As the opening night of Carmen at Artscape draws near, the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) has at last received verbal confirmation that their quotation to perform has been accepted.
CPO regularly performs with the Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) and was set to be part of their upcoming performance of Carmen, due to start on Wednesday 14 June.
READ | Cape Town City Ballet dancers call for resolution in ongoing dispute between CEO and board
CEO and artistic director Louis Heyneman says the orchestra’s initial quotation – submitted over a month ago – was rejected with little to no communication after on whether the performance would go ahead.
This week Heyneman told People’s Post that a new quotation was sent to and verbally accepted by the CTCB’s financial manager Thursday 18 May.
“I sent him a contract on Friday, and I have full confidence he will sign the contract, but I haven’t received anything back yet. Our resident conductor Brandon Phillips is lined up, so I am sure it will go ahead as planned,” says Heyneman.
An ongoing dispute between the dance company’s board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Artistic Director Debbie Turner has given rise to concerns that the upcoming production might be negatively affected.
Last week, People’s Post reported that with only one month to go to the opening of Carmen, the tickets for the production were still on hold.
Artscape dial-a-seat, however, this week confirmed that the hold on the tickets had been lifted.
A notice was also sent out last week by the CTCB board, saying that Veronica Paeper has been appointed as the dance company’s interim artistic director.
Turner resigned on Tuesday 28 March with immediate effect “because of the growing occupational detriments in the workplace”. A few failed mediation attempts later, there still seems to be no clarity on whether a resolution is within reach.
Completely in the dark
In a media statement released on Wednesday 10 May, the CTCB dancers expressed their concern that the dispute had the potential to jeopardise the efficient functioning and operations of CTCB. The dancers asked for a timeous resolution.
This week, dancer Jan Kotze told People’s Post that they still have not had any word from the board on the matter.
Heyneman says that the orchestra too has been left completely in the dark.
“There has not been one signal notification from the board about anything. I get my news from the media reports and what they send out on Facebook. As a stakeholder, the board never contacted us or explained to us anything. Except for the financial manager who did the paperwork, they didn’t even have the decency to write to me, to say we are on track. That is just good manners, we are one of their partners,” says Heyneman.
At least three members of staff have resigned from the company in solidarity with Turner and the alleged way in which she has been treated by the board.
CTCB board member Dr Ismail Mahomed also submitted his resignation on Friday 28 April.
In Facebook posts, Mahomed claimed that a mediation held on Wednesday 12 April between the board and Turner, facilitated by an independent labour specialist, ended in a mutual agreement that both parties would work towards returning Turner to her post by no later than Wednesday 17 April.
However, in what Mahomed described as a complete turnaround – driven by “a few dominant voices” – the board then proposed a separate set of terms on the eve of the planned meeting on Wednesday.
“The board and the trust had a meeting on the 26th of April and I submitted my resignation two days later when I realised and was sure that the board was showing little integrity to deal with the matters efficiently and effectively,” Mahomed told People’s Post.
Dysfunctional
According to Mahomed, from the moment of Turner’s resignation to the present time, the company has been operating in a dysfunctional manner.
“No organisation can exist without a CEO for such a long time and no arts organisation can function without an artistic director for such a long time. The fact that the dancers have to be rehearsing on their own for such a long time, there is disarray.”
He states the board’s action cannot go unchecked.
“A board’s responsibility is governance and fiduciary responsibility.
“A board should never interfere in the day-to-day operations and what is clear from Debbie Turner’s grievance is that the board has been interfering in the day-to-day operations.
“This has also been articulated in letters of resignation of other members who resigned in support and solidarity with Debbie.”
Mahomed believes the dispute could have been resolved effectively on Friday 12 May at the first mediation meeting.
“That, however, was prolonged when the board retracted the original agreements as per the meeting. And that has just prolonged itself continuously.
“Yes, the board has been trying to engage with the dancers and the board has been trying to engage through Debbie Turner’s lawyer, but these matters could easily have been resolved a long, long time ago had the board acted ethically in the first place,” he says.
