A great comment, submitted to Portland Arts Watch blog by Jamey Hampton of BodyVox – I’ll repost it here in its entirety:
There are a few key measurable that define a vibrant, thriving and desirable community. A government structure that attracts and facilitates business growth; a variety of spectator and individual sports and recreation opportunities; and an arts and culture community that is viable, existing through a combination of public, private and earned support. OBT has grown to represent an adequately sized ballet company for a community our size. It’s $5-6 million dollar budget is not unreasonable given the scope and sophistication of its offerings to the public it serves. Perhaps better planning would have enabled them to foresee the possibility of a massive shortfall in contributed income, but the same could be said for the myriad businesses that have failed and disappeared during this economic cycle, including some of the nation’s largest homebuilders, retail companies, design and architecture firms, manufacturing companies, etc. Whether ballet is your thing or not, a healthy ballet company is an indication of a community with a degree of sophistication that is pervasive. The three-legged stool that is the structure of OBT (their school, their outreach programs, their performance series) brings the art of dance performance to a broad swath of greater Portland that is profound in its scope. To lose that element of vitality in our community is difficult to envision. I maintain that we would all be the lesser for it. I trust that the community will rally to the case of OBT. The company remains integral to the elemental structure of Portland’s enduring superiority as a place to live one’s life.
Jamey Hampton
BodyVox