ABT, Joffrey and the State of Dance Theater in L.A.

I am a former dancer with the New York City Ballet Company and a longtime Los Angeles resident. Segal’s Dec. 20 article prompts this letter.

American Ballet Theatre is a great company, with especially fine dancers and a strong repertory. I was elated to hear that it finally had been booked into the Music Center and that I would not have to see it at the Shrine Auditorium, where sight lines are not well suited to dance.

While the Joffrey Ballet has some fine dancers, it has undisputably a weak repertory and is much the lesser of the two companies. It would be to the advantage of Los Angeles theatergoers if the Music Center administration would reopen negotiations and book ABT after all.

Los Angeles is no longer a “cultural desert” in some respects, but it needs to improve its theater greatly and this would be a jete in the right direction.

EDWARD C. WILSON, Los Angeles