Kirov
Ballet Academy
Responses and Communications
From: Michael F. Beard
Sent:Mon 3/5/2001 10:52 AM
To the administrators of Danceart.com,
Please let me know the names and titles of your board
of directors, your administrators and your funding sources. Thank
you,
Michael Beard
From: Michael F. Beard
Sent: Fri 3/9/2001 3:15 PM
Dear DanceArt.com administration,
I would like to confirm that you have
received my first Email inquiring about your board members,
administration staff and fund sources. I would also like to confirm
that you received a written response to your article "Moon
Behind the Kirov" from me (via Fedex).
Please indicate to me how long you intend to
leave this article on your website.
Thank You,
Michael Beard
Executive Director
Kirov Academy of Ballet
From: David Wilson
Sent: Sat
3/10/2001 12:07 AM
Dear Mr. Beard,
I can confirm receipt
of both items.
As is our stated policy, your letter will be reproduced and made
available to our readers online asap. KAB certainly has an admirable
history of providing quality training and you're right to focus on
it.
I will also repeat our commitment to correct any specific errors or
misunderstandings within the article if you point them out and can
support or document your assertions. Your letter of March 5, 2001
seems to raise three specific objections to the content at our site.
I'll address them here.
You write: "The Academy has always been happy to acknowledge
the generous, unconditional funding provided by the Universal Ballet
Foundation, founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. This will be attested to
by anyone who has actually called or visited the school directly to
gain first hand knowledge of any of our policies." This is most
likely in response to our stated opinion that includes: "The
founders, funders, and management of the Kirov Academy are closely
involved with the Unification Church and the Moonies, but Kirov
marketing and recruiting efforts never mention this fact."
It would seem that we are not at odds with these positions. KAB has
not been faulted for failure to acknowledge or offer such
information when queried. My criticism, which will stand, is that
uninformed families considering or attending KAB will not have all
the information they need if the relationship with the UC / Moon is
not transparent and volunteered. Indeed our readers have reported
dismay and significant shame in the execution of parental
responsibilities when they discover the connection after it is too
late.
I can't imagine that you'd permit a situation in which families make
such a potentially emotional discovery, on their own, after money
and / or child has been entrusted to you. After watching discussions
about this in our online community over the years, it became
apparent that we needed to provide an informational resource for
families.
You continue: "The Academy does not favor or oppose any
particular religion, race, sexual preference, gender, creed or
culture." Yet the President of KAB stated to Kirov students:
(begin quote)
"There are invisible laws governing your spiritual behavior. It
is equally important you live in accordance with spiritual law.
Otherwise you will go the way of self-destruction. I am not happy
with the artistic community, especially the ballet community...there
is a lot of homosexuality and lesbianism...
"It is the founders' desire that graduates of the Kirov Academy
be leaders of the dance world, not only the best artistically, but
also spiritually. In other words, our founder is investing money to
create great human beings who are also great artists ... If you go
in the wrong direction and do wrong things, this school will not be
continued."
(end quote)
You can't operate in the US without a written policy concerning
equal access so there is little doubt what the KAB official policy
is. Bo Hi Pak has made it very clear that deviations from
unspecified invisible spiritual laws will cause self-destruction.
This religious intolerance and fear tactic is disappointing.
Students have just been told to conform [or risk] self-destruction,
which is understood to mean 'failure to reach goals,' a 'life in
disarray,' or 'death.' Even the assumption that a student recognizes
or sees need for a set of 'spiritual laws' is inappropriate.
In this speech of 12/10/96, examples of homosexuality and lesbianism
are given as an indication of unacceptable behaviors -- which
doesn't bode well for your stated policy of ignoring sexual
preference. Finally, students are threatened with the removal of
funding and termination of the Academy if their behaviors and
beliefs, even after graduation, do not please the Academy / Bo Hi
Pak.
This is certainly an interesting pressure tactic. Instead of
threatening to expel a student for homosexuality, which would be
illegal, the student is made to feel responsible for putting the
entire institution at risk of closure. Isn't that a remarkable load
to put on the shoulders of a 13-year-old?
Had this speech been made by anyone less vital to the oversight and
funding of KAB than Bo Hi Pak it could be dismissed. If it did not
echo positions of the funding UC / Moon organizations we could view
it as a fluke. As it is, this speech and others like it are
instrumental in understanding the environment in which KAB is
operated and funded.
Your third stated concern mentions 'uninformed assumptions about my
personal beliefs.' This is a low risk assumption based on the trust
you've garnered and your published employment history. But if you
care to set the record straight, please do. Your beliefs are
certainly a private and inscrutable matter, but the issue of UC
involvement in the daily operations of KAB is an issue for our
readers, as they have suggested multiple times. Readers and dance
lesson consumers indicate a need to understand if this Academy is
managed as a secular organization, as it appears to be by virtue of
marketing materials and its USSR origins, or if the founders /
funders / value system / religion are more significantly
represented.
Michael, if your Kirov bio proudly stated how you came into the
church and discussed the values that carry over into your management
functions, and if Kirov thusly operated in a transparent fashion
(discussing funding, values, corporate and religious affiliations)
you would not find a Kirov article on our site.
Conversely if you made it clear that you do not embrace Moon's
teachings, but are an example of his open minded hiring practices,
then the church would win a few points and parents could view you as
an insulator between child and Moon.
The current state of affairs couldn't be more unfortunate. The
public's need to know has dictated the creation of [this] section on
DanceArt.com.
When KAB becomes transparent you will render the article obsolete.
Until such time, the article will remain on our site, protected by a
resolve to keep dance families informed and by federal law. The
truth is, of course, both the ultimate goal and defense. You have my
ongoing commitment to keep this even-handed and responsive to
discovery of fact.
I'm sure you'll want to consider your next steps very carefully --
submit your corrections for consideration and together let's put
this to bed.
Regarding your efforts to learn about this privately held concern; I
am ultimately responsible for the published content on this site,
its direction and funding.
David Wilson
www.danceart.com
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