Copious Notes

The past few weeks have brought about some interesting Lexington arts headlines.

Lexington Ballet artistic director Luis Dominguez at work on a production of his original ballet, Cabbage Moon. Herald-Leader file photo.

Lexington Ballet hires executive director: The Lexington Ballet reached, ­almost literally, across the fourth-floor lobby of ArtsPlace to hire the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra’s education director, Joe Tackett, as chief business officer.

The ballet’s board president, Michael Potapov, said, “Over the past several years, the board has worked to position the organization to once again become a pillar of the cultural landscape in Lexington.”

The ballet begins auditioning for a new professional company this week.

LexArts cuts Actors Guild’s funding: After what LexArts says has been several years of trying to work through financial travails with Actors Guild of Lexington, the united arts fund’s allocations committee cut off funding for Lexington’s only semi-professional theater for adults.

AGL had requested a $70,900 allocation from this year’s Campaign for the Arts, a figure comparable to the theater’s allocations in recent years. Actors Guild has appealed the de-funding.

That Actors Guild and the Lexington Ballet almost simultaneously made arts news in Lexington is familiar.

In spring 1998, a six-figure financial meltdown devastated the Lexington Ballet, which until then had been one of Lexington’s leading cultural institutions. In 1997, it received more than $80,000 in the Campaign for the Arts from what was then the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council.

Less than two weeks later, revelation of a $20,000 financial shortfall prompted the Actors Guild board to fire all three members of its management team.

Both groups ended up initially shut out of funding from the Campaign for the Arts.

But from there, the paths diverged.

Shortly after its house-cleaning, Actors Guild hired Deb Shoss as its new producing director, and she quickly brought the troupe back into the council’s good graces. When Shoss retired in 2002, then-LACC director Dee Fizdale said, “The LACC got behind the organization because it came to us with a solid plan that it carried out.”

The Lexington Ballet? Not so much, as far as the LACC was concerned.

The ballet’s management chafed at moves to monitor its attempts to recover. Officials had a stormy relationship with a consultant hired with support from LACC, and they vehemently opposed suggestions to merge Lexington Ballet with Kentucky Ballet Theatre, which was formed by dancers and the assistant director who were fired from the Lexington Ballet.

Actors Guild and Lexington Ballet are both still in business, but the dance group has never resumed receiving allocations from the LACC, which is now LexArts.

Nothing is black and white. Lexington Ballet did have successes in the ensuing years, and Actors Guild has had problems.

But the recent headlines show how much things can change over time.

The none-too-subtle subtext of ballet board president Potapov’s statement about the troupe’s latest move: We want to return to our former glory.

LexArts president and chief executive Jim Clark says the ballet has a way to go before it will be considered for allocations again, but that under the leadership of artistic director Luis Dominguez, the ballet has made strides in programming and presenting guest artists, including a collaboration with Dance Theatre of Harlem this spring.

The addition of a business leader and a professional company, reportedly comprising four dancers, could build on that.

Actors Guild also has shown ambition recently. It just wrapped up its season with one of its biggest hits: The world-premiere production of Kentucky author Silas House’s play Long Time Traveling. And the theater has moved its offices into the burgeoning Distillery District and announced plans to create a second stage series and a cabaret series and to enter into an agreement with ­Actors Equity, the stage actors union. All of these moves have been cited as revenue-generating initiatives.

But all that was before the LexArts allocations committee’s patience with Actors Guild’s financial travails seemed to come to an end.

Actors Guild is appealing the decision. And even if it does not get the LexArts funds, leaders say the theater can continue, although after losing $70,000, it’s hard to imagine that it would be the same type of organization.

And hiring new people in the front office and for the stage at the ballet is no guarantee of success.

But for now, 11 years after some of the most tumultuous days in Lexington arts, the toe shoes seem to be on different feet.

The Lexington Ballet has named Lexington Philharmonic education director Joe Tackett as its executive director. Part of his mission will be helping the ballet hire a new professional company of dancers.

Joe Tackett speaks at a WEKU event in May.

In making the move, Ballet board president Michael Potapov said, “Over the past several years the Board has worked to position the organization to once again become a pillar of the cultural landscape in Lexington.”

The Lexington Ballet was one of the city’s leading arts groups until 1998, when a financial crisis forced it to fire its company of professional dancers. Some of those dancers splintered off to form what is now the Kentucky Ballet Theatre. Since then, the Lexington Ballet has struggled through ups and downs, hiring professional dancers on a couple of occasions but primarily presenting productions featuring students from its school and guest artists.

Tackett will join artistic director Luis Dominguez, who has been with the ballet since 2003, in leading the company.

For the past four seasons, Tackett has been the education director of the Lexington Philharmonic and its librarian, in addition to playing bass with the orchestra. Philharmonic audiences got to know him over the past two seasons as the moderator of pre-show chats with candidates to succeed George Zack as the orchestra’s music director. The orchestra hired Charleston (S.C.) Symphony Orchestra resident conductor Scott Terrell in April.

In the Ballet’s release, Tackett said, “”The ballet is poised to become a leading force for the arts in the Bluegrass, and I can’t wait to be a part of the excitement!”

Lexington Ballet artistic director Luis Dominguez found inspiration for Saturday afternoon’s show in his 5-year-old’s library.

Dominguez was aware that other companies had staged stories by celebrated children’s author Beatrix Potter as ballets, and it seemed like a good idea for a spring family show.

“I have a 5-year-old, Alex, and he has the books, and I went and read the books, and I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s do it,’” Dominguez says.

“Beatrix Potter came about because we wanted to have a ballet that would appeal to adults and kids alike, and that would have resonance because it was an old tale.”

Dominguez’s original version of The Magical Tales of Beatrix Potter will top off a big weekend for the company. Friday night, Lexington Ballet hosts and opens for Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble. That brings the artistic director’s old company to his current stage.

The back-to-back performances make life hectic for Dominguez, getting his dancers ready for Saturday while also preparing to welcome an internationally acclaimed touring ensemble to town. He says the events coincided because the ballet was already planning to present Beatrix Potter when the opportunity to present Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble emerged. Dominguez says it worked perfectly because the theater was already booked.

So Friday night will be all about world-class dance, and Saturday afternoon will be all about emerging dancers in the Bluegrass.

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