VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2 • WINTER 2007 HEC M o n t r é a l ~ AIMAC Karen Kain and the INTERNATIONAL National Ballet of Canada Jacqueline Cardinal, Laurent Lapierre JOURNAL of ARTS MANAGEMENT The Futurist Stance of Historical Societies: An Analysis of Position Statements Dirk H.R. Spennemann Volunteer Management in Arts Organizations: A Case Study and Managerial Implications Helen Bussell, Deborah Forbes Letting Go of the Reins: Paradoxes and Puzzles in Leading an Artistic Enterprise Ralph Bathurst, Lloyd Williams, Anne Rodda A Scale for Measuring Aesthetic Style in the Field of Luxury and Art Products Joëlle Lagier, Bruno Godey Why Occasional Theatregoers in France Do Not Become Subscribers Christine Petr C OMPANY PROFILE Karen Kain and the National Ballet of Canada Jacqueline Cardinal, Laurent Lapierre Moscow International Ballet competition, I hate the superficiality of small Kain was invited to perform on the world’s talk. I have dedicated my career most celebrated stages. Beautiful inside as well to getting to the heart of com- as out, endowed with an extraordinary dra- munication in body language, matic intensity and trained for seven years in stripping off whatever is super- the demanding Ceccheti technique, she had fluous. Embellishment isn’t my always dreamed of dancing the part of Giselle Jacqueline Cardinal is a in the ballet of the same name. Kain’s mother Research Associate with style; I try to distil the essence, took her to see Giselle on her eighth birthday, the Pierre Péladeau Chair of and remain uncomfortable with and her future was decided that day. Leadership at HEC Montréal. frills and excesses in language She holds a MA from Harvard Leading choreographers such as Eliot Feld, University, a diploma in and movement alike. John Neumeier, John Alleyne and James Administrative Sciences from Karen Kain1 Kudelka have all created works especially for HEC Montréal, a Bac. ès Kain. Rudolf Nureyev chose her as his part- Arts from the Université ner, replacing Margot Fonteyn. Roland Petit de Montréal and a degree in translation from McGill invited her to dance with his Ballet National University. A biographer, Karen Kain is a living legend in English de Marseille and Mikhail Baryshnikov joined writer and certified transla- Canada. When she walks down the street in her at the National Ballet of Canada following tor, she has produced over Toronto, she turns heads. People recognize his defection from the Bolshoi Ballet in 1974. 20 case studies and regularly her delicate silhouette and easily fall under the Always unsure of her talent and insecure to the contributes feature articles charm of her serene smile. Little girls attend- end about her ability to achieve perfection in on leadership to daily news- papers and refereed journals. ing performances of the National Ballet of movement, Kain retired from dance in 1997. She is currently working on Canada, of which Karen Kain is currently However, she remains deeply attached to the a project with the Pierre Artistic Director, dream of catching a glimpse National Ballet of Canada. Péladeau Chair of Leadership of her, securing her autograph, hearing her to produce biographies of voice, or perhaps, if they are lucky, even touch- leaders who have left a mark on their era and their ing her dress. community. In 2006 she The dancer who has come to be the dar- The National Ballet of Canada co-published, with Laurent ling of Canada has had a brilliant career as a Lapierre, two biographies, prima ballerina. At the age of 22, after win- he National Ballet has experienced Noblesse oblige: Philippe de ning the women’s silver medal and, with Tremarkable growth since its founding Gaspé Beaubien et Nan-b de her Canadian partner Frank Augustyn, the in 1957. Supported throughout the years by Gaspé Beaubien and Jacques Duchesneau sur le qui-vive. award for best pas de deux at the prestigious generous patrons and by the Canada Council L’audace dans l’action. 62 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS MANAGEMENT Laurent Lapierre holds the for the Arts, it is the country’s foremost clas- of the work in 1967, The Nutcracker has been Pierre Péladeau Chair of sical ballet company. The National Ballet a fixture of the holiday season. Leadership at HEC Montréal. boasts a complement of 68 professional danc- In addition to these lavish productions of He teaches courses on ers, its own 62-piece orchestra, 74 permanent classical works, the National Ballet offers pro- leadership, management of employees and 225 volunteers. Its current grams featuring shorter works. By drawing on arts enterprises and cul- tural industries. His research home is the Walter Carsen Centre for the less well-known works by eminent choreog- interests include leadership National Ballet of Canada, a modern structure raphers such as George Balanchine, Michael and the influence of manag- located close to Lake Ontario, built in 1996 Fokine, Frederick Ashton, William Forsythe, ers’ personalities on their thanks in part to the generosity of Walter John Neumeier, Glen Tetley and the National management style and the Carsen. The building houses offices, rehearsal Ballet’s resident choreographer, James Kudelka, role of management behav- studios and workshops. From 1964 to 2006 the company is able to offer a very diverse pro- iour in an organization’s per- formance. He has served as the company’s performance home was the gram from one year to the next. Throughout its editor of the journal Gestion: 3,200-seat theatre at Toronto’s Hummingbird history, the National Ballet has supplemented Revue internationale de ges- Centre (formerly named the O’Keefe Centre). its standard classical repertoire by commis- tion. He is a board member Today, the National Ballet is at a turning point sioning new works from both Canadian and and an executive commit- in its history: in September 2006 it moved, foreign choreographers, including artists such tee member of the Canada Council for the Arts. along with the Canadian Opera Company, as David Adams and Grant Strate in the 1950s to its new home at the Four Seasons Centre and 1960s, and, from the 1970s on, Anne for the Performing Arts. Although equipped Ditchburn, Constantin Patsalas, John Alleyne, with improved sight lines, acoustics and back- Robert Desrosiers, Danny Grossman and of-house space, the new venue has only 2,000 James Kudelka. seats. This move will have an important strate- A number of renowned figures in the dance gic impact on the company. world have influenced the style of the National Ballet throughout its 55-year history. In addi- tion to the indelible mark of Celia Franca, Artistic Direction there is the unmistakable influence of Rudolf The National Ballet of Canada continues to Nureyev, who made a brief passage in 1965, bear the hallmark of its founder, Celia Franca, shortly after his spectacular defection to the in terms of its vision, its repertoire and its pro- West, and returned in 1972 to stage his mag- gramming. In accordance with Franca’s wishes, nificent version of The Sleeping Beauty, with the institution is predominantly identified with Kain in the starring role. the four major ballets of the classical repertoire: Franca served as the company’s Artistic Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and Director for more than 25 years. She was The Sleeping Beauty. In addition to these semi- followed by Alexander Grant, who held the nal works, traditional secondary ballets such as reins from 1976 to 1983. Grant breathed new Giselle, Don Quixote, Onegin and Pétruchka are life into the troupe by substantially expand- staged. The Nutcracker belongs in a category all ing the performance season and by nurtur- its own. Ever since Franca’s first choreography ing the development of several remarkable ABSTRacT Karen Kain is a living legend in English Canada. When she walks down the street in Toronto, she turns heads. People recognize her delicate silhouette and fall under the charm of her serene smile. Little girls attending perfor- mances of the National Ballet of Canada, of which Kain is currently Artistic Director, dream of catching a glimpse of her, securing her autograph, hearing her voice or touching her dress. As a dancer, Kain has had the opportunity to work with several of the National Ballet’s Artistic Directors, from Celia Franca to Reid Anderson, by way of Erik Bruhn and Valerie Wilder. A keen observer of management styles, she noticed over the years that her instincts always served her well. Kain had concluded that no matter what decisions or visions the Artistic Director put forth for the company, the outcome was “nearly always” what she had expected. In her new role as Artistic Director, Kain vows to remain true to herself and follow her instincts in performing her new management duties. KEYWORDS Ballet, arts management, leadership, management, career VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2 • WINTER 2007 63 young dancers, including Veronica Tennant In 1996 Anderson resigned as Artistic Director and Frank Augustyn. He welcomed young to protest cuts in government funding, and Canadian choreographers on to the stage and, Kudelka took the reins. in a controversial move, mounted a forgotten work by August Bournonville, Napoli, created in 1842. Augustyn fought hard to secure the James Kudelka’s Artistic Management performing rights to Cranko’s Onegin, which Kudelka’s years at the helm of the National is still part of the company’s repertoire. Ballet of Canada were characterized by deep Grant was succeeded in 1983 by Erik introspection on the nature of the company. Bruhn, a powerful and beautiful dancer who Known for his creative imagination and his had drawn Nureyev to the company in 1965 audacity, Kudelka had no qualms about ques- and 1972. Having first served as guest artist, tioning the venerable institution’s traditional teacher and choreographer/producer, Bruhn ways of doing things.