The Greek takes over from August 1st. It promises the Viennese students a “safe, creative and highly professional environment” after there were serious accusations against staff in 2019.
The new overall concept for the ballet academy of the Vienna State Opera is in place: After the special commission set up after presenting the final report after the accusations against the dance institution, the future concept for the academy is now available. This is to be implemented by Christiana Stefanou, who will take over as Director on August 1, as was announced on Monday.
Stefanou, who comes from Athens, worked for a long time as a dancer at the Bavarian State Ballet and after her active career worked as ballet director of the company of the Greek National Opera. As a ballet master and dance teacher, she was a guest at renowned institutions such as the Ballett am Rhein or the Boston Ballet. She is currently working on her master thesis “Dance Pedagogy and Ballet Direction” at the University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria.
Child protection officer should come
According to Stefanou, her vision is “to offer the world’s leading dance training at the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy,” in order to develop their potential to the best possible extent, students should be able to work in a safe, creative and highly professional environment. “
The new overall concept for the facility also pursues this goal. This was presented to the employees on Monday by the designated state opera director, Bogdan Roscic, and the designated ballet director, Martin Schläpfer. The key points of the five-year “master plan” are transparent and respectful communication, the expansion of medical and psychological care and the commitment of an independent child protection officer. They also want to invest in the premises such as the dance halls and in digitization.
“Climate of Mutual Appreciation”
The infrastructure managers estimate the cost of the infrastructure at EUR 882,000, which is spread over five years. However, the increased costs for educational, medical and therapeutic staff are estimated at EUR 862,000. “There will be further talks between those responsible for implementation and financing from the 2020/21 season onwards,” it said in a press release.
“On the basis of the concept now available, we want to promote and develop the ballet academy so that it becomes an indispensable part and expression of this claim,” Roscic is quoted as saying. “It is particularly important to me that we show how this is possible in the 21st century in a climate of mutual appreciation and pedagogy that is always child-friendly.”
“The well-being of the children, the dancer’s health and the best possible preparation for the challenges of the professional dancer profession at the international top level were and are the focus of our considerations,” said Schläpper, who also thanked the experts who would have contributed to the development of this concept . “We tried to formulate pragmatic answers to the question and challenge of how to build something new and forward-looking from a difficult situation,” said one of the experts, Samuel Wuersten. This requires “courage, vision, skill and trust”. These values were found in Vienna.
Art and Culture State Secretary Andrea Mayer (Greens) assured that she would soon start discussions with everyone involved regarding the financing of the measures, which she fully supported: “The concept outlines a future vision for the sustainable development of the ballet academy, in which the focus is on children and young people. At the same time, it offers a forward-looking framework to further expand the quality and international reputation of the traditional Viennese ballet training center. “
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