here. - Royal New Zealand Ballet

MAKE THEIR PRAISES HEARD AFAR
On the international stage with
the Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Orpheum Theater
in Minneapolis.
In addition to our national touring
programme – the most comprehensive
of any New Zealand performing arts
company – the Royal New Zealand
Ballet is committed to annual
international touring.
Los Angeles
The 2014 US tour – our first
performances in North America in over
21 years – offered an unprecedented
opportunity for our dancers, staff and
for New Zealand itself to perform on the
world stage. Being invited to perform
at these prestigious venues was a
testament to the abilities, talents and
reputation of New Zealand’s national
ballet company.
Venue: Granada Theatre (1,500 seats)
Repertoire: Giselle
Performance date: 5 February
Venue: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA Music Center
(3,197 seats)
Repertoire: Giselle
Performance dates: 31 January 1, 2 February
(four performances)
Santa Barbara
Minneapolis
Venue: Orpheum Theater (2,618 seats)
Repertoire: Mixed Bill (28 Variations on a Theme
by Paganini by Benjamin Millepied, Through to You
by New Zealand choreographer Andrew Simmons;
highlights from Bier Halle by RNZB Artistic Director
and choreographer Ethan Stiefel; Banderillero by
Javier De Frutos)
Performance date: 8 February
New York
Venue: The Joyce Theater (472 seats)
Repertoire: Mixed Bill (28 Variations on a Theme
by Paganini as above; Of Days by Andrew Simmons;
Banderillero by Javier De Frutos
Performance dates: 12 – 16 February (seven
performances)
Antonia Hewitt & Brendan Bradshaw in 28 Variations
on a Theme by Paganini. Photograph Evan Li
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WHY DOES THE
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND
BALLET TOUR
INTERNATIONALLY?
Ballet is an art form that
transcends international
boundaries. And although
we are proud to be a New
Zealand company, we are
also an international one,
with eight nationalities currently represented within
our ranks. We are not inward looking but rather look
to share our talents and endeavour to learn from the
world’s finest.
New Zealand is a long way from anywhere else with
a strong ballet tradition. In choosing the RNZB,
our dancers make a commitment to this company,
and to this country, that takes them away from the
professional stimuli of regularly seeing performances
by other dance companies and of being measured by
international audiences and critics; not surprisingly
international touring is eagerly anticipated to by
all our dancers. It is a way to keep them fresh and
inspired, and helps to ensure they stay and build their
careers with the RNZB, giving performances that
enhance the lives of thousands of New Zealanders.
Opening with four performances in Los Angeles at
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the LA Music Center
(former home of the Academy Awards), the RNZB
went on to perform in Santa Barbara and Minneapolis
before spending a week in residence at The Joyce
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Theater, New York’s home of contemporary dance
and a magnet for dance companies from around the
globe.
On the west coast, our performances of Giselle
brought a new and highly successful production of
a great classical work – made in New Zealand – to
a large and discerning audience. In Minneapolis
and New York, the RNZB’s performances told a
different story about New Zealand with a diverse,
contemporary programme tailor-made for the
company. All three pieces on the Joyce programme
– Benjamin Millepied’s 28 Variations on a Theme
by Paganini, New Zealand choreographer Andrew
Simmons’ Of Days and Javier De Frutos’ Banderillero
– are mature works (the last two specially created
for the RNZB) that speak with distinctive voices.
The RNZB was a wonderful advertisement for New
Zealand highlighting our creativity, versatility and
cultural sophistication.
The company received a rapturous response and
many standing ovations from near-capacity crowds.
During the three week tour, we performed for more
than 16,000 people, including sold-out shows in LA,
Santa Barbara and New York.
There are many experiences you take from a tour like
this but for me it will be a comment from an audience
member in Los Angeles: ‘You can buy stars but
you need to build a company – and you have a fine
company’. Praise indeed.
Amanda Skoog MNZM
Managing Director
RNZB Giselle – Myrtha (Abigail Boyle) and
Hilarion (Jacob Chown). Photograph Maarten Holl
Financial model
Sponsorship
The Royal New Zealand Ballet tours internationally
on a break-even basis. With presenters taking care of
venue hire and all ticketing, marketing and publicity
costs, there is much less financial risk in three weeks
in the USA than in presenting just two performances
in Invercargill.
The RNZB’s international tours offer New Zealandbased companies an exceptional opportunity to
engage with new audiences and markets through
sponsorship.
In addition to paying fees for each performance,
the US presenters involved made contributions
towards touring costs, including internal travel,
accommodation and subsistence allowances for all
members of the touring party.
We were privileged to involve Dunedin-based
designer Tamsin Cooper as a sponsor for our US
tour. Tamsin used the RNZB’s presence in New York
to introduce her label to a new American audience
With a total touring budget of US$450,000, the
budgeted cost to the RNZB was just US$60,000
(NZ$75,000 at the time of budgeting), largely due
to the cost of international airfares. Sponsorship
and fundraising made a significant contribution
to the budgeted shortfall, with the final result for
the tour, thanks to careful financial management
and a favourable exchange rate, being a surplus of
NZ$27,000. Certainly, the tour can be described as
extraordinary value for money.
Tamsin Cooper with dancers in New York
as well as gaining excellent media coverage at home:
creating a bespoke coat for RNZB Principal Guest
Artist Gillian Murphy to wear to the opening night
party in New York; gifts of evening bags for all the
company’s female dancers to take to the opening
night party; and spending a ‘day of inspiration’ in
New York with RNZB dancer Loughlan Prior as
background for her next collection. Tamsin went
on to leverage her association with the RNZB by
using three RNZB dancers to perform as part of
her catwalk show in iD Dunedin Fashion Week,
showcasing her first menswear collection and
receiving substantial media coverage.
We were also pleased to introduce our New Zealand
wine partner, Nautilus Estate of Marlborough, to
new audiences through a wine tasting event at the
LA Music Center following the dress rehearsal of
the RNZB’s Giselle. Nautilus has a well-established
distributor (Negociants) in California; the RNZB’s
performances gave them impetus to develop new
commercial connections.
Logistical support came through our longstanding
partners at NZ Van Lines, valued supporters of the
RNZB for almost two decades and with unrivalled
expertise in transporting sets, costumes and
technical equipment.
RNZB Giselle – Qi Huan and Gillian Murphy (Act 2).
Photograph Evan Li
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Personal supporters
The RNZB raised US$25,000 towards US tour
costs through the generosity of ballet lovers in New
Zealand and in the USA.
A group of six New Zealand-based supporters
travelled to New York to spend a week with the
company, making a donation to the RNZB as well as
covering all their travel and accommodation costs.
RNZB Philanthropy Manager Liesl Nunns arranged
a programme of events including visits to leading
New York-based dance companies and venues, open
rehearsals and the opening night party hosted by The
Joyce Theater.
Ethan Stiefel &
Gillian Murphy
The RNZB’s US tour was a homecoming for Ethan
Stiefel, the RNZB’s Artistic Director who spent much
of his career in New York as a world-renowned
Principal Dancer first with New York City Ballet and
then with American Ballet Theatre. RNZB Principal
Guest Artist Gillian Murphy made her American
debut as Giselle, one of the greatest tests for a
ballerina, with the RNZB. How fantastic that it was
our national ballet company that was the vehicle for
one of the world’s foremost ballerinas to make her
debut in this role.
RNZB Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel made personal
approaches to a number of US-based philanthropists
whom he knew from his dance career in the USA.
Four couples, based in New York, Santa Barbara and
North Carolina made substantial contributions.
Supporter
Group
We would especially highlight the generosity of Steve
and Michèle Pesner, who made a significant personal
contribution to the RNZB and also to The Joyce,
underwriting the RNZB’s week of performances
there; and Lew and Genevieve Geyser, of Santa
Barbara, who not only made a personal contribution
to the RNZB but also hosted the entire company for
dinner.
The RNZB registered with CAF America, which
allowed supporters paying tax in the USA to receive
a US tax deduction for their generosity, without the
RNZB needing to become a fully-fledged US 501 (c)
(3) non-profit organisation.
As is to be expected in the US, all of the tour venues
raised their own sponsorship and philanthropic
support for the RNZB’s performances there. Of
particular note was the contribution of Tom and
Heather Sturgess to the Santa Barbara performance:
while not having any previous connection with
the RNZB, the Sturgesses have strong ties to New
Zealand through their ownership of Tiri Group and
Lone Star Farms.
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Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy after the premiere in
Los Angeles.
The excitement surrounding the release of New
Zealand director Toa Fraser’s film of the RNZB’s
Giselle (shot in New Zealand, Shanghai and New York,
with Gillian Murphy and Qi Huan) extends to North
America, where it has featured in several festivals
of dance films and at cinemas in California and New
York City. Following its premiere at the New Zealand
International Film Festival in July 2013, the film,
which received significant investment from the New
Zealand Film Commission, made its international
debut at the Toronto International Film Festival,
followed by the Vancouver International Film Festival
and extensive screenings in other countries, including
a 100+ cinema release in France, and South Korea.
Producer Matthew Metcalfe of General Film is in
discussion with North American and European
distributors and the film’s international release
continues to raise the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s
profile with a broad international audience.
Theater 1, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ballet
Preljocaj, the National Ballet of Canada and Matthew
Bourne’s New Adventures.
The company arrived in Los Angeles to find an
extensive marketing and media campaign in full
swing, including huge posters, billboards and print
advertising. Media profile was huge, with prominent
features in the Los Angeles Times and the Orange
County Register and a host of other local print and
online publications.
Los Angeles
promotional
image
SUBSCRIBER AND DONOR LOUNGE
THIRD LEVEL
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Giselle
The Royal
New Zealand
Ballet’s Giselle –
a film by Toa Fraser
2013 | 14 SEASON NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER 1 | ROYAL NEW ZEALAND BALLET – GISELLE |
JAMES BROWN: GET ON THE GOOD FOOT, A CELEBRATION IN DANCE | PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY
| BALLET PRELJOCAJ – THE NIGHTS | THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA – ROMEO AND JULIET
musiccenter.org
Selling the RNZB
in the USA
With thousands of tickets to sell, all the tour venues
undertook comprehensive marketing campaigns,
placing the RNZB’s performances at the centre of
their winter promotions.
Los Angeles and
Santa Barbara
With a potential audience of over 12,000, the
LA Music Center began its promotions for the
RNZB’s four performances of Giselle almost a year
in advance. The RNZB featured in their 2013/14
subscription brochure alongside internationally
renowned companies including Nederlands Dans
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the LA Music Center
=
The LA Music Center had developed a broad range of
promotional, educational and community activities in
advance of and alongside the RNZB’s performances,
all of which fed into their well-developed social
media programme. These included classes taught by
RNZB Ballet Mistress Turid Revfeim at a local charter
school, pre-performance talks by RNZB Artistic
Director Ethan Stiefel and Principal Guest Artist
Gillian Murphy (recorded and released as podcasts),
photo opportunities with cast members after the
performance, pointe shoe displays by local retailers
and an audience fashion-focused Tumblr feed. They
organised promotional screenings of the RNZB’s
Giselle film at art house cinemas and connected
with local hotels for special ‘mother and daughter’
promotions.
5
New York
The company in Los Angeles.
The LA Music Center staff praised the RNZB’s
willingness to work with them on all promotions,
especially social media – for which they reported
their best-ever engagement rates. The Music
Center also chose to use images of the RNZB’s
Giselle (appropriately acknowledged) as part of a
philanthropy drive immediately following our visit.
From Minneapolis, the company headed to New
York, with seven sell-out performances at The
Joyce Theater, New York’s most prestigious venue
for contemporary dance. The Joyce had marketed
the RNZB for almost a year prior to the company’s
arrival, with an image of the RNZB’s Banderillero
chosen as the hero marketing image for the
theatre’s winter marketing campaign. Sales were
strong from the beginning, with The Joyce reaching
40% of revenue target for the RNZB by the end of
September 2013: four months before the RNZB
was due to open in New York. The Joyce shared
the following information about their audience and
marketing campaign:
A total of 9,799 tickets were sold across the RNZB’s
four performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
The company’s performance of Giselle at the
stunningly restored Granada Theater in Santa
Barbara was a sell-out, complemented by a free Q&A
session with Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel after
the show. With the RNZB’s performance presented
through the University of California at Santa Barbara
(UCSB), RNZB staff also taught three community
classes at the University.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis brought a different programme, of
contemporary works including one by New Zealand
choreographer Andrew Simmons, and a completely
different climate. The mild weather of California was
replaced by the depths of a Midwestern winter, with
temperatures reaching -30 degrees. Despite the
blizzard, more than 1,500 people came to the RNZB’s
performance at the downtown Orpheum Theater,
introduced with a free pre-performance talk by
Ethan Stiefel. Like Santa Barbara, the performance
was presented by a university, in this case Northrop
at the University of Minnesota, which runs a
prestigious programme of visiting dance companies.
The RNZB’s visit was followed by performances by
the Trisha Brown Dance Company and American
Ballet Theatre.
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Audience demographic information
• Well-educated (majority of audience members
have college education)
• 68% of audience ranges from ages 35 to 64
• 45% have annual household income of $100,000
or more
Marketing
• 80,000 season brochures (with the RNZB as
cover image) printed for mail and distribution
• Digital advertising to be placed on nytimes.com
and dancenyc.com
• Print advertising in the New York Times and The
New Yorker
• Postcard distributed throughout New York dance
studios and neighborhood establishments.
• Presence in Joyce e-blasts and on Joyce website
• Social media - Facebook, Twitter campaigns to
target potential audiences • Engagement pitched to New York press for
preview stories and listings – coverage included
significant preview features in the New York
Times and the New Jersey Star Ledger.
What the
critics said
‘On Friday night, the Royal New Zealand
Ballet provided us with magic and was
rewarded with a standing ovation.’
Humberto Capiro, Living Out Loud – LA
US dance critics see the best in the world, and
this was an invaluable opportunity for the RNZB
to receive comment from seasoned professionals
who watch and review dance for a living: the New
York Times alone has four noted dance critics at its
disposal.
‘The technical demands were full throttle,
and it was great to see how many New
Zealand and Australian-raised dancers
populated the company with beautiful lines
and easy presences.’
In addition, US online dance writers and bloggers,
whether attached to print publications such as the
widely read Pointe magazine, or independent, are
highly knowledgeable and widely followed, especially
in New York.
‘Streamlined and imaginative, RNZB’s new
Giselle gently revealed smart, near-perfect
conception.’
Jean Lenihan, Orange County Register
Jean Lenihan, Orange County Register
‘Vibrant footwork and a passionate
orchestra enhance new staging of the
ballet Giselle.’
Lewis Segal, Los Angeles Times
‘Impressive skill and vibrancy’
Lewis Segal, Los Angeles Times
‘Big kudos to the female corps de ballet
for their impeccably executed sequences
which transported the audience to their
netherworld.’
Humberto Capiro, Living Out Loud – LA
Katherine Grange, Joseph Skelton and friends strike an iconic
ballet pose in Santa Barbara. Photograph Brendan Bradshaw
Giselle in the Los Angeles Times.
‘What lingers are the cascade and range
of exceptional physical gestures, from the
corps turns and pointe work to Huan’s
furiously rising sets of beat jumps, or simply
the way Murphy, held in a fast swoon,
finds a perfect overhead fifth position for
her arms.’
Jean Lenihan, Orange County Register
7
‘Through to You, created by former RNZB
member Andrew Simmons in 2009,
emerges and dissolves into shadow. This is a
lovely piece, crisp and cool, yet its passion –
if at first contained – dramatically unspools
like a velvet ribbon over the course of the
performance. On Saturday Mayu Tanigaito
danced with a controlled abandon, infusing
her interpretation with haunting beauty.’
Caroline Palmer, Minneapolis Star Tribune
‘Don’t miss the chance to catch a
performance of Stiefel’s RNZB… Let’s hope
another two decades don’t go by before
we see the New Zealanders on American
soil again.’
Sondra Forsyth, BWWdanceworld.com
‘The RNZB has a wealth of talent of the
kind that we in the US have appreciated for
many years.’
Haglund’s Heel (New York dance blogger)
‘In its return to the United States after
two decades, the company makes a bold
impression – these dancers bring ballet into
the 21st century.’
Alexandra Villareal, Columbia Spectator
‘So often companies coming to The Joyce
from out of town are trying to prove
something, but the RNZB seems to be
something.’
Wendy Perron, Pointe Magazine
‘Unfamiliar to local audiences but
immediately making herself known here
was the petite Lucy Green, whose every
appearance showed her to be a dancer of
depth, strength and delicate effect.’
Robert Greskovic, Wall Street Journal
‘I don’t know what these dancers looked
like before Mr. Stiefel got his hands on
them, but they’re spruce now, with pleasing
manners and crisp classical technique… the
women look particularly good: the springy
Lucy Green, the sweet Tonia Looker. It’s
telling that they do not pale in the presence
of a world-class ballerina dancing flawlessly:
the Ballet Theater principal, guest artist and
fiancée of Mr. Stiefel, Gillian Murphy.’
Brian Seibert, New York Times
Dancers Adriana Harper and Dimitri Kleioris with fans in
Los Angeles. Photograph courtesy LA Music Center
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Turid Revfeim at the Gabriella Charter School, Los Angeles.
A final word from our dancers
‘We were excited and just a little bit nervous to be performing in a new country and
theatre. We weren’t entirely sure what to expect. All we wanted to do was perform
the best show and give our all.
Once our feet hit the stage something very special happened. Performing – there
isn’t anything else like it. It was such an honour to be dancing alongside my friends
and idols. Oh boy, it was so much fun!
Three shows into our LA shows of ‘Giselle’ and three standing ovations later I have
loved every moment on the stage here. What an incredible experience so far!
Performing our hearts out to an incredibly generous audience, I may be an Aussie
but I had a proud Kiwi moment!’
Dancer Tonia Looker, on making her debut in Los Angeles. Tonia has been a member of the RNZB since 2008
and her blog and photographs give New Zealanders, and increasingly, ballet lovers around the world, a special
perspective on life with New Zealand’s national ballet company.
Tonia Looker jumps for joy in Los Angeles.
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND BALLET
St James Theatre
77-83 Courtenay Place
Wellington 6011
New Zealand
P.O Box 27050
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
Phone: 64 4 381 9000
Fax: 64 4 381 9003
Email: inquiry@rnzb.org.nz
rnzb.org.nz
RNZB dancers Antonia Hewitt and Brendan Bradshaw
in Of Days by Andrew Simmons. Photograph Evan Li