The arts are sick

THE world of the performing arts is sick and needs attention. Many of the problems were in evidence long before the stock market collapse and 11 September 2001. They need to be addressed, not simply accepted. The arts world needs leadership. It needs concerted action. And it needs it fast.

There are five key issues to be tackled:

ONE - THINK BIG

The arts world used to produce big, daring projects each year - large-scale dramatic works like the Mahabarata, the mounting of new Ring Cycles, even by small opera companies. It wasn't so long ago that George Balanchine would create four, five or even six new works in a season. Now a good choreographer is lucky to be able to produce one major work a year.

We have been scared into thinking small. Small thinking begets smaller revenue, that begets even smaller institutions. No wonder so many US arts organisations are announcing record deficits.

At the Kennedy Center this summer, we took a large but measured risk with a six-work Sondheim Celebration, and it paid off handsomely. The level of press coverage was phenomenal. The way the Center is perceived changed dramatically. We must think large and creative.

TWO - RISK MANAGEMENT

If arts organisations are going to take risks, they need entrepreneurial management. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year training young performers, but only a small fraction of that amount is devoted to training the people who will employ and market these performers.

There is no shortage of great artists, but there is a dearth of trained, skilled, young managers.

Apart from Sam Mendes and a few others, where are the under-40s who should be taking over the running of our theatres, great and small?

In a highly challenging environment, only the most sophisticated managers will be able to acquire financial support.

THREE - DIVERSIFY

As we train arts managers, we must focus on diversity. The arts world is close to becoming a virtual cartel of large, mainstream organisations. A healthy arts ecology demands that we have large and small bodies, mainstream and edgy, and of all ethnic backgrounds.

American theatre has lost many of its minority organisations in the past few years as a result of funding slumps. Those that remain are terribly small compared with white counterparts.

We who run large organisations have become so scared about keeping solvent that we have forgotten we will have a healthy environment only if we support smaller and diverse organisations. The tradition that created the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico and the nowdefunct Crossroads Theater is close to evaporating.

FOUR - ATTRACT THE YOUNG

The need for diversity applies equally to audiences. Alvin Ailey said: "Dance is for everyone." I know he meant that "art is for everyone". We are heading towards a world where only white, uppermiddle-class people come to the theatre, because only white, uppermiddle-class children are being exposed to the theatre. State school arts education is virtually dead, not just in the US but in most countries.

The Kennedy Center spends $15 million each year on arts education, working with five million children around the US, but our efforts are not co-ordinated with other arts groups. Much the same conditions exist in Britain, judging by my experience at Covent Garden.

For some children in some schools, the exposure is tremendous; others may get no arts for years. We owe every child a chance to experience the joy of self-expression, the power of discipline and the self-fulfilment of achievement that come from the performing arts.

FIVE - RECORD PERFORMANCES

Finally, we must find a way of preserving performances of merit.

The collapse of the recording industry, the retreat of public broadcasting from the performing arts and the prohibitive costs of producing videos mean that it is easier to obtain a recording of Enrico Caruso than of Jos Cura.

We need support from the BBC, the unions and from artists themselves to ensure that an era of performances is not lost for ever.

This curatorial aspect is critical if we are to allow shows that are enjoyed by a few to be available to many. In Britain, the South Bank Centre receives pounds 16.6 million in public funding, but its work is accessible only to those who are moneyed and mobile enough to attend its premises.

If we take these necessary steps, we will create an arts ecology that can withstand the horrors of terrorism, economic decline and social unrest. If we don't, even a healthy economic and social climate will not save us.

. Michael M Kaiser is president of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC and former executive director of the Royal Opera House. A version of this article has appeared in the Washington Post.

Copyright 2003
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