BUDGET PROBLEMS LOOM IN MIAMI.

Miami City Ballet launched its 2000-01 season last October with an all-Balanchine program so bright it countered the fact that this company has been navigating through dark financial straits. That opening bill included 1975's Sonatine, coached meticulously by original performers Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, as a substitute for a world premiere by former resident choreographer Jimmy Gamonet de Los Heros, whose position was eliminated under controversial circumstances in the summer and whose future relationship with the organization is still under negotiation (see Dance Magazine's October 2000 Presstime News).

A subsequent company press release tied that artistic turn to a shortage of funds leading to the cutback of eight administrative positions, which included the directors of public relations, development, human resources and facilities. In this process, Richard Lane, instrumental in overseeing the building of the company's year-old, $7.5 million facility, found himself jobless after a decade with the institution. Lane has been hired as company manager by Ballet West, which has a new multi-million-dollar headquarters in the works in Salt Lake City, Utah.

No touring cancellations are foreseen for Miami City Ballet, however, since, according to board president Mike Eidson, "these are break-even propositions--and good experience for the dancers."

The personnel reductions at the company, along with further belt-tightening (more use of taped music, for example), are meant to trim as much as $500,000 from the nearly $10 million budget for the period ending in May. Actual spending reached $10.5 million in the previous fiscal period.

"One of the first things I did [when brought in last year]," said Eidson, "was hire a New York consultant to look at staff and operating expenses and make recommendations about fund-raising sources." As board president he advocates taking a more cautious approach to development without sacrificing artistic product.

An advertising campaign has professed the advantages of corporate partnerships with Miami City Ballet, including recognition, promotion, networking and development. These matched contributions in annual installments go to donors' particular interests in such areas as costuming, set design, music, education and performances.

An "Encore Presenter," for instance, would, with $15,000, refurbish a ballet that has been in repertoire for five years; $25,000, lets a "Program Presenter" help underwrite a complete repertory bill in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties. A "Tri-County Presenter" for the new "Ballet for Young People" series, created as a lower-cost audience builder, pledges $125,000. And a costume underwriter for the company's February premiere of Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue would contribute $25,000, and $100,000 for the waltz section of Artistic Director Edward Villella's The Neighborhood Ballroom, a world premiere slated for this season's last program in March. In the education department, scholarship money from $2,400 to over $10,000 sponsors a student through forty weeks of training at different levels. Endowment of a special Hispanic Artistic and Scholarship Fund requires up to $5,000 per year for five years.

Contributions are complemented by earned income from more than 15,000 subscribers and audiences exceeding 30,000 for The Nutcracker, a financially crucial staple. As reported in The Miami Herald, a loan of $1.1 million has further reduced the immediate financial strain.

All this should help fulfill Eidson's goal to "continue to increase the visibility of the ballet in this community," he said. "They need to understand how important this institution is. We have something world-class that's missing from other, even larger cities."