National Ballet. Chronicle of a bill announced
For over ten years the dancers discuss their professional status. The government submitted a proposal but backed the decision.
It was about an hour before you take the stage for another showing of the works “Firebird” in TeatroCamões that the email arrived. There was finally a draft law on the status and age of the reforms of the dancers of the National Ballet Company (BNC), a battle with more than a decade and that this governing cast had undertaken to solve. However, the smiles were quickly replaced by the revolt, taking into account the contents of the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Culture. “It was a huge shock. We were all very nervous people, we had to help between us, so that those who were scheduled to take the stage the they could actually do, “recalls José Carlos Oliveira, the Works Council of the CNB.
The show took place – before a sold-out room – but the next day the dancers of the CNB met in plenary. Of the 54 present, 51 voted for the strike. “It was not an easy decision because we, dancers, live the applause of the audience,” confesses José Carlos Oliveira. “But it was an inevitable decision. They moved two years ago to talk about this and suddenly make us reach a statute with some unacceptable points. There are aspects in this document that are highly detrimental, especially for younger dancers. It is a total lack of respect for us. The dancers of the CNB are the responsibility of the Portuguese State, public CNBé. “
Faced with the inevitable, the SCENE – Union of Musicians, the Show and Audiovisual Workers gave notice of strike of the account of the CNB dancers, who thus not prepared to take the stage in the shows already scheduled to Almada, Alcobaça and the Teatro San Carlos – Festival Largo, all during the month of July
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The document in question, the one who left the dancers of the CNB on the verge of a nervous breakdown as they prepared to take the stage, among other things, provided for the possibility of expiry of the contracts with the dancers as soon as they reached 38 years giving them a small compensation, but ending any relationship with the CNB.
“More than worrying about the career of dancers of classical and contemporary ballet, [the bill] seeks to find ways, more or less explicit to terminate prematurely to their careers,” it read in press release submitted by the CENA.
Let’s Dance “What we want is to work. If the age for our retirement is 55 years, we will work until that age, but have to leave us, “sighs José Carlos Oliveira, 52 years old and 30 home. Currently, the older dancers of the CNB are developing a draft educational service, leading to the schools to play “The Oriana Fairy”, inspired by the work of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen, but stressed it was his initiative.
The truth is that, at present, the CNB dancers can retire at age 55 and was awarded a makeover with a small penalty, which includes the fact that the careers of professional dancers start at 17, ie, earlier than most other workers. But this is not, however, the ideal solution, as a dancer can not dance professionally until this idade.Só the company also has no possibility of career retraining for all dancers who are no longer able to dance . That is, a kind of no man’s land.
In an attempt to solve this impasse, the Workers Commission had already proposed to the Secretariat of State an agreement that provided for the payment of an amount plus TSU in order to “offset the costs that Social Security would have to reform further most anticipated of the CNB dancers. ” A solution similar to that found by the Paris Opera in Sarkozy times. The Secretariat of State, however, claims not to have been aware of this proposal. “The department told us that they had never called us because they always negotiated with a speaker, the artistic director of the CNB [Luisa Taveira] but had was to talk with us, the dancers.” The i tried to get the talks with Luisa Taveira that proved unreachable.
“This project was misguided from the beginning. We were promised by this government to solve the status issue, but only now, with the legislature to end, is a document that appears. And a document that was not even discussed with us, the dancers. ” Among the dancers, and without wanting to face these charges, there is the feeling that the rush to present this status had to do with economic issues. “We heard that the director said that the Secretariat of State or approve this statute or she had no money to proceed with the program I wanted,” said one dancer to i. Curious is the fact that the last strike that took place in the CNB, took place in a previous via Luisa Taveira by the management of CNB as Deputy Jorge Salaviza, a mandate lasted from 1996 to 1999. At the time already discussed the status the dancer.
Government changes tack Just like a ballet, with first and second act, announced bill of this chronic saw his death in less than four days.
Known in the 2nd Monday night, the notice of strike of the CNB dancers, the culture secretary of State submitted any comment on the matter to the Committee on Education, Science and Culture, which took place yesterday afternoon . Then Jorge Barreto Xavier announced that the bill, which had been developed with the parliamentary groups of the PSD-CDS / PP, on the status of the dancers would be removed, by approaching parliamentary elections. However, before the PCP deputy’s questions, Michael James, Secretary of State corrected his own words, ensuring that this decline had more to do with the lack of consensus between dancers and secretary of state than actually with the proximity of legislative elections. But reinforcing the idea that this situation needs to be resolved because the CNB has “a problem of sustainability”, with thirty dancers do not dance and which are spent every year 1.2 million euros.
Despite the decline in this bill have been applauded by all political spectra, Barreto Xavier has spared the criticism of members of the PS, PCP and the Left Bloc for not having negotiated this status with the professionals of CNB. Something that Barreto Xavier secured not be true, guaranteeing that was “many hours working with the dancers.” Something the Workers Committee ensures not be true, emphasizing that negotiations took place with the direction of the CNB rather than the dancers themselves. “The Secretary of State discussed with the artistic director, but not with the dancers and had was to have discussed with the dancers because it is in their lives.
The government threw the mud to the wall to see if caught, but did not catch. Basically, what they wanted was to create here a special kind of precarious regime and transform the dancers of the CNB in the most precarious workers “, accused Mr Michael James, responsible for a proposal that had been presented earlier this month and which determined CNB special arrangements for the dancers that included protection in accidents, reform and the creation of a dance school.
If there was a third act of this ballet, it still remains unknown. But there is something that is undeniable: there is no dance without dancers. “We started yet dancing children and at 17 already are professional. Now they wanted to kick us like we were trash. But there CNB without dancers, “concludes José Carlos Oliveira.
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