Joffrey Ballet Cancels Entire Wiltern Theatre Engagement : Dance: Company officials cite a ‘reconfigured season,’ general economic decline and local unrest for the action.

Ten days after cutting in half its season at the Wiltern Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet has canceled the entire engagement. Company officials cited “great concern” regarding its ability to market what it called “a reconfigured season” in the wake of the riots following the verdict in the Rodney G. King beating case.

The company originally announced a repertory season running from May 8 to June 7. Joffrey officials have admitted that ticket sales were slow even prior to the riots. On May 3, noting the Wiltern’s location in riot-stricken Koreatown, the company postponed the opening until May 22. But since then, the company had made no announcements concerning its season.

Tuesday’s Joffrey announcement cited “a sample audience survey” that helped determine the decision to cancel. “Ticket-buyer resistance to program changes necessitated by a shortened season, together with the recent turmoil and general economic conditions, indicated a loss in ticket revenue that would have put the company at unacceptable financial risk,” said the statement issued by the company. The company was also competing with the Kirov Ballet, which is playing weeklong engagements in Orange County and at the Shrine Auditorium during the dates of the Joffrey’s original season.

The performances at the Wiltern were to have been the Joffrey’s first local repertory season since being dropped as a Music Center resident company a year ago, reportedly because of financial instability. The company returned to the Music Center as a guest last December for its annual performances of “The Nutcracker.”

The (Wiltern) cancellation “is really a crushing blow,” said Joffrey executive committee chairman Michael Tennenbaum on Tuesday. “We had a tremendous success with ‘The Nutcracker’ and the ‘Nutcracker’ gala was the best ever. The volunteers just worked huge hours to try to get this season in gear because it was a new venue for us, and we were nervous about dancing outside the Music Center.”

Tennenbaum explained the cancellation in terms of the fiscal bottom line: “The financial condition of the Joffrey Ballet had deteriorated again because of a reduction in contributions,” he said, putting the company in the position “of not being able to take any major financial risks, because we don’t want a rerun of history. We’ve had enough practice running out of money.

“Ticket sales and contributions were hard to predict,” Tennenbaum said, “and it was impossible to be optimistic.”

After the riots, “we did everything we could to try to salvage the season,” he said, “and we tried to reduce the amount of performances, reduce the scale of the performances . . . .”

Contributing to the pressure was a demand by Musicians Union Local 47 for a $250,000 guarantee from the company for its members who would provide live accompaniment. Tennenbaum called the demand “outrageous,” and said that, as a result, the company had been planning to get by with “a stripped-down performance, but even that was so risky.”

“We were trying to emphasize recorded music and piano, to emphasize lighting instead of sets, so we could save transport and stagehand costs,” he said.

Lou Waldeck, director of symphonic services, American Federation of Musicians, confirmed the union demand for a guarantee. “It’s common when we are unsure (to ask for a guarantee),” he said, “and I believe there was a difficult track record here. The days of playing for the gate are over.”

Prior to the scheduled Los Angeles dates, the company had appeared in brief engagements in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Chicago, but had canceled its spring New York season after losing money on its “Nutcracker” performances at City Center last November. Detroit and San Francisco remain on the Joffrey Ballet performance schedule because “they are presenting us,” Tennenbaum said.

As for the future of the Joffrey in Los Angeles, Tennenbaum announced that “we are trying to put together a benefit for the Joffrey later this month. It will have multicultural aspects, fund-raising aspects, and thank you aspects, because many people have been saddened by this.”

Ticket-holders may obtain refunds at point of purchase, although the company is requesting that refunds be turned into tax-deductible donations.