While Ballet Chicago putzes around spending hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to establish itself, the Milwaukee Ballet is looking good after an ugly breakup with the Pennsylvania Ballet, ending its second post-Pennsylvania season with a balanced budget, a growing band of happy subscribers, and renewed visibility in its hometown. Milwaukee Ballet doesn’t have any special secret–just sound fiscal management, a strong artistic product, and aggressive and creative marketing.
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Almost as soon as Stirdivant arrived, he began campaigning for an end to the Pennsylvania Ballet venture. The companies had merged their dancers into one touring company, but the administrative sides remained separate, and Stirdivant says he could see the Milwaukee side of the deal was bearing more than its fair share of the financial burden, an inequity that eventually would do it in if the partnership weren’t dissolved. The Milwaukee board agreed with Stirdivant’s assessment, and in early 1989 the Milwaukee Ballet stood alone again, with six dancers and a looming $1.6 million debt.
Meyer unveiled a refreshingly different ad campaign for the 1989-’90 season, one that sought to debunk the elitist aura that has traditionally enveloped ballet. In one ad, plastered across a large photo of a little girl eyeing an obviously bashful boy at a kiddie prom event was the question: “Are you still afraid of dancing?” The adjacent copy said: “The cotton mouth. The sweaty palms. The fear that your friends will make fun of you. If the thought of trying a new dance still triggers these reactions, the Milwaukee Ballet has the cure.”
The efforts of all involved with the Milwaukee Ballet appear to be paying off. Stirdivant will have whittled the $1.6 million debt down to less than $100,000 by the end of the fiscal year, and the company should end the 1990-’91 season with a balanced budget of approximately $3.4 million and a company of 27 dancers.
