But others in the worlds of art and philanthropy said Movado, which withdrew its funds over accusations of mismanagement, had delivered a stinging blow at a time when corporate money for dance was limited and cultural backing in decline.

"This is the flattest, hardest pool of money to get anything more from in the foreseeable future," said Mara Manus, who used to oversee the Ford Foundation's arts portfolio and is now executive director of the Public Theater. She said the money would be hard to replace, calling the decision "a hit that's going to last."

That view was echoed by Randall Bourscheidt, director of Alliance for the Arts, a cultural advocacy group.

"Movado is Ballet Theater," he said. "This is not the era in which major corporation sponsorships are flourishing. It's a lucky organization that is able to hold onto this kind of sponsorship." Movado has been a principal sponsor of Ballet Theater, one of New York's premier troupes, for almost 20 years, giving what the watch company estimated was more than $400,000 annually.

But Ballet Theater trustees said that Movado's withdrawal would be only a dent in the company's $35 million annual budget and that a substitute would not be difficult to find. "I don't think it's that big a deal," said Nancy F. Havens-Hasty, chairwoman of the board's finance committee. "It's more the visibility: the name has always been there. They have that pretty clock across from Lincoln Center." But she added, "I don't think the money that we see from them is as important as it once was."

Movado's chairman, Gedalio Grinberg, told the board of his decision in a letter on Tuesday. Having served on Ballet Theater's board for nearly 20 years, he resigned in June to protest the decision not to renominate to the board Lewis P. Geyser, a trustee who had been critical of the company's financial operations. Both men had voiced concerns that the company had become overly reliant on the wealth of the new chairman, Lewis S. Ranieri. They also said that he had failed to keep the board informed about cash flow and other budgetary concerns.

John L. Warden, chairman of Ballet Theater's audit committee, said Mr. Grinberg's letter to the board was destructive. "His doing that and making this announcement smacks to me of the spoiled brat who says, `If you don't play the game my way, I'm going to take my marbles and go home,' " Mr. Warden said. "It's too bad he developed the attitude he did."

Mr. Grinberg was traveling yesterday and unavailable for comment, an assistant said.

Movado's move may heighten the competition between City Ballet and Ballet Theater, which go head to head at Lincoln Center in the spring, when City Ballet performs at its year-round home, the New York State Theater, and Ballet Theater performs at the Metropolitan Opera House. Ballet Theater also performs a fall season at City Center; this year's ended on Sunday.

But Christopher Ramsey, City Ballet's director of external affairs, said the two ballet companies had very different missions and reached different audiences, with only a slight overlap. Ballet Theater is best known for performing the classics, City Ballet for commissioning and producing its own repertory.

Mr. Ramsey added that the ballet companies had a long history of artistic cooperation — sharing ballet masters, for example — and that the success of each troupe benefited both. "We want them to be successful," he said of Ballet Theater. "We want as many people to be opened up to the dance world as possible."

Jacques D'Amboise, who danced with City Ballet for years, said: "City Ballet never felt competition with any dance company anywhere. We always like to have the Yankees against the Dodgers."

Still, arts groups do compete for a finite pool of funds. City Ballet performs twice as much as Ballet Theater (23 weeks) and has a considerably larger budget ($52 million) and endowment ($130 million, to Ballet Theater's $9 million).

Wendy Evans Joseph, a Ballet Theater trustee and the widow of its former chairman, Peter T. Joseph, who died in 1998, said yesterday that Movado's move would not influence her giving, which has been among the most generous of the company's supporters. "Movado doesn't affect me," she said.

And Richard J. Schwartz, the chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, said the Movado move had not made him question the council's longstanding financial commitment to the ballet company, currently $200,000 a year.


"We've been aware of the criticism of the chairman for some time," Mr. Schwartz added. "And at this point we're not alarmed."

Ms. Manus, of the Public Theater, said she saw Movado's move as a positive sign that corporate sponsors were demanding greater financial accountability from cultural organizations. "That is good news for the nonprofit world in general," she said. A Ballet Theater spokeswoman said the company had $667,000 in cash and a credit line of $1.5 million.

"Any deficit we're going to have is not material," said Mr. Warden, the audit committee chairman. "And it's certainly smaller than it was." The company's most recent financial statements that are available date to July 31, 2002. It has yet to file its tax form 990, a spokeswoman said, and has asked for an extension.

As for accusations that the board has not been forthcoming with timely financial information, Mr. Warden said, "We're not quite to the point of monthly financial statements, but we're certainly at the point of quarterly financial statements."

Board members said yesterday that Mr. Grinberg's decision to raise questions about Ballet Theater's chairman was unfair. "Lew has brought in some wonderful board members and wonderful contributors," Ms. Havens-Hasty said.

While Mr. Ranieri has expanded the payroll, for example — often at his own expense — several trustees said these were essential hires. "A human resources person is someone we had to have," Mr. Warden said. "It's not like Lew had the idea of festooning the place with unnecessary personnel."

They also said that Ballet Theater had made significant progress, given that it almost went under a decade ago. "We've come an awfully long way," said Edward A. Fox, a board vice chairman.

"It's a very tough time for the performing arts," he added. "And I think compared to others, we're doing reasonably well."

Source: NY Times