Ballet artists are asking for the change of their management

Today, on World Dance Day (April 29), it was announced that the Ballet Ensembles of the National Theater in Belgrade and the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad are seeking the replacement of their directorates. The head of the Belgrade Ballet is prima ballerina Ana Pavlović, and the head of the Novi Sad Ballet is Aja Jung.

For now, the theater management is not responding to their requests.

It was this attitude that provoked the letter that the ensemble of the Belgrade Ballet sent today (April 29) to certain media.

Namely, this year the Union of this ensemble sent two letters to the Directorate of the Ballet with a request for a meeting. Since the Directorate did not respond to them, yesterday, Monday, they sent a letter to the National Theater Administration.

Whether it is a coincidence or not, just today the answer of the Directorate appeared on the bulletin board, in which they say in typed sentences that they are working on solving the problems pointed out to them by the Trade Union.

National Theatre

The artists interpreted this gesture (bulletin board) as a sign that the Directorate does not want dialogue, so they sent a letter to the media in which they added artistic demands to the union's demands.

In the letter, they state that "the ballet of the National Theater in Belgrade is in the most difficult condition in the last thirty years. The artistic level is declining, the repertoire is without a clear concept, and the poor choice of choreographers and pedagogues seriously threatens the development of ballet art in Serbia. Young artists do not have the opportunity to advance, and the entire institution remains without a vision, plan and perspective. Instead of nurturing continuity, quality and authentic artistic expression, the Ballet surrenders to the elements, improvisation and short-term solutions".

They blame everything on the Directorate, which did not show the capacity, knowledge, or will to responsibly manage such an important institution.

They state that there is no harmony between the repertoire and the actual human capacities of the ensemble, there is no respect for the ballet tradition of Belgrade, nor following modern artistic tendencies, as well as there is a complete lack of communication - "the management ignores requests, rejects dialogue and thus renders the work of the ensemble meaningless".

Serbian National Theater

In Novi Sad, the champions, soloists and ensemble of the Ballet of the Serbian National Theater (SNP) sent an open letter and a request for the dismissal of director Aja Jung to the provincial government and to the Board of Directors of the SNP.

They accuse her of violating labor rights, professional standards and collapsing the artistic process.

In seven months in that position, the director, they added, does not personally know more than half of the active composition of the Ballet — she does not know the names or the professional level of the artists she works with, which indicates a complete lack of interest in the ensemble and the impossibility of a realistic artistic assessment.

"He rarely appears at rehearsals and performances, including premieres of leading soloists, does not follow the results of our work and does not provide any artistic feedback, although the performance is the result of our work."

They point out that there are also "individual abuses of position towards employees, including various forms of professional pressure and mobbing".

"The director rarely comes to work and even less often attends rehearsals and performances, and even premieres of the leading soloists. This means that she does not monitor the results of the work of the ensemble members or give them feedback on the quality of their ballet performances," the letter from the Ballet collective stated.

In addition, the director recently made a decision on the audition without clear criteria, and the artists who "passed" the exam were selected at random, without analyzing their experience, performance and professional status.

The majority of the ensemble believes that with such actions director Aya Jung created an atmosphere of psychological pressure, insecurity and humiliation.

They allege that under the floor that is promised to be professional, a hard, single-layer floor has been installed, which increases the risk of injury and further endangers the health of the contractor.

They also stated that "the attempt to include this request on the agenda of the Board of Directors was blocked, which additionally indicates the ignoring of the will of the employees and serious problems in the functioning of the institution."