquiring 10,000 hours of experience on stage. As it can for many artists, the heart aches in its witness of their commitment and earnest desire to succeed.


Theirs are generous souls, devoting a page of the printed program to recognize and thank more than 75 individuals and organizations that have lent them assistance. They also are shy fellows, omitting any information about themselves, their backgrounds, and their experiences. In this particular they err; new people, like the women seated behind me, want to know more, while those who are more familiar need help remembering the details from one encounter to the next. Nonetheless, they have become savvy about promoting their performances, and arranged demonstration appearances on the Fox, ABC, and NBC television stations in the Twin Cities.


They are true pros. However, they are in need of a stronger infrastructure that can calm the frenzy and lift the load of their offstage activities. For the long term, they should examine whether a non-profit or for-profit business model can more efficiently serve, sustain, and advance their interests. In either case, the infusion of a modest but significant amount of capital would propel them to the heights that rightfully should be theirs. Someone(s) needs to take on their cause.

• • •

The Music Box Theatre, located near downtown Minneapolis and the city's convention center, is an architectural gem – from an audience perspective – built as a vaudeville house in 1920. Currently operating on a for-profit basis, the theater is a 440-seat house, renting for a modest base charge of $3,500 a week. While its stage is not suitable for most concert dance, its raked seating offers good sightlines to audiences.


It needs improvement in at least one area. For the Saturday evening performance by Buckets and Tap Shoes, advertised to begin at 8pm, only one ticket seller occupied the box office. At 8pm, 43 people still stood in line to purchase tickets or pick up will call orders. Two individuals, who clearly worked for the theater, stood by watching the line's slow progression, while occasionally helping a third employee at the concessions counter. This is a low level of service that, tempered by degree, is as outrageous as the poor performance of many of our wizards of Wall Street finance.


The customer always comes first. It does not matter whether one's job description includes the selling of tickets; employees with pride in their work ethic will add value to their skill sets by taking the initiative to pitch in, to learn, and to help out. When 43 people are waiting to give you $20 each – plus sales tax plus service charge – you need to make it easy for them to do it, even if it comes at the expense of missing out on a sale for a $2 cookie or cup of java. In at least this instance, the Music Box personnel needed to embody a fraction of the can-do spirit that animates some of their renters.


To balance and round out the observation: What was one to make of the customers who were still entering the lobby to join the ticket line at 8:06pm? Did they not know the start time? Did they not leave home in sufficient time to locate a new venue? Did they assume that no one else would be waiting to make a last-minute purchase? Did they think it would be acceptable to take their seats after the performance started? Did they think at all? Hopefully, they thought to tell their friends to turn out for the next performance.

Seasonal affect disorder

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Throughout March, the Minnesota Playlist site has featured reports and commentaries about how, and how well, Twin Cities theaters go about the business of assembling a season of plays. The site's editor, Alan Berks, has just posted No one asked me but... in which he tries to evoke and provoke. Example:

Don't do plays to 'raise awareness' or 'inform' or 'put a human face on a problem.' ... Why is theater the only business on the planet that expects to get a new audience with the same product? ... They know what your theater does – it's not a marketing problem – they don't want to see it.

Worth a read.

Seriously

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Minnesota may not need a second United States senator when we already have a self-described "foreign correspondent behind enemy lines" in Washington to keep us informed and to look after our interests. Her name is Michele Bachmann, and she represents the people of our state's sixth congressional district, having been elected to her second term last November. This past weekend she used the airwaves of WWTC 1280 AM to make one of her periodic reports to us on a number of issues. About the administration's cap-and-trade proposal to reduce carbon emissions, she had this to say:

I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.

Some of the folks reading this will find these and others of Bachmann's comments perfectly lucid and reasonable, while some will think she is totally nuts.


A similar divergence of perspective has been occurring lately at the University of Minnesota's dance program where an anonymous protest has attacked "institutional racism and white privilege." The protest was chronicled in a posting on the tcdailyplanet website, which includes links to a blog started by the anonymous protesters and a Facebook page set up by some not-anonymous students.


After reading the manifestos, comments, and meeting minutes, it is clear that the protesters have cut the ground from beneath their efforts by insisting on anonymity and failing to cite specifics to which anyone can respond coherently. (Feel free to dispute this conclusion in the comment section below.) Everyone, including students, who seeks desired or justified change can benefit from learning certain basics about effective dialogue and strategy. Hopefully, for students, that learning can occur while attending a major university.


The protesters – and all of us – might take a cue from Jay Smooth and his upbeat, three-minute video of advice about "How To Tell People They Sound Racist." His pointers might even be applicable to some of our political and public policy dialogue.

Review: "Renovate" choreographer's evening, Ritz Theater

Minneapolis, Minnesota


A showcase for 40 dance artists – choreographers and dancers – provided a welcome complement to the first weekend of spring-like weather in the Twin Cities, Mar. 13-15. Styled as "Renovate: Enhancing the Edifice of Twin Cities Dance," the three performances represented a second year of choreographer's evenings presented by Ballet of the Dolls and The Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.


As she did last year, Lisa Conlin, a member of the Dolls, curated the lineup of 11 dance works with advisory assistance this year from Uri Sands, artistic director of TU Dance, and Penelope Freeh, artistic associate of James Sewell Ballet. The major aim of Renovate is to introduce and highlight new talents by giving them a stage, publicity, and an audience. With one exception, all of the choreographers were new to me, as were most of the dancers.


Hip-hop and breakdance veterans Lisa Berman and Carlos Garcia opened the program with "Breakin' Through Cancer," using a music mix including Everyday People, Everday Struggle, Underdog, HAIR, Do Your Thing, and Age of Aquarius. The two choreographers were joined in a variety of solo, group, all guys, and all gals configurations by Amy Sackett, Nicki Cullinan, Madeline Howie, Aneka McMullen, Joe Tran, Tybierius Nguyen, and Mikhail Sakhvadze. The ensemble moved with a nice cohesion and energy. As breaking evolves, however, its movers with staying power for the concert stage will be those who can differentiate themselves from their peers and colleagues. A sharper attack and finer synchronization would be welcome seasonings for this group's nascent virtuosity.


Megan Parlanti performed very fluidly in Stephen Schroeder's "Trial By Grace," created for her senior concert at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Her costume, a tunic and skirt in contrasting shades of darker blue, was striking and well-suited to the flavor of the dance. Schroeder's background as a modern dancer with Zenon Dance Company and Arena Dances is reflected here in the soloist's athletic use of space and, in the third section, time spent on the floor becoming acquainted with the floor. The abrupt editing shifts between musical selections – from Kate Havneik, Univers Zero, Jerry Rau, and Edit: sdeezers – injected a dissonance that served no apparent purpose.


Remember the color of Dreamsicles, those orange-white ice cream treats on a stick? That was the flavorful color of the costumes worn by Estevan Esparza and Pam Plagge in "Lucumi," the duet of Cuban dance they created for themselves to music by Pancho Quinto and Grupo Danzon. They performed nicely together, with Plagge displaying an articulated spine and body not matched by Esparza. Their choreography has a decent base on which to add more complexity and depth in future endeavors.


Although probably not intended or controlled by Esparza and Plagge, the abrupt departure of their many fans – seated near the stage – at the conclusion of "Lucumi" on Sunday was a rude disruption for the audience and the next performers in the first half of the program. The insult was exacerbated as the fans broke into conversation while exiting the theater and one of their number noisily dropped a beverage bottle into the trash.


While the printed playbill for the evening included a number of brief and helpful program notes, the absence of any information about the featured choreographers was notable. For sure, large photos and small-print bios were posted in the theater lobby. The omission was striking on a number of counts. Artists at every stage of development desire to be taken seriously. When the audience does not know who these artists are, and from what background and influences spring their creative impulses, it is near impossible to develop an investment in their work. This was true with Esparza and Plagge; I found nothing of use about him on the internet, while for her I searched enough to learn that she has studied somewhat in Havana and been presented in a choreographer's evening at the Walker Art Center. One should not have to look for basic information. A purpose of showcasing newer artists is to remove them from the insider's game and bring them forward for increased scrutiny and visibility.


Bryan Gerber is a modern dancer with a background in ballet, jazz, and yoga whose heroes include the modern dance pioneers Martha Graham and Ted Shawn. He accompanied the opening of his solo, "Finding Balance," with humming and other vocalizations that gave way to a recording of Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Op. 34/14. Attired in bare torso and shin-length black skirt, Gerber's well-structured movements, largely within a central pool of light, had the look and feel of a captive bird exploring its boundaries.


"Sisterlove," Lisa Conlin's lovely trio for herself and Dolls colleagues Heather Cadigan and Stephanie Fellner, opened with the three women seated, facing upstage, and backed by a meditative segment of Mike Hallenbeck's sound mix. The mix drew from Tim Story, Assumpta Est Maria in Coelum, Ray Lynch, and Minoru Miki. As the abstract narrative unfolded, the dancers interacted with large and small pieces of translucent white and black fabrics.


The last time I saw Jim Lieberthal's work several years ago, he had choreographed a dance for people in wheelchairs. The curiosity of his artistic voice leads him on some worthwhile journeys. He was joined here in performance by Brian Evans, a member of the Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater, and Debra McGee, a member of Arena Dances. I liked the overall crafting of "The Bottom Fell Out...and then." The dancers came across as three independent, interdependent creatures or machines, moving in an angular and staccato – pizzicato? – response to the metallic vibes, clanks, and hammering of music by Ben Siems.


Jaime Carrera is a visual and performance artist who hails from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, by way of Kansas and Chicago. "Frontera," his Renovate offering, is part of a trilogy about Mexican immigrants. In this conceptual solo work, set to music by Cuatro Milpas and El Llorar, Carrera moves with idiosyncratic movement phrases. In an interview with 3MinuteEgg about "Tableaux," his recent production at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, Carrera remarked that he has "done a lot of stuff." It would be interesting to see him attempt fewer things and pull from within more of the complexity and nuance that clearly motivates his expression.


The choreography, vocals, text, and costumes composed by Cathy Wright resulted in the most cohesive work on the program. "Wombman," set to music by Matthew S. Smith, featured performers Nina Ebbighausen, Kristen Ostebee, Christine Maginnis, Sharon Picasso, and Jennifer Mack. The particular combination of costumes and music suggested a mating of Weimar-era decadence with "A Clockwork Orange." In a cast of strong performers, Maginnis shows she still has it going on after a career spanning parts of three decades. Wright's work has been presented by dance companies in Utah, where she earned a BFA degree in modern dance from the University of Utah, and by the Momentum Series of the Walker Art Center and Southern Theater.


Marciano Silva dos Santos, a native of Brazil, provided some of the evening's most complex and interesting movement in "3'0'1," a work for three men and two women, with music by Moana Maru. A solo by dos Santos, a member of both TU Dance and Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater, opened the piece, followed by a quartet of Brian Evans, Cade Holmseth, and Kari Mosel – of the Pimsler company – and Jenny Pennaz. The quartet started from positions on the floor with organic and cliched movement, and progressed to a satisfying finish.


The "most complete" performer on the Ritz stage was Christian Adeti, a native of Accra, Ghana. As a drum and dance instructor and performer, Adeti serves as artistic director of the Titambe West African Dance Ensemble of Minnesota, and has taught at Carleton College in Minnesota, North High School in Minneapolis, and Zenon Dance School. "Ganbolt Dance" drew its inspiration from the mining communities of South Africa where "the men sing and play as they look for gold." Adeti's body served literally as his instrument for drumming, vocalization, and percussion. He was accompanied by performers Autumn Compton and Whitney McClusky.


Julie Warder provided "Jammin," the last-but-not-least program closer. Again, it would have been nice to know something more about this artist than just her name. Working with music by Christian McBride, Warder led her dancers through an abstract drama with the right touch of athletic precision: neither too much nor too little. The performers included Brian Evans, Debra McGee, Cade Holmseth, Kency Roberson, and Aneka McMullen.


Housekeeping details: Throughout the evening, the lighting design did not distract, but would have benefited from a brighter illumination of the performers. The house manager needed to start the show at the advertised 7pm, rather than at 7:10pm. Those quibbles aside, the folks at Ballet of the Dolls and the Ritz Theater should be encouraged to renew Renovate for a third year in 2010.


Italicized text revised/extended 3/19/09, 5:34 AM.

Fury!

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Outrageous and unbelievable!


In the last week: I visited with an agent of a for-profit enterprise that just laid off more than five dozen people and is evaluating whether to renew its sponsoring relationship with one of our major sports facilities. I spoke with an arts community leader who is concerned about losing the community's production infrastructure that provides employment to thousands of on-stage and off-stage people. I took coffee with a writer who is trying to piece together rent and grocery money in a fragmenting publishing milieu. I caught up with a publicist who is working seven days a week to fill 75% of available seats in an ongoing business that requires more than that to break even. On Friday, I dropped in on six organizations to cheer their morale as they deal with budgetary turmoil.


Yesterday: The American International Group (aka A.I.G., the insurance giant termed "too big to fail") announced that it is awarding $165 million in performance-related bonuses for 2008 to some of its employees. This is after the collective we, the citizens of the United States (not all of us are taxpayers) bailed out this firm with infusions of public cash, borrowed from China, to the tune of $170 billion. In a letter to A.I.G.'s chairman, the secretary of the treasury, Timothy Geithner, urged that the bonuses be scrapped.


Today: Larry Summers, chair of the White House National Economic Council, said he is outraged by the news, but because of contracts that pre-date the public bailout there is nothing that can be done to stop the bonuses (although, apparently, effective curbs are in process of implementation going forward). Further, the chairman of A.I.G. says that subjecting the compensation policies of his organization to the dictates of the government (aka the public – you and me – the owners – the people who have guaranteed that they still have jobs) will risk a talent drain to the competition.


Wall Street is separated from Main Street not just by a yawning gap. Wall Street is its own surreal, parallel universe.


Note to Summers and others who say "No we can't" stop these bonuses: You owe your own jobs to our belief and desire that "Yes we can!"


We don't care how you do it. Shut down this outrage!

A good start

Minneapolis, Minnesota


With half of Minnesotans on suicide watch owing to the duration and intensity of winter, and with half poised to slit their wrists if the Coleman/Franken recount does not end during recorded history, sunshine coupled with sustained high temperatures cannot arrive too soon.


Even if this morning began with windchills of –15º to –20º, today's deep and piercing sunshine is a good start, a welcome uptick from yesterday's gray overhang and dump of slop. Once we emerge from tonight's thermometer low of –6º, we will have a shot at remaining above freezing during coming days.


There even are glimmers of hope on the recount front. Assuming that the final witnesses can make it to St. Paul from our blizzard-strewn counties to the west, Team Franken might rest its case this afternoon – two or three weeks ahead of predictions. After Team Coleman's rebuttal and any Franken re-rebuttal, plus closing arguments by both sides, Coleman's legal challenge to the State Canvassing Board's final report could go to the special panel of three, state court judges next week.


After that? Stay tuned. While Franken told some Democratic senators yesterday that he saw light at the end of the recount tunnel, Coleman's campaign manager asserted to some reporters that it really was the light of an oncoming train.


For drama queens and others of every stripe, we have enjoyed or endured (take your pick) months of civic distemper on every topic. From those on the left – complaining about the left-right-and-center – to those on the right – carrying on about the right-left-and-center – it seems none of us are happy about anything.


(Notwithstanding a new Gallup poll that says Minnesotans rank themselves fifth highest for health and happiness.)


Well. At least someone is trying to cope.


The front page of this morning's Star Tribune newspaper featured an interesting juxtaposition. At the top center, the president was quoted as saying "The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens." The adjacent story reported about a substitute teacher in St. Paul who was sent home from school yesterday after blowing a 0.18% on a Breathalyzer test.


Probably not the kind of education, or coping, the prez had in mind.


Coping is a state of mind that requires a positive outlook. For example, anyone who still qualifies to pay capital gains taxes in any amount can be added to the endangered species list. (I know that hurts and isn't funny.) Further, at least for now, it appears that close to 90% of the country is still employed at least part-time. (Also not funny).


Our entertainment industries stand ready to help. The owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team has taken to the airwaves to pitch season tickets for five bucks a game – with the promise that anyone laid off during 2009 will receive a refund.


Only medical tests, however, can remove the darkest cloud on the horizon. Joe Mauer, our hometown star catcher for the Minnesota Twins, had kidney surgery in December. Joe has been able to catch, throw, and swing a bat in spring training, but he still cannot run without back pain and has yet to play a pre-season game. This is not good as we await results of today's magnetic resonance arthrogram in Fort Myers.


Joe's good health would help get the baseball season off to a good start. Could the rest of the world be far behind?

Preview: Coming to the Guthrie

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Follow this link to a YouTube conversation between Galen Treuer and Ellen Swanson about "My Father's Bookshelf," the new Live Action Set production premiering June 18 at The Guthrie's Dowling Studio in Minneapolis.


[Live Action Set website] [Live Action Set Facebook] [Related Minnesota Mist post.]

Stories with brains

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Faced with an apparent underwhelming choice of candidates for the U.S. senate in 2008 (incumbent Norm Coleman-R, and challengers Al Franken-DFL and Dean Barkley-I), Minnesota voters contrived to choose none of them for as long as possible.


The proceedings surrounding the re-count of an election too-close-to-call, certification by the State Canvassing Board, and the (so far) month-long trial initiated by Coleman have resulted in not seating one of two senators to which Minnesota is entitled. Today's tally has Franken ahead by fewer than 300 votes, but stay tuned. Eventually, either Coleman or Franken will assume the office, with neither possessing a mandate from a majority of the voters.


I appreciate the collective wisdom of this expression by the electorate, although I know that many do not. Possibly, if we could have forced a do-over with a new slate of candidates, we would have done so. That is not in the legal deck of cards.


Would that it were so, however, for such sterling public servants as Jack Kingston, the representative for Georgia's 1st Congressional District. Before voting against the recent stimulus package, Kingston raised a fuss about including $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts because the money would not be spent on real jobs for real people. That kind of talk riled some of us arts and culture types. Especially since Kingston's own website touts his district as something of "a literary haven" and the background setting for filming of Academy Award-winning movies.


Kingston's wisdom aside, artists and members of their support system believe themselves to be very real people. In fact, I believe one segment of artists – dancers – are among the most intelligent people on the planet.


Coinciding with the conversation in Washington about the reality of the arts was the appearance in Minneapolis of an essay by Melodie Bahan, director of communications at the Guthrie Theater. Bahan, who says she likes well-written reviews, thinks that readers of daily newspapers would be served better by a focus on "actual journalistic coverage of the arts."


Insisting that journalists are storytellers and that thousands of stories are not being written, Bahan says "Stop writing reviews and start writing news."


Oh, honey!


Surely you at least thought twice about such a position after the Star Tribune newspaper reported last month about the $682,300 salary and benefits that were paid to Guthrie Director Joe Dowling in 2007. (That is less than 3% of the Guthrie's budget, by the way.) Even though an editorial noted that Dowling and others had earlier taken 20% cuts, and even though a reader observed the sum is less than 5% that paid to three roster members of the Minnesota Twins, I would bet that you and your colleagues did not welcome the writing of such news. Nor the discussion that has reverberated since.


Nonetheless, let us assume that the arts are somehow as real as the rest of the world, that they are created and sustained by real people, that they impart meaning and value to other real people, and that they should be subject to real journalism. What real, or surreal, stories would then be written, and with what timing?


Relative to Dowling, we would have read in 2003 that he and others took 20% pay cuts to tide over a rough patch in the Guthrie's finances. That would have been as laudable then as was last week's welcome news that Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, opted to forego a 2008 performance bonus of $11.7 million after the company's stock price tanked by 56%. As noted by Forbes, this action by Immelt and GE set an example both of good governance and good public relations. The example stands in contrast to the more than $3 billion in bonuses approved for employees of Merrill Lynch by former CEO John Thain following 4th quarter losses in 2008 of multi-millions of dollars.


We would read, as we did last week, that the New York City Ballet would not renew the contracts of 11 of 101 dancers next year; that senior staff already had taken 10% salary reductions; that junior staff will take 5% reductions next year; that ticket sales and donations are down 6-8%; that this year's deficit of $5.5 million will equal 8.8% of the $62.3 million budget; that next year's deficit is projected at $2-3 million; and that the endowment has dropped from $187 million to $138 million. We would read, as we have not, how the company intends to finance multiple years of deficits totalling multi-millions of dollars. We would read, as we have not, why the company believes it cannot institute balanced budgets for the current and succeeding years.


Such stories would juxtapose nicely with today's congressional testimony by Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who landed Flight 1549 safely in the Hudson River, not far from City Ballet's headquarters at Lincoln Center. Sullenberger told the aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that his pay has been cut 40% in recent years and his pension terminated. He has started a consulting business to augment his pilot's pay and works seven days a week to make ends meet.


We would continue to be outraged by news such as that greeting us this morning: (1) After investing $150 billion in American International Group (aka A.I.G., the insurance giant that is "too big to fail") where the collective we now own 80% of the company, they tell us they need tens of billions of dollars more. (2) After investing $45 billion in Citigroup, we need to give them more, raising our ownership stake to 40%. (3) General Motors and Chrysler need $22 billion on top of the $17 billion we already have lent. No doubt, some top staff people at these outfits would continue to complain about the government's salary compensation caps because they have contrived a lifestyle for themselves that does not work with less than seven figures.


(You read it here first: I can and will run any company into the ground for $500,000 a year. I will bring along my own cronies to help me do it. Where do I sign my contract?)


An age of real-arts-news-not-reviews would continue to include hard facts in stories such as appeared in the New York Times nine days ago (Sun., Feb. 15, 2009, AR5). Writer Kate Taylor reported on the viral fund-raising efforts by the Magic Theatre in San Francisco to raise $350,000 to avoid closing for good after 40 years. The theater has enjoyed a national reputation for its creation and production of new plays.


Basically, as reported by Taylor, a former artistic director drove the subscription audience away with crappy work that even the board of directors did not like. Still, the staff and board let the budget (i.e., expense budget) double to $2 million while debts mounted. After a $75,000 shortfall in this season's subscriptions "the board took a closer look at the balance sheets....The theater had maxed out its $300,000 line of credit and had $300,000 in other debts."


I have been looking for a new gig in the arts, am up for a challenge, and saw that the Magic had a leadership position posted. So, I started digging deeper to find out more of the back story on $600,000 of debt – representing 30% of the budget. A Dec. 31 story in the San Francisco Chronicle quoted the artistic director as saying "There was a lot of debt we didn't realize we had....This situation is the result of years and years of mismanagement."


A Jan. 19 Chronicle story related a combination of causes and quoted the board chair thusly: "The reports we were getting at the finance committee level and at the board level were not thorough enough for us to fully understand the mounting accounts payable....That's our fault." The future of the Magic Theatre remains in doubt.


Indeed.


Rep. Kingston down in Georgia should take comfort in the knowledge that mindless risk-taking and financial mismanagement are traits shared by incompetents in for-profit and non-profit enterprises.


Ms. Bahan is right: there are a lot of stories not being written. Some of them could include the tales of mismanagement and poor governance within organizations in Minnesota that pre-date the current economic downturn. To be fair, however, many organizations do have their acts together, and we should read about those also.


Just as I read this morning about many of Minnesota's good "Banks That Had a Brain" in a laudatory essay by Minnesota's solo senator, Amy Klobuchar. Not all banks lost their heads and ran off to the land of Oz, Klobuchar writes. "They did well, both for themselves and for the people they serve."

Signs of it

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Spring! The air retains a chill, but this morning's clear sky reflects a deeper shade of blue here in Twins Territory. Meanwhile, members of the Minnesota Twins baseball team began convening in Fort Myers, Florida, this week for the start of spring training. Opening day at the Metrodome in Minneapolis is seven weeks away: Monday, Apr. 6, 7:10pm, hosting the Seattle Mariners.

Leading

Minneapolis, Minnesota


Kate Barr is one of the stars in the firmament of nonprofit organizations in Minnesota – or, anywhere, for that matter. I have known her for years, first for her appreciation of the arts, particularly dance, but also for her stellar leadership of the Nonprofits Assistance Fund. As a former senior banker, Kate is versed in the "can't-argue-with-certain-basics" that should underpin all nonprofit organizations. Her background has given her expertise in how to use the tools of finance and good management to make things happen and get things done.


I wish often that I could channel Kate's wisdom which she shares periodically and succinctly in her blog. The best I can do is link to her posts in the column to the left. Her latest offering, "Who Said Leadership Was Fun?" sums up a great deal in a small space. Some excerpts:

The Minnesota Council on Foundations invited Judith Alnes from MAP for Nonprofits and me to contribute an article for their current issue of Giving Forum.... When I read the article in print today, this statement in the conclusion really jumped out for me:

Those of us in leadership roles should remember that this time will be judged by the actions we take or the actions we fail to take.

That’s a lot of weight being carried by leaders of nonprofits....

Sometimes, being a leader requires you to take responsibility for tough problems and be held accountable for the results.... If you’re the one who has to stare at the budget column or read the letter informing you of a funding reduction you know what this feels like....

This is a time to learn a new leadership approach or adapt well developed leadership practices. I have some ideas about what needs to change and I hope that you will weigh in as well.... [Read the whole post.]

• • •

My two cents: Who was it that said “Know thyself”? This seems particularly necessary in a time when so many organizations are dealing with existential issues and fighting/hoping for survival. When we cannot change the world, we only can change our perceptions of and reactions to it. I always have found that when I make myself vulnerable and open to the worst possible outcome I find great strength and energy. Still, it can be challenging to maintain a posture of openness in the presence of inertia or the absence of reciprocity. One needs an immersion and grounding in the realities of his/her organization’s “numbers” and in the limits of one’s individual capabilities, knowing at all times what is the bottom line. With and without other people, I ask two questions: What is the worst thing that could happen? If it happened, can I live with that? If the answer to the second question is “yes,” then anything short of the worst is a gift, and I can live with it. GP

Vignettes

Minneapolis, Minnesota


The Minnesota Orchestra presented the world premiere of its commission, "Oboe Concerto," by composer Christopher Rouse this week. A thoroughly pleasant work, it was given a fine reading by Basil Reeve and his colleagues under the baton of Osmo Vänskä. Along with other works, the program also included Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique." I have not heard this symphony live since Eiji Oue led the Orchestra. As conducted by Vänskä, the work had more energy and nuance than one hears on many recordings.

• • •

Why do some Republicans insist on speaking about real Virginians, real Americans, and now real people?


Michael Kranish reported in the Boston Globe last week about criticism of the economic stimulus bill moving through Congress. The House version – passed without a single Republican vote – contains $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. The funds are not in the current draft of the yet-to-be-passed Senate version. Kranish cited Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the third-ranking Republican in the House, "who has urged Obama to 'get the pork barrel spending out,'" and Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, who wants to transfer the proposed NEA funding to highway construction. "We have real people out of work right now and putting $50 million in the NEA and pretending that's going to save jobs as opposed to putting $50 million in a road project is disingenuous," Kingston said [emphasis added].


Michael Steele, the newly-elected GOP chairman, shares that line of thought. Speaking on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos this morning, Steele said "What this administration is talking about is making work. It is creating work.... It's not a job."


It makes one wonder what is real.

• • •

The Minneapolis Convention Center stands four blocks from my house and serves as the portal to the downtown skyway system – enclosed bridges that span streets to connect buildings on the second level. Over the years I have observed and overheard the buzz of many convenings, including those of varied religious organizations. For three days last week, nearly 1,400 pastors swarmed the hallways and skyways leading to the Hilton Hotel for the "Desiring God" conference. According to their literature and website, this is a Baptist-related group that follows the ministry of John Piper, a senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Piper's congregation has played a positive role in its community, including as an advocate for affordable housing. Nonetheless, it was a bit startling to understand how divergent are some of its perspectives from one's own. To-wit, this answer to a question about the Desiring God conference:

Can Pastor's Wives Attend? We intentionally seek to foster a male fraternity because it is rare and uniquely refreshing for pastors to fellowship with men who carry similar burdens and to counsel one another with the kind of frankness that is awkward to do in mixed company. However, we do not prohibit wives from attending, knowing that there are circumstances where it is the best choice for marriage or ministry

This is startling because I have become used to churches where women serve as full partners in ministry and whatever burdens come with it.

Food, glorious food!

Minneapolis, Minnesota


You can help alleviate hunger in Minnesota by buying and eating loads of bananas.


Through a mechanism of recovery and donation, the empty cartons in which the Chiquita company ships bananas to wholesale grocers and retail stores find their way to a 65,000 sq. ft. warehouse in New Hope, a suburban community of Minneapolis. There, an army of volunteers packs 35-40 pounds of food into each box for distribution to a network of 200 foodshelves and relief programs in 35 Minnesota counties.


This distribution process is the centerpiece of the programs operated by the Emergency Foodshelf Network, a nonprofit foodbank founded in 1976 to collect, warehouse, and distribute high quality food and provide essential support services.


The foodbank system can be reduced to numbers, each number ultimately representing individual people in the system.


EFN's warehouse itself would be a performing artist's dream facility. The second floor of the Hennepin Center for the Arts in downtown Minneapolis has two, freespan dance studios – each two stories high – and accompanying office space that occupy roughly 7,500 sq. ft. The EFN space is larger by more than 8-1/2 times!


Volunteers provided EFN with more than 200,000 hours of service last year, worth $3.9 million. Nearly 75 hours were donated today by 27 members of the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus in an outing organized by Jason Schuck, the chorus president.


The day's efforts were inspired by the theme of the chorus's March concert performances: "Food, Glorious Food!" Songs with a culinary flavor will be accented by advice from guest food diva Lynne Rosetto Kasper, host of The Splendid Table® on American Public Media.


Under the direction of Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Cobb, 17 guys sorted through tons of donated canned and packaged goods for 2-1/2 hours, discarding a motley variety of paper bags and boxes while checking expiration dates. For present purposes, all peanut butter items, a considerable number, were set aside. Then, they assembled a balanced collection of foodstuffs into the Chiquita cartons – whose ratio of tops to bottoms was duly noted by some to be equal. Packed cartons were stacked on pallets, three deep, three wide, and five high. Just shy of eight pallets were stacked containing nearly 13,000 pounds of food.


Ten other men re-packed meat into 365 "mega-meat packages," each providing servings for an average family unit of four.


Once the statistics are entered into the tracking system, EFN will send an email to its member agencies telling them it has 13,000 pounds of food ready for distribution. Agencies will then order what they need, either for delivery by EFN or pickup by the agency. Approximately 4,900 people will eat food from today's packaging.


The average foodshelf site in EFN's network receives 800 pounds of free food per month, equal to 50 bags of groceries. On average, this translates into a distribution of one bag of food per person, per family.


According to EFN's website, for each individual, corporate, foundation, and government dollar donated, 92¢ is expended directly on programs. The agency does not charge its members fees of any kind for its services, and operates with a lean staff of 27 and a fleet of five vehicles. In addition to distributing free food, EFN makes bulk purchases at discount to resell without markup to its members.


The United States does not lack for sufficient food to feed its people. What is lacking is the capacity of individuals to purchase what is needed. A recent survey by Hormel Foods reported that one in four Minnesotans said they or a family member had visited a food shelf. One in 10 said they or someone in their family went to bed hungry in the past month because of lack of money for food.


Each year, 96 billion pounds of food, 27% of the U.S. food supply, is wasted and thrown away. EFN's Lost Harvest program attempts to salvage some of this. Here's how.


Consumers have become accustomed to purchasing produce of uniform size and color from their grocery displays. Consequently, at the U.S./Mexico border at Nogales, Arizona, thousands of tons of perfectly good, fresh produce are sent to landfills because they are misshapen or off-color. One truck, 35,000 pounds, of such produce is worth $100,000 and can feed 8,000 individuals. EFN's only cost is that of its transport from Arizona to Minnesota for $4,000 per truck. In 2008, EFN transported and distributed 1 million pounds of produce – with a value of $2.8 million – at a total transport cost of around $114,000.


Like the rest of this operation, that is nonprofit and free market efficiency at its best. Even our new, Wall Street socialists should support that!


The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus will present "Food, Glorious Food!" at the Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 4th Street South, Minneapolis, Fri-Sat, Mar. 27-28, 8pm. Tickets: $23-$43, 612.624.2345.

Exhibit: A dance legacy, University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota


In 1962, Loyce Houlton founded a small dance school near the University of Minnesota that became the Minnesota Dance Theatre (MDT). Known for blending classical with contemporary dance, MDT engages the community and cultivates young dancers. For four decades, the company has performed the “Nutcracker Fantasy,” originally choreographed by Houlton and one of the most sought after holiday events in Minnesota.


“Houlton’s Legacy: The Magic of Dance” is a colorful survey and exhibit of MDT's evolution. The exhibit features selections from the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Performing Arts Collection and includes personal notes and choreographic sketches from Houlton, photos of the company, original costumes, props, set designs, and continuous viewing of live performances from the past to the present.


An essay by arts journalist Camille LeFevre, "A life in Dance, Resurrected" details the horrifying and dramatic story of how MDT's records were saved from destruction 20 years ago, and describes how they are displayed in the current exhibit.


Houlton's Legacy: The Magic of Dance, thru Feb. 20, 1st floor gallery, Elmer L. Andersen Library, West Bank Campus, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 8:30am-4:15pm M-F; 9am-1pm Sa. Free.