Press releases are funny things, if for no other reason than they are usually terminally boring or patently ridiculous. The latest from Rambert Dance Company (the best dance company in the world if you believe their hype) is one such example.
Sue Wyatt, a lady we have never met, has resigned as Chief Executive of the company. The press flacks at Rambert wrote thus;
“Sue Wyatt has announced that she will be stepping down as Chief Executive of Rambert Dance Company, following six highly successful years in the post. On declaring her resignation, Wyatt commented “I feel I have achieved everything I aimed for when I joined the Company, and can leave content in the knowledge that Rambert is in an excellent financial state, with a very exciting future to look forward to”
First of all, to whom did she declare her resignation exactly? We have this image of her walking into Rambert’s main office, leaping up on a wobbly desk, tears in her eyes, violin music soaring into the rafters, as the rest of the staff look on with a heavy heart as their boss wails about how she’s off to spend more time with her family and they will, despite all the evidence to the contrary, survive without her.
If you need a visual reference then picture the end of Dead Poets Society with slightly better acting.
Secondly; It’s one thing when cheap hacks from the tabloids start second-naming you but when your own hacks start doing it you realise what a slightly absurd place dance has become. You know the woman for crying out loud! Presumably you have, in fact met her, on occasion, perhaps even socially? We feel sure ‘Sue’ or ‘Ms Wyatt’ would be slightly more endearing.
Finally; You’re kind of playing it fast and loose with the word ‘exciting’ when you’re leaving the company in the clutches of Mark Baldwin!