David Nixon takes the helm at BalletMet

Dance Magazine, Dec, 1994 by Barbara Zuck

COLUMBUS, Ohio-David Nixon, newly appointed ballet master of the Ballett Der Deutschen Oper (BDO) in Berlin, has also been named artistic director of BalletMet, in Columbus, Ohio. Though Nixon was in Columbus for the September 13 news conference announcing his appointment, he will not assume the BalletMet post full-time until July 1995, after his contract with BDO expires.

Nixon, thirty-five years old, was a principal dancer with BDO from 1985 through 1990. Prior to that he danced with National Ballet of Canada, where he progressed through the ranks from corps to principal. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Nixon trained at the National Ballet School of Canada. Before he returned to BDO in August, he performed as a guest artist with Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, with National Ballet of Canada, and with London City Ballet. He also choreographed for those companies, and presented evenings of his own work--called David Nixon's Liaisons--at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin in 1990 and 1991.

Nixon is married to ballerina Yoko Ichino who, in 1977, was the first American to win a medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow. Born in Los Angeles, Ichino trained with Mia Slavenska, joined Joffrey II, and then danced with American Ballet Theatre. Subsequently, she danced with National Ballet of Canada and BDO. Ichino will accompany Nixon to Columbus and is expected to teach at the BalletMet Academy, though no definite plans have been announced.

BalletMet experienced a traumatic spring. An effort by some board members and administrators quietly to unseat former artistic director John McFall blew into a tempest when McFall refused to resign. After several months of public feuding, the board voted not to renew McFall's contract. [See Presstime News, June, page 16! In the wake of McFall's departure, ten of the company's top dancers resigned; and the remaining members of the troupe elected to join the American Guild of Musical Artists. Seven new dancers have been hired for the current season.

With Nixon, BalletMet is pinning its hopes on someone virtually unknown in this country. Though McFall also came to BalletMet without extensive administrative experience, he had previously achieved some renown as a choreographer and as a longtime dancer with San Francisco Ballet. Nixon's network and, quite possibly, his frame of reference are largely European.

Still, Nixon seems to have many of the qualities BalletMet needs at this point: a strong resume as a classical dancer, a willingness to work hard, open-mindedness toward new choreography, a commitment to BalletMet, and the desire to build dancers from the ground up. He is passionate in articulating his plans for the company's future: "I'm looking to make dancers that have a strong enough foundation that they will never be limited by weaknesses," he says.

Nixon also says he will not push right away for a larger budget, which was a stumbling block for McFall. "We will work within our resources," he says. "If you can do something with that, then you've proven something. It's difficult to take care of sixty or seventy dancers. You can take care of twenty to thirty dancers."