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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Ballet West has fired Administrative Manager Annie Van Alstyne for commenting to the media about the departure of the Artistic Director Jonas Kage.
Van Alstyne said Executive Director Johann Jacobs summoned her to a meeting Tuesday and told her she had violated a policy that allows only marketing and personnel staff to release information to the media.
"You have never seen such hatred in your life," Van Alstyne said of Jacobs' demeanor. "He was just so angry with me."
Jacobs denied Van Alstyne was fired to keep others from speaking out publicly about Kage and characterized it as a justified response to Van Alstyne being "blatantly in violation of policies and procedures."
Jacobs said Van Alstyne was terminated for comments published on May 31.
"The supposition was that we were not going to pay Jonas for his works. That was not accurate," Jacobs said. "Since Annie was not present at any of the meetings where decisions were made, she was not speaking on the basis of any kind of factual information."
The ballet announced on April 26 that Kage was resigning his position with one year left on his contract.
Board Chairwoman Carol Carter had depicted the resignation as coming during a routine performance review, after Kage realized he had accomplished all his goals with Ballet West and wanted to pursue other opportunities.
However, Kage said he had been given a choice to resign or be fired because results of a survey of staff, dancers and board members amounted to a companywide vote of no confidence.
Kage has hired an attorney to help him mediate a severance agreement with Ballet West.
In an interview on May 25, Van Alstyne said Kage was ousted because he and Jacobs had differing visions for the company's future. She said the survey was intended to create grounds for dumping Kage.
"The minute I saw (the survey) I knew (Kage) couldn't do well ... it was geared for a manager like Johann," she said. "They did this to support getting rid of Jonas."
Kage's departure has outraged his fans and pleased his critics, some of whom said his sometime departures from classic ballet were to blame for declining attendance.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
