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June 17, 2004
• Taking big risks Taking big risks Ella Baff adds newcomers, film, live music and more to the Jacob's Pillow season Stockbridge It's just the end of May when I arrive to interview Jacob's Pillow Director Ella Baff. But box office phones are ringing; the studios thump with dancers and music, the theater doors are wide open, and good smells of lunch emanate from the staff kitchen. And already, there's a distinct show of exhaustion from the frenetic 60-hour weeks in effect since the cusp of the year. Ella Baff, however, is more relaxed than I've ever seen her. Bring it on. She doesn't know how it will all turn out. "It's a collage or maybe a collision I carry in my head," she laughs. "I always feel the excitement of discovery, introducing people that nobody knows about. There's also the risk -- maybe the audience will hate them. But when it works, there's nothing like it." She has just turned 50, but speaks Pillow as enthusiastically as a young graduate student. "I could talk a whole day about all the different constructs that serendipity and I patiently put together to create a season -- where the links are between what goes on in the Shawn versus the Duke (theaters), between artists of all ages and different places in their careers, in different generations or traditions." Perhaps her "signature" for Pillow viewing this year could be summed up in the family series recommendation: Grupo Corpo from Brazil; the traditional Indian dancer Lakshmi Vishwanathan and musicians; New Zealand's Black Grace; and Boston Ballet, celebrating its 40th anniversary. "These are lively, physical and appropriate," Baff says. "Dance is a lot of different things made all over the world by all kinds of people. It's a good message for kids and adults." She's been here how many years? "In Pillow Time about 150," she jokes. In fact, this is her seventh festival season, "and every year I learn something new. The Pillow is really good for that, to feed people. It's intellectually exciting as well as emotionally vibrant." Her first season was crafted by her predecessor Sali Ann Kriegsman, whose fundraising acumen and contacts bailed galleons of red ink out of the Pillow budget. That shaky fiscal history lesson was not lost on Baff, who has made a mantra since her arrival of the relentless fundraising needed to sustain arts organizations in America and her intention to ground the Pillow with a firm endowment. During her tenure, she has stewarded the organization's identity to new stability. Its recent designation as a National Historic Landmark by the federal government and as an Irreplaceable Treasure by the Dance Heritage Coalition secures lasting cultural significance, crucial to fundraising. It remains solidly in the black. Of its current budget of $3.8 million, 57 percent comes from earned income -- tickets, the Pillow Store, and take from the food consignments -- and 43 percent from contributions. While a CEO's value is commonly based on budget growth, Baff's may be equally measured by how much of it she's squeezed to ratchet things up.
Since 1998, the budget has increased by just 20 percent, half of that, for programming. That increase could be viewed as simply the "offset" for inflation or cost-of-living increase. But what a difference six years have made in the jump and jive of the place! Live music, archival exhibits, and scholarly talks have been fully integrated with dance performances, of which the freebies presented on the Inside/Out stage have grown attendance by 94 percent since 1998 -- some 25,000 people last year alone. They are asked to leave a gratuity in the little bucket at the gate: Inside/Out Stage presenting costs have increased by 48 percent. Folks are coming earlier, and staying later because there's more to see and do. Two onsite restaurant spaces, offering full dinners, casual dining and post-theater fare keep the party going. All of this is just the "face" of the Pillow. Behind-the-scenes, five School programs prime 109 students and 31 interns for careers in the arts, coached and coddled by 32 stellar faculty members. These rampant ingredients ricochet like GameBoy animations during just 10 weeks of the summer Festival, different for every visitor. Baff can only guesstimate reactions, her own exhilarating challenge. "Look where we're sitting. It doesn't get much better than this. I want what's organically idyllic about the Pillow to be what people experience, but also the intensity of all the activity around this one art form -- science, politics, books, music, history, cultural change. The Pillow speaks to me and to others and I try to listen to it." She's well-suited to the role. Typecast now as a dance person, she comes with a wider palette, presenting all the performing and visual arts as program director for Cal Performances, University of California/Berkley's internationally recognized performing arts center. That influence is keenly felt now. Like many progressives trying to lead legacy institutions into America's future, she recognizes the need to tap popular culture. In that spirit, she probes for what makes America sit up and take notice. For several years, she's played with a dance film series, "something really lively and mixed up, from musicals to off-beat documentaries and shorts, tailored to different venues." This year it's happening at the Doris Duke Theater, with the valuable input of Pillow archivist Norton Owen and videographer Carmela Vassar-Johnson. Film gets pumped up with the stars themselves on campus, "the living, breathing people," which has ever been the Pillow's forte. I challenge her that this season is dominated by sure box office hits. She's dumbfounded. "Safer? You think ballet is safe? CND2 was a risk last year. It's young, a second company and not many know Nacho Duato. What can I say? This is only the second time they've been in this country! But I know what you mean. There are enough hits that people less adventurous will be happy. "Which gives even more reason to chat up unknowns. It's a great thing when you can build something." She ticks through Shen Wei, Black Grace, Sharon Eyal, a new choreographer for Israel's Batsheva Company, and multi-media artist Tim Rushton of New Danish Dance Theater making its U.S. debut. Check 'em out. Let's not forget that the Pillow's has extended its fare to the dance parties and Mass MoCA mainstage and gallery events. This spring, it also presented Battleworks at Simon's Rock College's new arts center. Others involved in the many regional arts venues still on paper have approached her for collaboration. Of course, she would love it. "There's an excitement around dance via the Pillow that's real. Collaboration is great for the organizations, great for the artists and great for building an audience. Why wouldn't I want to do this?" All it takes, of course, is money and vision, the last of which has certainly never lacked at Jacob's Pillow. What lies ahead? Even the seer Ted Shawn could never have imagined this future for his little farm. |
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