NBC BALLERINA FIGHTS NONRENEWAL OF CONTRACT.

TORONTO--Rather than issue a retirement announcement and end her twenty-year career on a stage strewn with flowers, Kimberly Glasco, the National Ballet of Canada's most senior ballerina, has come out fighting over what she feels is a wrongful dismissal.

In a December 1 meeting, artistic director James Kudelka told Glasco, 38, that her contract would not be renewed. On December 7 she fired off a three-page fax to the Toronto media claiming that Kudelka was angry because, as a board member, she had voiced concerns about a debt-plagued company spending two million dollars on his new production of Swan Lake and that she had not supported his appointment as artistic director in 1996. Glasco is one of the two company members elected to sit on the board. Her statement also noted that Kudelka acknowledged that she was "dancing beautifully" and that she herself felt she had eight to ten more years left in her performing career.

Kudelka countered these accusations by telling the media that Glasco was a "specialty item"--that as a classical ballerina rather than a contemporary one, she no longer fits in with his vision of the company. As proof of this "artistic incompatibility," he cited that choreographers were not casting Glasco in new works, and her usefulness to the National Ballet was too limited to justify her $100,000 salary. Her only roles this season were in La Bayadere and Manon.

Representing the company, executive director Valerie Wilder told Dance Magazine that there is always bloodletting by new artistic directors, and most senior ballerinas who are given the push are not ready to leave. In reasoning out his options for the future, Kudelka concluded that Glasco's salary would free money to increase the number of dancers, now down to forty-five due to budget cuts. Wilder then expressed sorrow that Glasco's parting was not more amicable. She went through Glasco's fax, pointing out what she felt were inaccuracies, such as board minutes not indicating any strong objections by Glasco to Swan Lake. She also said that Swan Lake, which premieres in May, was within 10 percent of being fully funded.

For her part, Glasco says that she absolutely stands by the veracity of her statement about what went on at the board meeting. "I'm in shock. James is telling the press that my dancing has been slipping, yet he never said anything to me. There was no buildup, no warning." Glasco is angry at what she calls "age discrimination," claiming that she would be the first to know if her body were giving out. "What does this say to young dancers--get seasoned and you're out? I'm just hitting my prime. I like working with James and I admire his talent. I want my job back."

At press time, Glasco had sought legal advice, although there was no formal lawsuit announced. She was scheduled to dance Manon on tour in April, but, on the advice of her lawyer, did not return to company class after the Christmas break.