Scottish Ballet Defends Dancer Auctions
The Latest News || Monday, 12 February, 2007
Scottish Ballet have defended their decision to offer a "dinner date" with two of the company's dancers as part of a fund raising scheme.
The auction, currently live on eBay, offers dinner for two with either female soloist, Joon Sa Lee or male soloist Jarkko Lehmus on Valentines day at a local, private club.
In their description of the auction Scottish Ballet lead off with "Want to spend an evening with one of our beautiful and talented dancers?" and emphasise the necessity of the auction because "the cost of producing the highest quality of work cannot be financed through income generated by tickets sales alone".
The idea to hold the auction came from the company's Development Office which oversees fund raising. When asked if they considered the practice of offering social contact with their dancers in exchange for money to be ethical the development officer deferred the question to the company's press office.
Asked the same question the press office declined to answer directly and referred us to the press release for the auction (the comedic referral process was not lost on us).
Anita Clark, Head of Dance at the Scottish Arts Council (SAC), who provide the company with over £3million(GBP) per year in funding said;
"Whilst dancers regularly take part in social events with other artists, supporters, sponsors and the media, this charity auction will provide a unique opportunity for a true ballet fan to learn more about the role and lifestyle of one of Scottish Ballet’s internationally acclaimed dancers."
The comment is notable if for no other reason than it is almost exactly what is written in the eBay advert for the auction. SAC's press officer declined to answer the question directly over the phone preferring the question to be emailed before a response was offered.
In addition to the auction Scottish Ballet also offers a scheme whereby a commercial company can sponsor a particular dancer. Among the other benefits of sponsorship is the following;
"Your sponsored dancer will join your guests for drinks at a post performance or interval reception".
At the time of writing the auction was set to raise just £117 for the company.
[ The Online Auction ]
[ Scottish Ballet ]
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