National Ballet declares $1M deficit

The National Ballet of Canada is reporting a deficit of $1 million for its fiscal year ending June 30, the first deficit it has had in five years.

Executive director Kevin Garland said the shortfall is due to the economic crisis, which caused donations to decline and cut the company's endowment fund.

That fund lost 10 per cent, which resulted in the company losing a $700,000 pay out.

"We were never able to climb back from what happened in the fall when everyone was hanging on to their money and not spending because they thought the world was coming to an end," Garland told The Globe and Mail newspaper.

While ticket sales recovered part way through the year, many seats were sold at the cut-rate price of $20 to people between the ages of 16 and 29 as part of a program to attract a younger audience.

In April, the Toronto-based company indefinitely postponed its fall tour of Western Canada. It had been scheduled to perform The Sleeping Beauty in Calgary, Edmonton, Nanaimo, B.C., Vancouver and Victoria.

At the time, artistic director Karen Kain said the company would reschedule the tour "when a more predictable and stable economic situation returns," but there has been no word on that.