marketplace

W: The world of ballet is a world of beauty and fantasy. It is an escape from the real world. But ballet exists in the real world and in the real world everything needs money. The money we can afford for art is getting more and more scarce. Can ballet and other expensive arts survive ? I spoke to Tony Barlow, who used to be a ballet dancer and is now a press officer for the London Festival Ballet.
   M: We must sell ourselves. You have to do this in the modern world. Art must compete in the market place.
   W: You make art sound like business.
   M: Well, in some ways we are a business. Today we have posters, leaflets and advertisements. We have to use these in order to survive.
   W: But can art pay for itself?
   M: No. We must pay our orchestras and our seventy dancers. We have to buy scenery and costumes and the cost of travelling and administration is very high. When the theatres are full, the money we get is not enough. So, we are given money by the Arts Council and the Greater London Council.
   W: How much?
   M: About 1,875,300 pounds.
   W: So how much does a ballet ticket really cost the public?
   M: The cheapest ticket is ￡ 2. But if we didn’t get a subsidy it would cost from ￡20 to ￡25. The Royal Opera is already charging ￡ 37 and that’s with the subsidy.
   W: But art is "truth and beauty". Does truth and beauty really need so much money?
   M: Yes. This is spectacular art. Ballets such as "Sleeping Beauty" and" Swan Lake" were made in a time of splendour. We are not in a time of splendour now, but people still want to see these ballets. However, if we find that we can’t do ballets in the traditional way, we find other ways. You can do a lot with lighting and cheap materials. Also, we are looking for the ballets which don’t need such expensive costumes and scenery. We are training our dancers to do more than dance. They are taught acting, make-up and stage-lighting. Ballet is becoming more a part of the theatre.