Kevin O’Hare is the director of the Royal Ballet in London.
Q. You started your career as a dancer when you were very young. Did you think you would become the director of a company like the Royal Ballet?
A. I didn’t think that two years ago! My dream was originally just to be on stage, and then when I decided to retrain in management, it was because I liked to be right in the thick of it. I realized that I did have that ambition. The job is the link between the dancers and the management, the orchestra and the marketing and all those people. And you hopefully keep that ship rolling.
Q. What did you learn from people you worked for?
A. It’s important to make people feel that they matter, whether you are in the corps de ballet or the top principal. Peter Wright was my director and was really somebody I admire. You could be there in a studio, tired, trying to get the will together, and he was somebody who would walk into the room and not scare you but actually get you enthused about what you’re doing. He would say to all the girls, “Each one of you, you’re all ballerinas, you’re all going to sparkle,” and you could see them physically grow.
Q. Dancers are much admired for their discipline. Do you think that discipline helps you as a manager?
A. A lot of that discipline comes from the daily class. You have to be in there at 10:30 a.m. or earlier, and you know that if you miss that more than once or twice in even a month, things will start sliding. It’s not even guilt — it’s just that you know that that’s what makes things possible. So I think from very early on, it’s a great lesson to see that if you put the work in, you might not be the greatest dancer in the world, but you will have a career, and it will be a good career. And it’s a great equalizer as well, because a star like Marianela Nuñez has to do that, as does the newest person in the corps de ballet.
Q. So physical discipline is important. What else do you need to be a success as a dancer or a manager of dancers?
A. Your brain has to be active all the time. People can’t believe that. You go to a reception and people ask, “What do you do during the day?” And of course during the day you’d be learning five ballets. Your brain is having to go from one to the other very quickly. You’d finish at 5:30 in the evening, and the next thing is you would go on stage and do the “Nutcracker” that you rehearsed weeks ago. And you have to go on stage and look like it’s easy or like you are in love or tell a story. Your brain is being worked constantly. In this management job now, it’s pretty long hours, but I’ve never felt as absolutely exhausted as I did as a dancer.
Q. How was it to move from being among the dancers to someone who is managing the organization?
A. Doing that is really hard. You have to walk away and then come back, because I do think it’s great to have that bit of separation. When people see that you’ve gone out and tried to get different experiences, I think they then feel that you’re more rounded and you’re more able to give them advice.
Q. How do you hold together a bunch of extremely ambitious people?
A. It’s a challenge. I want everybody to feel like they are worthy, and of course not everybody can be a principal dancer. It’s hard to make them feel their worth in what they’re doing, but of course some people measure that in titles or solos. In all the other jobs, I felt if I worked hard enough or gave it 150 percent, I’d be able to make everybody happy, but in this job there’s no way I can.
And it’s this realization and thinking how can I do it and not bring people down. I haven’t found the answer to that yet. Of course you have to remember that just getting into the Royal Ballet is the ultimate goal for many people.
Q. When times are difficult, where do you pull your strength from?
A. I make decisions honestly and I stick with them. I’m thinking, yes it’s not really working now, or people are not that keen on the decision, but I believe in it. Everyone wants to be liked, and I have it in my character a bit, but I’m trying not to make decisions because of that.
Q. How would you describe your leadership?
A. There’s a saying: Look at the past, but don’t stare at it. We have a history now, and a lot of this history was quite amazing. You’ve got to acknowledge that, but you can’t hang on to that. You’ve got to move forward. Yes, we want wonderful dancers, and we have great stars, but it’s about the performance of the company. If you have two people dancing brilliantly in the middle and then nobody else is doing anything around the sides, I don’t think it works.
Q. Who do you look to now for inspiration?
A. Tony Hall, the chief executive of the Royal Opera House, is the most amazing person. He’s somebody who has time for everybody, who listens to what people say, and I’ve never heard him raise his voice.
Q. Was it difficult to stop dancing?
A. It was definitely the right decision. I had always in my mind that I would stop at 35, but then I had an injury. There is literally no cartilage in my knees, so they drilled into my knees and created some soft tissue, and one really worked well and the other one didn’t. So the nurse came and said, “Oh, I heard you’re a dancer and you will stop now.” I was determined to go back, but I found it very hard. While I was recovering, I spoke to the chief executive of Rambert [Dance Company] and said, “Can I just come and see what you are doing?” And that’s how I got the idea to retrain as management.
Q. Do you miss being on stage?
A. I thought I would miss the performance. And I didn’t miss that at all, but I miss the physicality of it.
I miss going to class, sweating, knowing your body. Going to the gym just doesn’t do it for me. My mom used to say, “How lovely to go into work and you have music.” And it’s true. That’s just such a nice thing when someone’s playing the piano and you do your exercises.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/global/25iht-manager25.html?partner=rss&emc=rss