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T E A M F L Y

Team-Fly
®

Wiley Publishing, Inc.
John J. Lee
Ron Ben-Natan
Integrating Service
Level Agreements
Optimizing Your OSS for SLA Delivery

Integrating Service
Level Agreements
Optimizing Your OSS for SLA Delivery

Wiley Publishing, Inc.
John J. Lee
Ron Ben-Natan
Integrating Service
Level Agreements
Optimizing Your OSS for SLA Delivery

Publisher: Robert Ipsen
Editor: Margaret Eldridge
Developmental Editor: Kathryn Malm
Managing Editor: Pamela Hanley
New Media Editor: Brian Snapp
Text Design & Composition: Wiley Composition Services
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. In all
instances where Wiley Publishing, Inc., is aware of a claim, the product names appear in initial capital
or
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more complete
information regarding trademarks and registration.
This book is printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Copyright © 2002 by John J. Lee and Ron Ben-Natan. All rights reserved.
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Lee, John (John J.), 1961-
Integrating service level agreements : optimizing your OSS for SLA
delivery / John Lee, Ron Ben-Natan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-21012-9
1. Telecommunication—Quality control. 2. Service-level agreements.
3. Telecommunication—Customer service. 4. Internet service providers.
5. Information technology. I. Ben-Natan, Ron. II. Title.
TK5102.84 .L44 2002
004.6'068—dc21
2002008682
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents
v
About the Authors xvii
Part One The Problem 1
Chapter 1 What Are Service Level Agreements? 3
Definition 3
Service Level Agreement Roles and Objectives 5
Defining Roles and Accountability 6
Managing Expectations 8
Controling Implementation and Execution 10
Providing Quality of Service Verification 11
Enabling Communications 13
Assessing Return on Investment 14
The Service Level Agreement Life Cycle 14
SLA Development 15
Negotiation and Sales 18
Implementation 19
Execution 19
Assessment 19
Customer-focused Assessments 20
Provider-focused Assessments 20
The Outlook for Service Level Agreements 22
The Growth in Outsourcing 22
The Emergence of Pure Content Providers 24
Summary 25
Chapter 2 The True Intent of Service Level Agreements 27
Evolution 27
Availability 28

Customer Care 29
Understanding Need Hierarchies 30
The Service Level Agreement Need Hierarchy 31
The Emergence of the Business Impact Financial Model 33
Provider-Centric Methodology 34
Business Impact Methodology 36
Big Stick versus Business Impact 37
Service Level Agreement Success Factors 39
Definable End-to-End 40
Successfully Deliverable 41
Meaningful Entitlement Metrics 44
Measurable at the Service Access Point 46
Visible 49
Reconcilable 53
Summary 55
Chapter 3 The Long Ascent to True Service Level Agreement Delivery 57
Why Delivery Is Important 57
Where We’ve Been 58
Some Good Examples of Bad Service Level Agreements 60
Example Summary 64
Understanding the Complexities in the Network Environment 65
The Explosion of Data Networking 67
New Technology 67
The Premise Factor 68
New Market Entrants 70
Tight Labor Markets 72
Organizational Stovepipes 74
Work-Flow Complexity 77
Competition Adds Many More Players 78
New Technology and Business Models Add More Complexity 79
Summary: A Confluence of Factors 81
The Great Boom Commences 82
Operational Reality Interrupts the Party 82
What Issues Lie Ahead for Service Level Agreements? 84
Summary 85
Chapter 4 The Operations Support System 87
The Operations Support System 88
Thought Leadership and Industry Models 90
The TeleManagement Forum 90
The Telecommunications Management Network Model 90
The Network Element Layer 92
The Element Management Layer 92
The Network Management Layer 92
The Service Management Layer 93
The Business Management Layer 94
vi Contents

The Telecommunications Operational Map 94
Understanding the Models 96
The Evolution of Network Management 96
The Transition to Service Management 98
The Emergence of Best-of-Breed 100
Best-of-Breed Problems and the OSS Spiral of Death 103
Lessons Learned 109
Asset Management Is Important 111
Understanding the Functional and Semantic Gaps 112
Work Flow Is the Glue That Binds the Organization,
Not Middleware 115
The Outlook for Operations Support Systems 117
Summary 118
Chapter 5 Service Level Agreement Models 121
The Amdocs Service Level Agreement Blueprint 122
Customer-Facing Processes 122
Service Level Agreements in a Customer-Centric Approach 124
Creating a Contract Offering 127
Contract Life Cycle 131
Service Assurance Model 135
Micromuse Netcool 135
Orchestream Resolve 139
Summary 139
Part Two The Solution 141
Chapter 6 The Integrated Service Level Agreement Model 143
The Origin of the Integrated Service Level Agreement Concept 145
Technological Reality Check 146
The Integrated Service Level Agreement Framework 147
Enabling Technologies 149
Dynamic Work-Flow Automation 149
Dynamic Work-Flow Communities 150
Core Capabilities 151
Domains 153
The Presentation Domain 155
The Information Domain 155
The Product or Contract Domain 156
The Process or Work-Flow Domain 157
The Data Domain 157
The Provider or Workforce Domain 158
The Supply Domain 158
Sample Technical Architecture 159
Portal Architecture 160
The User Interface 161
Wireless and Voice Portals 162
Contents vii

Business Intelligence Architecture 163
Work-Flow Automation Architecture 164
The Work-Flow Engine 165
Business Transaction Framework 166
Business Rules Framework 166
Integration Architecture 166
XML and the Integration Server 168
Integration Server Tools 168
NGOSS Architecture 170
Service Level Agreement Compliance Reporting 170
Service Level Agreement Risk Mitigation 174
Summary 175
Chapter 7 Integration Techniques 177
Technical Integration 177
Semantic Integration 178
Concepts of Distributed Computing 179
Batch Processes 179
Real-Time Integration 181
Integration Paradigms 181
The Invocation or Remote Procedure Call 181
Message-Oriented Middleware 182
Publish and Subscribe 182
Integration Paradigms and OSS 182
CORBA 183
Object Request Brokers 183
Object Services 183
Interface Definition Language 184
Storing and Retrieving Information 185
Invoking an Object 185
Object Request Broker Interoperability and TCP/IP 186
Message-Oriented Middleware 188
Business Events 189
Publish-Subscribe 191
Extensible Markup Language 193
Extensible Markup Language Document 193
Why Extensible Markup Language? 195
Document Type Definitions 197
Document Object Model 197
Simple Application Program Interface for Extensible
Markup Language 198
Extensible Style Language Transformation 199
Extensible Style Language Transformation Rules 200
Web Services 201
The Three Elements of Web Services 202
The Simple Object Access Protocol 203
viii ContentsT E A M F L Y

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®

The Web Services Description Language 203
Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration 204
The TeleManagement Forum’s System Integration Map 204
Summary 206
Chapter 8 Work-Flow Automation 207
Managing Business Processes 207
Manual Work Flow 208
Work-Flow Management Systems 209
Work-Flow Definitions 209
Three Elements of Work Flow 210
The Process Editor 211
Process Templates and Tokens 212
Process Steps 214
Properties 214
Subprocesses 218
Exporting Work-Flow Definitions 220
The Process Engine 223
Working and Monitoring 223
The Work-Flow Monitor 223
To Do List 225
Personal Assignment and Role Assignment 228
Dynamic Queues 229
Summary 230
Chapter 9 Organizational Issues 231
The Stovepipe Service Provider 231
Integrated Service Level Agreement Change Enablers 235
Unified Presentation 235
Dynamic Work-Flow Communities 236
Dynamic Work-Flow Automation 236
Workforce Management 237
Business Intelligence 237
Integrated Service Level Agreement-Based Organizational
Optimization 237
The Work-Flow Community 239
Definition Hierarchy 240
Users 240
Groups 241
Communities 244
The Integrated Service Level Agreement-Aware
Service Provider 245
Solutions 246
The Business Management Layer and Delivery Assurance 248
Product Engineering 250
Work-Flow Engineering 250
Organizational Engineering 250
Intelligence Engineering 250
Contents ix

The Service Management Layer 251
Customer Care 251
Order Management 252
Work-Flow Control 252
Technical Support 252
The Network Management Layer 253
The Network Operations Center 253
Network Engineering 254
The Network Element Layer 254
Field Operations 255
Logistics 255
Organizational Summary 256
Summary 259
Chapter 10 Contractual Commitments and Penalties 261
Customer Obligations 262
Early Termination 262
Minimal Service Access Points 262
Usage-Based Penalties 263
The Effects of Regulation 263
Deregulated Environments 264
Regulated Environments 264
Example Service Level Agreements and Penalties 267
Service Level Agreement Contract for Internet Protocol
Virtual Private Network: Sample 1 267
Security Services 267
Access Services 270
Service Level Agreement Contract for Internet Protocol
Virtual Private Network: Sample 2 272
Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network—Dedicated
Access Service Level Agreement 272
Example Service Level Agreements
and Penalties Summary 278
Terms 280
A Multisite Contract Example 281
Summary 284
Chapter 11 Operational Process, Work Flow, Notification, and Alerts 287
Dynamic Work Flow 288
Universal Presentation 290
Work-Flow Automation 291
Business Intelligence 292
Dynamic Work-Flow Processes 292
The Delivery Work Flow 293
Generation 294
Assignment 294
x Contents

Prioritization and/or Escalation 295
Allocation 299
Execution 300
Updating/Evaluating 301
Closure 304
Reporting/Reconciliation 305
The Integrated Service Level Agreement Compliance
Work Flow 305
Define Entitlements 306
Event Generation 307
Identify Provisioning and/or Troubleshooting Work Flows 307
Extract Performance Data 307
Work-Flow Activity 308
Network Statistics 308
Performance Analysis 309
Real-Time Analysis 309
Historical Analysis 310
Identify Exceptions 310
Respond 310
Calculate Financial Impact 311
Reconcile 312
Summary 313
Chapter 12 Metrics and Performance Reporting 315
Metrics and Measures 315
The General Information Framework 319
The Data Mart 320
Extraction Routines 322
Star Schema 323
Implementing Key Performance Indicators 325
An Example of Installation Follow-Ups 327
Data Availability 327
Building the Template 328
Dimensions 329
Defining the Instance 331
Defining the Target 331
Defining the Display Properties 332
Performance Reports 336
Paperless Reporting 337
Reporting Solutions 338
Designing Reports 340
Web Delivery 342
Summary 345
Contents xi

Chapter 13 Service Level Agreement Portals:
A Unified Presentation Layer 347
Unified Presentation 348
Information Portals 348
Enterprise Information Portals 349
The Service Level Agreement Portal 349
Uniform Resource Locator Automation and Scripting 352
Automating the Flow 357
Uniform Resource Locator Automation Using Work Flow 360
An Application Session 360
Web “Scraping” 360
Chaining Requests 361
Enter Work Flow 361
Using the Work-Flow Token 361
Extracting Data from Scraped Pages 362
Security, Access Control, and Profiles 363
Integrating Interface Layers 364
Directory Services and the Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol 365
Summary 366
Chapter 14 Notification, Mobile Computing, and Wireless Access 369
Notification 370
Synchronous and Asynchronous Notification 371
Internet-Based Notification 371
Paging 373
Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol and Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol 376
Simple Network Paging Protocol 380
Wireless Communications Transfer Protocol 381
Short Message Service 383
Workforce Management 384
Meeting Service Level Agreements through Efficient
Use of the Workforce 384
Mobile Computing 387
Wireless Infrastructure for Mobile Computing 388
Summary 390
Chapter 15 Service Marketplaces and Bandwidth Exchanges 391
The Liquidity Issue 393
Success Factors 395
Product 395
Price 395
Implementation 395
Quality 396
Settlement 396
Consolidating the Factors 396
xii Contents

The Vision 396
The Need 399
Solutions 401
Product 402
Price 403
Implementation 404
Quality 405
Settlement 406
The Outlook for Exchanges 406
Summary 409
Chapter 16 Applying the Model to Other Industries 411
Utilities 412
Customer Service and Service Delivery 417
Quality Assurance 422
ISO 9000 422
Six Sigma 423
Summary 425
Appendix Acronyms 427
Bibliography 433
Index 437
Contents xiii

“There is a wisdom of the head and a wisdom of the heart”
Charles Dickens
To our wives, Becky and Rinat, whose endless dedication and
tireless support form the foundation of our success.

John J. Leeis Vice President of Strategy and Business Solutions at ViryaNet, a
company that provides wireless workforce solutions. He is an expert in the
development of operation and business support systems and a frequent con-
tributor to industry publications.
Ron Ben-Natanis CTO at ViryaNet and has been building distributed systems
and applications at companies like Intel, Merrill Lynch, J. P. Morgan, and
AT&T Bell Labs for the past 20 years. He has authored several successful books
on distributed systems and the application of advanced technologies in busi-
ness environments.
About the Authors
xvii

T E A M F L Y

Team-Fly
®

PART
One
The Problem

3
In Chapter 1 we will describe SLAs, discuss why they are important, and
demonstrate why they are on the way to becoming the driving concept behind
all service models.
Service level agreements (SLAs)are about making promises. In the case of
telecommunications, these are the promises that underlie all the fiber being
laid; all the optics and electronics being developed, bought, installed, and
turned up and the exact same promises that drove venture capitalists and
investors to back all those telecom businesses that had absolutely no chance—
none whatsoever—of ever making a dime.
Definition
In its most basic form, a service level agreement (SLA) is a contract or agree- ment that formalizes a business relationship, or part of the relationship, between two parties. Most often it takes the form of a negotiated contract made between a service provider and a customer and defines a price paid in exchange for an entitlement to a product or service to be delivered under cer- tain terms, conditions, and with certain financial guarantees.
The TeleManagement Forum’s SLA Management Handbook defines an SLA
as “[a] formal negotiated agreement between two parties, sometimes called a
What Are Service Level
Agreements?
CHAPTER
1

service level guarantee. As depicted in Figure 1.1, it is a contract (or part of
one) that exists between the service provider and the customer, designed to
create a common understanding about services, priorities, responsibilities,
etc.” (GB 917)
Service level agreements emerged in the early 1990s as a way for Informa-
tion Technology (IT) departments and service providers within private (usu-
ally corporate) computer networking environments to measure and manage
the quality of service (QoS) they were delivering to their internal customers. Ser-
vice level agreements are the contractual component of QoS and are usually
implemented as part of a larger service level management (SLM) initiative.
Service level management has been defined by Sturm, Morris, and Jander in
Foundations of Service Level Management as “the disciplined, proactive method-
ology and procedures used to ensure that adequate levels of service are deliv-
ered to all (IT) users in accordance with business priorities and at acceptable
cost” (2000).
Quality of service is defined by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU-T) as “the collective effect of service performances, which deter-
mine the degree of satisfaction of a user of the service. Note that the quality of
service is characterized by the combined aspects of service support perfor-
mance, service operability performance, service integrity and other factors
specific to each service.”
In the last 10 years, SLM and QoS initiatives have routinely been imple-
mented within the IT arena with much success. Originally, much of the SLM
data were used to justify procurement and staffing budgets for IT groups that
Figure 1.1Service level agreements as depicted by the TeleManagement Forum in GB 917.
Customer
SLA Management = Relationship Management
Provider
Contract
SLA
4 Chapter 1

were still considered cost centers and whose real value to the business was not
yet fully appreciated. Much of the reporting consisted of QoS data showing
customer satisfaction owing to contributions made by IT to user productivity
and the bottom line.
Much has changed in the last 10 years. The value of computers in all seg-
ments and industries within the business world (as well as in our personal
lives) has gone from unproven to absolutely essential. We have entered an era
of business specialization, industry consolidation, and realization of large effi-
ciency gains owing largely to technology.
The standardization of hardware, networking, operating system, and many
business software standards has made a relative commodity of providing tra-
ditional IT department functions such as PC hardware configuration, network
connectivity, and email access.
Today the products and services that are routinely contracted for and
managed using SLAs seem almost limitless. In the telecommunications space,
customers most typically demand financial guarantees on the accurate and
timely performance of the network itself, normally measured using statistical
indicators such as circuit availability, reliability, and other key performance indi-
cators (KPIs), as well as service-related activities such as provisioning, installa-
tions, trouble response, and fault correction.
Other areas such as responsive customer service, accurate billing, and
immediate availability of additional network capacity can also be guaranteed
by an SLA. It seems that the main qualifying criteria is that the service be mis-
sion-critical and provided by an outside source. SLAs are also used extensively
in other industries, most notably in the utility, transportation, and manufac-
turing fields.
Service Level Agreement Roles and Objectives
Implementing a service level management (SLM)program that works for both
the service provider and the customer is a very difficult undertaking. Service level agreements are technically complex to pull off from an operational stand- point, but, more important, the perception of the roles that SLAs should play differs greatly for the service provider as compared with the customer. In this chapter we discuss primarily the service provider’s point of view; the cus-
tomer’s needs are discussed at length in Chapter 2. The roles most commonly
given to SLAs can generally be grouped into six areas, as shown in Figure 1.2:
1. Define roles and accountability
2. Manage expectations
3. Control implementation and execution
What Are Service Level Agreements? 5

4. Provide verification
5. Enable communications
6. Assess return on investment
Defining Roles and Accountability
It is important that both parties to an SLA understand the respective roles and
responsibilities defined in the agreement. A number of industry factors have
made establishing roles, responsibilities, and performance (and financial)
accountability increasingly difficult on both the network and services side of
the SLA equation.
Deregulation and the unprecedented growth in technology, customer
demand, and new service offerings experienced over the last decade have cre-
ated a unique environment in which hundreds of service providers depend on
their competition to help them to deliver end-to-end services. Since 1984 the
“network” and “the cloud” (the worldwide telecom WAN relative to the
user’s LAN perspective) have become a virtual maze of equipment and capac-
ity owned by a multitude of service providers, including leased lines, indefea-
sible rights to use (IRUs), bandwidth swaps, unbundled network elements(UNE),
carrier hotels, collocations, and “meet-me” rooms.
To make it all work, the myriad providers have executed an almost endless
number of collocation, interconnection, and capacity leasing agreements with
each other, creating a complex web of overlapping business relationships. In
the process, networks have become so intertwined and interdependent that
many service providers cannot function without the other providers in their
competitive space.
Figure 1.2The roles played by service level agreements.
Prove Return on Investment
Enable Communications
Provider Verification
Control Delivery & Execution
Manage Expectations
Define Roles and Accountability
6 Chapter 1

Within the industry, the term coopetitionhas been coined to describe this
strangely symbiotic situation. The TeleManagement Forum (TMF) has also rec-
ognized the phenomenon and the implication for SLAs. The SLA Management
Handbook uses the term value chain of service provisionto describe a scenario
wherein a number of different service providers are related through a series of
SLA relationships that eventually terminate at the end user. A service provider
in one SLA can be the customer in another SLA, and vice versa. Today, thou-
sands of different value chains exist—each with any number of service
providers (and potential SLAs) imbedded in it. The companies represented in
these value chains span the entire cross section of telecommunications, as
shown in Figure 1.3.
Other factors, including the increased outsourcing of customer care to large
call-center providers, service fulfillment to third-party installers, network
monitoring to managed network service providers, and so on, have increas-
ingly blurred the landscape, fragmented the lines of communication, confused
end-to-end workflow processes, and made organizational continuity and
accountability all but invisible to the customer.
Service level agreements will be used to reestablish the chain of account-
ability. As outlined by the TMF, each instance of SLA execution will consist of
a service provider and a customer. In a well-developed SLA, the roles and
responsibilities of each party will be defined as concretely as possible, along
with the associated responsibility, liabilities, and recourse available to both
parties.
Figure 1.3TeleManagement Forum’s value chain of service provision.
Internal
Provider
End
Customer
Provider
Service
Provider
Customer
End Users
Service
Provider
Service
Provider
Customer
Provider
Service
Provider
Customer
Provider
Customer
Provider
Customer
What Are Service Level Agreements? 7

Service level agreements simplify the customer’s contractual recourse
because the service provider functions as the final guarantor of the end-to-end
network. That way, no matter the complexity of the underlying service (multi-
ple service providers, different technologies, and so forth), the customer can
hold the service provider solely responsible for delivery to his or her service
access point.
To mitigate the associated risks, the service provider (in its role as customer
of another service provider) may in turn demand SLAs to cover that relation-
ship. The result is a flow-down effect in which the risks of guaranteeing service
to the end customer are spread through multiple SLAs over the end-to-end
value chain. An example is shown in Figure 1.4.
Managing Expectations
In general, executing an SLA contractually sets the customer’s expectations
regarding a product’s delivery. Once defined, agreed to, and executed, the
terms and conditions that make up the bulk of the SLA contract become the
customer’s entitlements with respect to the product. This guarantee enables
the customer to plan and operate his or her business with a reasonable level of
confidence in the availability, performance, or timeframe of a contracted prod-
uct or service.
Figure 1.4TeleManagement Forum’s value chain of service provision.
Internet Service
Provider
Network Service
Provider
Network Service
Provider
Access
Provider
Service 1
Service 2
Service 4
Service 3
Service 6
Service 5
End-to-end Service
8 Chapter 1

Multiple SLA options (platinum, gold, silver, bronze, and so forth) for the
same product or service give the customer the opportunity to weigh competing
priorities within his or her own company and understand the relationship of
his or her needs to those of other businesses. These options help the customer
to allocate financial resources appropriately: He or she may opt for higher lev-
els of availability or quicker response times at additional cost only for the most
mission-critical links and decide to settle for a lower level of service for the rest.
Different SLA options and the relationships between the guaranteed level,
delivered level, and engineered level are demonstrated in the SLA Management
Handbook, as shown in Figure 1.5.
Service level agreements also assist the service provider in many ways. By
understanding the customer’s expectations and the consequences of not meet-
ing them, the service provider’s operations managers and other responsible
parties can better plan and implement the required infrastructure.
For example, SLA compliance may require that more emphasis be placed on
network planning and configuration, collaboration with clients, proactive net-
work management, and renewed emphasis on preventive maintenance, which
are all driven by cost containment related to penalty clauses within SLAs.
Service level agreement commitments may also demand that personnel or
parts be prepositioned at or near the customer’s Service Access Point (SAP)to
ensure adequate response capability or that additional resources such as spare
facilities, parts, or backup circuits are put in place to reduce the potential for
outages.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of SLAs to both parties is that they set expec-
tations and requirements for the process that will enable successful execution.
Every relationship creates dependencies for which the expected results can
be attained only if both parties provide the required contribution in a timely
manner.
Figure 1.5The TeleManagement Forum’s service level agreement performance levels.
Performance Level
Grade of Service
Guaranteed Level
Delivered Level
Engineered Level
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Performance Sets
What Are Service Level Agreements? 9

Service level agreements formalize this relationship and, more important,
place timeframes, thresholds, and escalation procedures around the execution
phase of service fulfillment, assurance, and other areas, such as billing. Both
the service provider and the customer are better able to plan because many of
the “unknowns” are covered in the SLA, such as volumes, locations, QoS, and
costs.
Controlling Implementation and Execution
The SLA is a reference document for managing the execution of the contract
and ensuring the timely delivery and continued performance of the product or
service within the defined entitlements.
Customers tend to use SLAs to ensure preferential treatment for their par-
ticular service needs relative to all the others in the service provider’s network.
The expectations are clearly set, and during the implementation and execution
phases of the contract, the service provider must deliver on these expectations.
For the service provider, delivering the contracted service translates into
ensuring that sufficient resources are available to consistently meet or exceed
the SLA commitments. The service provider must have an understanding of
all the commitments that have been made over the entire customer base and
how the requirement for delivering on these commitments affect the support-
ing organizations.
Service level agreement entitlements have a tendency to affect the service
provider’s support organization in two ways: (1) They tend to reprioritize the
work based on a potential financial impact, and (2) they tend to shorten the
time available to perform the work.
Historically, field service organizations have prioritized work based on the
impact to the network hardware. Automated network management systems
generated much of the fault identification and were usually configured so that
fault alarms or outages on the most critical hardware (such as switches) and
larger pipes took precedence over those on the smaller, less critical ones. Service
orders usually got done after all the trouble tickets were closed. Preventive
maintenance was usually relegated to the bottom of the list, as shown below in
Figure 1.6.
Although service providers have gone to great lengths to improve fault
detection, increase network reliability, and reduce outages that affect service
by increasing redundancy and minimizing single points of failure, there will
always be critical and even catastrophic failures on the network that require
immediate, high-priority response. Along with traditional network priorities,
SLAs introduce a new variable into the prioritization formula: financial
impact.
10 Chapter 1T E A M F L Y

Team-Fly
®

Figure 1.6Conventional operational priorities.
The growing use of SLAs will force service providers to reprioritize the
workload in order to meet the entitlements or risk financial damages. With ser-
vice providers offering a number of SLA options in order to differentiate their
product from the competition’s, tasks, circuits, and services are no longer cre-
ated equal from a prioritization standpoint. Services covered by an SLA will
have to go to the front of the line—which, going back to the beginning of this
section, is what the customer intended all along. The reprioritized order of
work is depicted in Figure 1.7.
Providing Quality of Service Verification
Following (or during) the execution phase, the service provider(s) will be held
accountable for performance being in compliance with the agreement. Proof or
verification of QoS compliance is a critical component of most SLAs. Many
times this has necessitated advanced planning on gathering the data required
to provide SLA reporting. This is done as part of implementing an SLA, which
is covered later in this chapter.
Critical trouble
ticketsConventional
Operational
Priorities
First
Last
Major trouble
tickets
Minor trouble
tickets
Routine trouble
tickets
Service Orders
Due today
O & M
Due today
Other Service
Orders
Other O & M
Tasks
What Are Service Level Agreements? 11

Figure 1.7Service level agreements change operational priorities.
Making QoS and SLA compliance visible serves the needs of both the cus-
tomer and the service provider. On the customer side, the customer is able to
ascertain that he or she is indeed getting what he or she is paying for. This is
especially important to companies that opt for higher levels of QoS (that is,
platinum or gold SLAs) who, most often, also happen to be the most important
customers.
Good SLA reporting also provides a level of confidence that the QoS is being
proactively monitored and that the service provider stands ready to respond
to contingencies. Both of these factors contribute to a feeling of security that is
an important part of overall customer satisfaction.
For the service provider, good reporting and visibility can provide invalu-
able information as to the operational effectiveness of the service provider’s
network and organization in supporting SLA entitlements. The service
provider must continually optimize all the solution factors in the SLA equation.
Without feedback in the form of QoS reporting, the service provider will be
unable to do that. Quality of service performance reports on both the network
Critical trouble
tickets
SLAs
change
operational
Priorities
First
Gold
SLAs
Major trouble
tickets
Minor trouble
tickets
Silver
SLAs
Routine trouble
tickets
Bronze
SLAs
Other Service
Orders
Last
Other O & M
Tasks
12 Chapter 1

and activity sides of SLAs can also provide input into the SLA assessment
process. The assessment process is covered later in this chapter.
Enabling Communications
Service level agreements provide a framework for both service providers and
customers to address their needs, expectations, performance relative to those
expectations, and progress on action items that may be undertaken to improve
upon either the SLA itself or the service provider’s performance.
There are three inherent points in an SLA’s life cycle that require good com-
munications between the customer and service provider: (1) during the devel-
opment of a negotiated SLA, (2) during the implementation and execution of
the SLA-covered services, and (3) during customer-focused assessments.
These points of the SLA life cycle can generally be mapped to the legal, opera-
tional, and financial aspects of the SLA, as shown in Figure 1.8.
Because a single SLA definition or template may cover many individual
service instances, communication between service provider and customer is
typically on an ongoing, and sometimes event-driven (such as service order or
trouble ticket) basis. As we have seen in the previous sections, the SLA deter-
mines the roles and expectations of the service provider and the customer and
spells out the level of performance that the customer is entitled to. The clearer
the definition of all these areas in the SLA, the easier and more concrete the
communications will be.
This is especially important during the implementation and execution of
SLAs. Event-driven communications are at the heart of SLA operational sup-
port. Service level agreements will typically include procedures and time-
frames for customer notification, updating, and problem escalation up the
service provider’s support hierarchy. Similarly, the service provider’s support
organization must communicate during execution to ensure that compliance is
achieved. Of course, in the event of QoS noncompliance, breach of contract, or
a disagreement, the SLA will outline the appropriate next steps for correction
or other recourse.
Figure 1.8Aspects of communication in the service level agreement life cycle.
Legal
Negotiation
Operational
Execution
Service Level AgreementsFinancial
Assessment
What Are Service Level Agreements? 13

Assessing Return on Investment
The ability to calculate return on investment (ROI)is a key reason that SLAs are
becoming more prevalent. As we will be discussing in Chapter 2, the customer
uses SLAs to protect his or her business’s ability to operate. He or she is even
willing to pay extra in order to get a higher level of comfort and security.
The ROI assessment can be considered the financial aspect of verifying that
the correct QoS levels were selected for the business. It should be noted that
routine verification of QoS differs from a business assessment of ROI in a num-
ber of significant ways. Verification is usually ongoing and event driven, con-
centrating on day-to-day compliance, while ROI assessments are usually more
periodic and are intended to measure the impact of the QoS performance (and
SLA noncompliance) on the customer’s business. It can be said that the verifi-
cation process is tactical, while the ROI assessment is more strategic to the
business.
In most cases, the SLA executor (usually the person responsible for repre-
senting the customer in negotiating SLAs) is accountable to his or her man-
agement chain for both the costs associated with the services delivered under
SLA and the decisions made as to what QoS level is right for a specific appli-
cation or site. Like the service provider, the SLA executor must provide finan-
cial justification and police the QoS for compliance; he or she must then make
further decisions on continuance of service under the current SLA or what
changes should be made.
The customer could decide that the QoS level he or she is receiving is appro-
priate, overkill for his or her application, not good enough (which may neces-
sitate upgrading his or her QoS level), or that the service provider’s level of
compliance is unacceptable. More and more SLAs are providing opt-out
clauses for noncompliance, usually with some built-in correction period. If a
service provider is unable to come into compliance even after the correction
period, the customer can opt out and terminate the contract.
The Service Level Agreement Life Cycle
In order to satisfy the roles and objectives that have already been discussed, the service provider needs to adopt an organized approach to managing SLAs whereby the service provider examines each SLA individually in order to make decisions on deployment, value to the business, terms and conditions to include, and a number of other considerations that should be addressed. Such an approach facilitates comparing the service provider’s offerings with the
customer’s needs and other SLAs available in the marketplace, which help the
service provider fit a particular SLA into the overall SLM program or corpo- rate strategy.
14 Chapter 1

In GB917, the TMF has outlined the SLA in order to provide the organized
approach needed. We will be using the same phases to describe requirements
that should be considered by service providers in integrating SLAs into their
product mix. The SLA life cycle consists of the following phases, demonstrated
in Figure 1.9:
1. SLA development
2. Negotiation and sales
3. Implementation
4. Execution
5. Assessment
SLA Development
Good business practice drives most service providers to develop a product
definition or go through a more extended product development cycle. When
they are integrating SLAs into the product mix, service providers must under-
stand and account for the importance of good product definition up front.
A strong product development process should specify, define, test, and
cover (or uncover) every aspect of a prospective product or service offering.
Strong contract and entitlement development processes are more important
for products covered by SLAs. Although SLAs are often treated very much like
a product, an SLA is actually a value-added feature of the underlying product
or service and should not be thought of in the same context as a product. Prod-
uct development processes and special considerations for using SLAs as a
value-added feature to an underlying product are discussed in further detail
in Chapter 2.
Figure 1.9The TeleManagement Forum’s service level agreement life cycle.
Product/Service
Development
Develop templates
and entitlements
Negotiation
& Sales
Negotiate and
execute contracts
Implementation
Generate and
provision service
orders and SLA
monitoring
Execution
Operate and
Maintain (O&M),
monitor SLA
performance
Assessment
Assess performance
and reassess
templates
What Are Service Level Agreements? 15

Contrary to common practice, not all products are truly suitable for use with
SLAs. Attributes that are specific to service level agreements, such as customer
needs, contractual entitlements, terms and conditions, reporting requirements,
and SLA pricing may initially be derived from the information accumulated as
part of the product development cycle. From that point forward, SLAs differ
substantially from products in several ways:
There may be a one-many relationship among several SLAs and a sin-
gle product or product bundle. (Note: A single SLA definition may be
used across a number of different products, but this does not constitute
a one-many relationship between a single SLA and multiple products.)
During both contracting and execution, invoking SLA entitlements is
presumed to be an event-driven occurrence (service order, trouble
ticket, and so forth) usually representative of a single product instance
delivered to a single SAP.
Service level agreements may be bundled with a product, unbundled
from the product, or even be selectable, with several optional levels
of QoS.
Service level agreement life cycles do not necessarily run concurrent
with the underlying product.
Service providers must take these differences into account when they are
developing SLAs. The use of SLAs potentially exposes the service provider to
a financial downside (in the form of penalties) beyond the normal risks associ-
ated with introducing a new product. Because the potential for sustaining
losses greatly exceeds that for making revenues, service providers should give
careful consideration to numerous factors when making SLA deployment
decisions; for instance, they should understand the impact that introducing
a new SLA may have on the profitability and life cycle of the underlying
product.
From an accounting perspective, for example, SLA penalties paid out to cus-
tomers have to come from somewhere. The logical place is the product’s
monthly recurring charge (MRC), which is normally used for penalty calcula-
tion anyway. If excessive QoS penalties make a product unprofitable, does the
service provider drop the SLA, the product, or both? When multiyear SLA
contracts are in place, is the service provider even able to pursue such an
option? These questions must be addresses as part of the service provider’s
strategy.
On the other hand, a well-thought-out SLA can provide a revenue boost,
and a service provider may elect to provide customers with several SLA
options for bundling with a product. Service level agreements should include
detailed information on the parties involved, the relationship that exists
among them, and the products or services that are covered under the SLA.
Specific terms and conditions should be defined that detail when and how the
16 Chapter 1

services are to be performed or delivered and the responsibilities of the parties;
the agreement should also stipulate the exact frequency, locations, and meth-
ods through which the performance is to be measured and reported.
Finally, the SLA should provide a framework for taking corrective actions,
the time frames for corrective actions, measurement guidelines, formulas for
computing penalties, and whether further recourse is available when the
SLA’s terms are not met. From a purely contractual standpoint, the contract
information that should be considered when developing an SLA is illustrated
in the framework that follows:
1. Agreement definition
a) Parties
b) Contract terms and conditions
c) Delivery location(s)
i. Service access point(s)
2. Product definition
a) Product description
b) Technical description
c) Price/cost
i. Nonrecurring (NRC)
ii. Monthly recurring (MRC)
iii. Time and materials (T&M)
iv. Other charges (MISC)
3. Performance/metric definition
a) Activity
i. Service orders
ii. Trouble tickets
iii. Routine/preventive maintenance
iv. Mean Time To Repair(MTTR)
v. Other metrics
b) Network
i. Availability
ii. Reliability
iii. Downtime
iv. Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
v. Other metrics
What Are Service Level Agreements? 17

4. Measurement definition
a) Start/stop procedures
b) Points of measurement
c) Methods of measurement
d) Frequency of measurement
5. Correction definition
a) Start/stop procedures
b) Points of correction
c) Methods of correction
d) Time frames for correction
6. Reconciliation definition
a) Methods of recourse
b) Penalty/incentive formula(s)
c) Time frame of recourse
d) Other actions available
Negotiation and Sales
Once an SLA has been fully developed, it is put on the market with or layered
on top of the underlying product. In some instances the SLA may be in a tem-
plate that has been defined in such a way that it is a take it or leave itproposi-
tion. This is usually done in the most generic and technically routine service
offerings, or when the service provider is developing the standardor lowest-
level SLA in a multitiered SLA offering.
In most other cases, the customer or service provider may want to modify
terms, conditions, or pricing related to the SLA. In some cases, the customer
requirements may be so stringent or unique that the SLA is actually developed
during negotiations. Many SLA offerings have also been created after the ini-
tial SLA development cycle was performed in response to a request for proposal
(RFP) from a potential customer.
The expected outcome of the negotiation and sales phase is an executed
agreement. The products and services, terms and conditions, metrics, mea-
surement, and reporting, as well as financial (such as price and penalties) and
legal considerations (such as recourse and means to settle disputes, that is,
arbitration) should be stated and agreed upon by both parties. These expecta-
tions are then carried forward into the implementation and execution phases
of the SLA life cycle.
18 Chapter 1

Implementation
Another word for SLA implementation in the telecommunications arena is
provisioning. During this phase, the services are ordered, activated, and config-
ured for SLA compliance. This may mean that certain baseline measurements
are taken, new monitoring capabilities installed, thresholds set, additional
reports configured, or almost any number of other possibilities.
While SLAs may be negotiated and agreed to for a large number of products
or services, the actual provisioning process usually calls for service to be
ordered and turned up individually. This means that implementation is actu-
ally on a per instance basis, as opposed to the prior phases of the SLA life cycle.
Each instance of the service will normally be tracked by a unique identifier,
such as a telephone number, circuit ID, Common-Language Location Identifi-
cation (CLLI) code, Internet protocol (IP) address, and so forth, and have other
discriminating parameters, such as the SAP.
Likewise, each instance may have unique SLA requirements that must be
configured, measured, and reported on individually through the execution
phase of the service. Like the service itself, the SLA compliance measures taken
should be “signed off” on or accepted by the customer before billing for that
instance is allowed to begin. Implementation is discussed in detail in Chapters
6 and 11.
Execution
The execution phase is the normal day-to-day operation and associated activ-
ities related to the service being delivered. This includes measurement of SLA
entitlements on an ongoing basis. Extraordinary events such as circuit degra-
dation, outages, maintenance downtime, and even failure of the capability to
measure performance (Operations Support System (OSS) downtime) should be
recorded and measured and the impact to the business assessed and reported.
Reconciliation should be performed on those SLAs that have immediate or
real-time penalty requirements, while those that have historical or aggregate
statistical reporting requirements should be archived for later (periodic) rec-
onciliation. Different functions related to execution are discussed in several of
the later chapters.
Assessment
The SLA should be assessed periodically. Assessment is not the same thing as
financial reconciliation, which was addressed earlier in the chapter. (Reconcil-
iation on a per instance or per incident basis is part of the execution phase of
the SLA.) There are two types of assessments: (1) customer-focused assess-
ments and (2) provider-focused assessments.
What Are Service Level Agreements? 19

Customer-focused Assessments
Customer-focused assessments concentrate on the service provider’s perfor-
mance from the customer’s viewpoint. The key metric in this type of review is
SLA compliance (primarily availability) and customer satisfaction. The com-
ponents of customer satisfaction are discussed in Chapter 2 and are contained
in the framework that follows:
1. Overall QoS delivered
2. Overall SLA compliance
3. Customer satisfaction
a) Service level agreements
i. Contractual performance
ii. Financial performance
b) Network performance
i. Availability
ii. Other metrics
c) Operations performance
i. Call center
ii. Ordering
iii. Help desk/Network Operations Center (NOC)
iv. Field services
v. Billing
d) Service level agreement reporting
i. Notifications
ii. Metrics
e) Service level agreement reconciliation
i. Accuracy
ii. Timeliness
4. Recommended improvements
5. Other requirements
Provider-focused Assessments
Provider-focused assessments concentrate on the execution of the SLA as a
business case within the overall SLA strategy. The intent behind this type of
20 Chapter 1T E A M F L Y

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review is to optimize the use of the SLA by the service provider in order to
improve profitability through achieving better compliance or reducing penalty
exposure by changing the commitment contained within the SLAs. The key
metrics in this type of review are delivered QoS, SLA profitability, and recom-
mended improvements. A possible framework for a provider-focused review
is outlined below:
1. Overall QoS delivered to all customers
2. Overall SLA compliance to all customers
a) Service level agreement compliance by network/subnet
i. Availability
ii. Other metrics
b) Service level agreement compliance by organization
i. Call center
ii. Ordering
iii. Help desk/NOC
iv. Field services
v. Billing
c) Service level agreement reporting compliance
i. Notifications
ii. Metrics
d) Service level agreement reconciliation compliance
i. Accuracy
ii. Timeliness
3. Overall SLA profitability
4. Service level agreement profitability breakdown
a. Platinum
i. Revenues
ii. Penalties
b) Gold
i. Revenues
ii. Penalties
c) Silver
i. Revenues
ii. Penalties
What Are Service Level Agreements? 21

e) Bronze
i. Revenues
ii. Penalties
5. Recommended improvements
a) Scope
b) Timeline
6. Other requirements
The Outlook for Service Level Agreements
The use of SLA contracts will continue to grow, and eventually SLAs will
become the prevailing business model for delivery of a large number of prod-
ucts and services. We’ve already discussed the dependencies created by
coopetition in the telecommunications space. The end result of all this interde-
pendency will be an SLA flow-down effect that will drive many thousands of
SLAs as service providers (acting as customers, in turn) to use SLAs to protect
their own ability to deliver SLA-based services to their customers. Flow-down
SLAs will be addressed in later chapters. There are a number of other reasons
for this, but two in particular stand out: the growth in outsourcing and the
emergence of pure content providers.
The Growth in Outsourcing
The long-standing trend has been toward corporate outsourcing of many basic
IT functions. Reliable connectivity to the outside world via the Internet (pri-
marily in the form of email) and private networks has been the lifeblood of
much of the world’s financial, commerce, and business markets for years. The
emergence of email as a primary business tool, e-commerce, and a dramatic
increase in network and data outsourcing have brought more attention to the
value of SLAs as a means of ensuring the optimal performance of the network,
and, by extension, the associated mission-critical applications. Nothing shuts
down office productivity more quickly than email going down (unless it’s the
power going out!).
Not only are basic IT functions being outsourced, so are many mission-
critical functions that were formerly the exclusive domain of internal organi-
zations, including the operation and maintenance of enterprise applications,
entire data centers, and even data storage. Figure 1.10 a and b from Tele.com
magazine as early as May 1997, show the areas that Chief Investment Officers
(CIOs) would consider for outsourcing and their priorities.
22 Chapter 1

Figure 1.10 a and bOutsourcing predictions from Tele.com.
Courtesy of Tele.com, copyright 1997.
Especially enlightening is the scope of services that would be considered for
outsourcing. In the last 4 years, almost all of the functions identified in Tele.com
magazine in 1997 have become areas of outsourcing opportunities. As a result,
many new business opportunities and new classes of service providers have
70% Tech Support & Maintenance
69%
59%
50%
44%
38%
36%
33%
28%
25%
4.24
4.01
3.59
3.56
3.27
2.86
16%
0% 20% 40%
Corporate Outsourcing Market Opportunities
Corporate Outsource Market Opportunities
Priorities for Cor
porate Networkers
Based on a survey of 1,400 Chief Information Officers
Priorities for Corporate Networkers
SOURCE: Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group
SOURCE: Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group
60% 80%
0.00 1.00 3.00 2.00 4.00 5.00
Improved Customer Service
Improved Network Security &
Continuity
Improved Internal Communications
Improved Flexibility
Reduce Network Management Complexity
Reduce Network Costs
Network Control & Diagnostics
Help Desk
Network Management
Provisioning
Engineering
Billing & Chargebacks
International (WAN) Ops
Internal (LAN) Ops
Procurement
Strategic Planning
Ranking of Importance on a Scale of 1 (Lowest Priority) to 6 (Highest);
Based on a survey of 1,400 Chief Information Officers
What Are Service Level Agreements? 23

been created, such as application service providers (ASPs) and data storage services
(DSSs). These new service providers are, in many cases, emerging content
providers.
Some of these outsourced service areas (such as bandwidth availability) are
so critical to the continued operation of certain business enterprises that cus-
tomers are unwilling to accept any service interruptions. The availability of
these mission-critical products and services is the primary driver behind using
SLAs.
The expectation is one of continued growth. Among the most recent predic-
tions, Red Herringquotes Wall Street analysts as saying that revenues seen by
data center outsourcers will grow from $3.5 billion in 2000 to $28.5 billion in
2005, a sevenfold increase.
In another example, Red Herring quotes the research firm IDC as projecting
a data storage outsourcing resurgence after the business arena’s initial rough
start. The market is expected to grow from $21 billion in 1999 to $40 billion in
2003.
The Emergence of Pure Content Providers
A new industry is evolving in the form of pure content providers. These high-
tech businesses (such as those discussed previously, ISPs, ASPs (Salesforce.com),
e-commerce companies (Amazon.com), and even specialized entertainment
channels available on the Internet or cable TV) will consist of established com-
panies, startups, and many variations on the two.
New business models will spring up and continue to astound us. For exam-
ple, according to Cap Gemini, Ernst, & Young, Napster grew to 35 million
users in under 2 years. This translated to a compound annual growth rate of
over 3,000 percent!
There are many indicators that pure content providers will experience con-
tinued strong growth. As an example, Jupiter Media Metrix was quoted in
CEOmagazine as estimating that spending by enterprises just on streaming
video technology will explode from $140 million in 2000 to $2.8 billion in 2005.
Whatever business model, industry, or method of inception, the emerging
content providers will all have one thing in common—they will be dependent
on someone else to get their products to market. These businesses will live or
die based on their customers’ ability to access their content electronically.
Telecom service providers control this access in the form of bandwidth.
Without bandwidth, the content providers have no means to market. There-
fore they will want to guarantee that this access is available, reliable, scalable,
and robust. They will use SLAs to get those guarantees.
24 Chapter 1

Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents

Alias, from designs by Comelli, gave us in 1905 fascinating glimpses
of Paris at various periods—1790, 1830, 1906. Among noteworthy
members of the cast were Mlle. Jane May, heroine of the earlier
production of “L’Enfant Prodigue,” and one of the finest modern
mimes; and also Miss Edith Slack, Miss Cormani, Signor Santini, and,
for a time, Signorina Maria la Bella.
Between October, 1906, and May 14th, 1907, the Alhambra
underwent partial reconstruction, with complete and elaborate
redecoration, under the supervision of Mr. W. M. Brutton, the
Alhambra Company’s architect; and big as the task was it was carried
through with entire success and with additional triumph in that it was
done without closing the theatre for a single night!
Mr. Alfred Moul had now assumed the dual task of Chairman and
Managing Director, with the result that under the influence of a
gentleman of extensive theatrical experience, and wide musical
culture, the Alhambra entered upon a new and even yet more brilliant
phase of artistic success in 1907, when “The Queen of Spades,” a
striking ballet of which the action and dances were composed and
arranged by Signor Alfredo Curti, was staged and proved so
successful as to run into a second “edition” and continue in the
programme for some months.
Signor Alfredo Curti hailed from the Scala, Milan, where he had
studied the difficult art of Ballet composition on the historic lines laid
down by the virtual founder of the Milan school, Carlo Blasis, of
whom, as of Noverre, he was a great admirer, and about whom I had
many an interesting conversation. Signor Curti, whose scholarship in
the history of the dance was remarkable, was an enthusiastic follower
of the traditional school, and as an accomplished dancer and mime,
an artist, trained geometrician, and devotee of literature and music,
he brought to bear on his work as composer of Ballet, a theatrical
experience and artistic sympathy, somewhat akin to that of Blasis
himself; and while the action of his ballet was always coherent and
dramatic his appreciation of stage effect and handling of massed
groups of dancers in motion, were uncommonly fine.

In the production of “Queen of Spades,” a dramatic ballet, the story
of which dealt with the allure of gambling, he was supported on the
musical side by that distinguished Italian composer, Signor Mario
Costa, some additional numbers being contributed by Mr. George W.
Byng, the costumes, of course, being by Alias, from designs by
Comelli, and scenery by Mr. T. E. Ryan.
With Signorina Maria Bordin, a finished dancer of the typical Italian
school, as prima ballerina assoluta, seconded by that admirable mime,
Miss Julia Seale, Signorina Morino, Signor Santini, and an excellent
corps de ballet, the production achieved instant success, and
enthusiastically appreciative audiences found special reason for
approval in the novelty of the stage effects, such as the “Dream
Visions” in the third scene, with its “Valse des Liqueurs,” the “Grand
March of Playing Cards and Roulettes,” the novel “Bridge” minuet; the
“Conflict between Evil and Good,” not to mention the dramatic effect
of the “Temptation” scene which followed, and the gorgeous finale in
the “Nymphs’ Grotto of La Source.”
Ambitious and successful as was this production, it was followed, in
October, 1907, by one even more striking, namely, “Les Cloches de
Corneville,” adapted from Planquette’s world-famous opéra comique.
The ballet d’action was invented and presented by Signor Alfredo
Curti to the original music, as ingeniously selected, arranged and
supplemented by Mr. George W. Byng. Some wonderful costumes
were supplied by Alias from designs by Comelli, and the entire
spectacle was produced under the personal direction of Mr. Alfred
Moul. Signor G. Rosi gave an uncommonly fine study of the miserly
Gaspard, Signor Santini making a “dashing” Marquis de Corneville,
Miss Daisy Taylor an attractive Germaine, Miss Julia Seale playing
cleverly as Grenicheux, Signorina Morino as Serpolette, while
Signorina Maria Bordin won fresh laurels as the Spirit of the Bells, a
part naturally calling less for dramatic ability than for the music of
motion.
The production was beautifully staged. No prettier scene has ever
been set on the Alhambra stage than that of the Hiring Fair and Apple
Harvest, with its dance of apple-gatherers and sabot dance; nor one

more gorgeous than the last, in the Baronial Hall of the Corneville
Château, with its striking Grand March of Knights. The ballet ran
continuously for over seven months, and was revived with no less
success two years later.
Once more a “topical” ballet held the place of honour in the
programme on May 25th, 1908. “The Two Flags,” a Franco-British
divertissement, arranged and produced by Signor Curti, with some
capital music by Mr. George W. Byng, was presented under the
personal direction of Mr. Alfred Moul, the chief rôle of “La Gaieté de
Paris” being taken by Mlle. Pomponette—the very personification of
French enfantine gaiety—well supported by Miss Julia Seale, Signor
Rosi, Signorina Morino, and other Alhambra favourites.
In the same programme was given, under the title of “Sal! Oh My!”
an amusing satire on what we may term the Salome School of
Dancing, then recently instituted by Miss Maud Allan. The Alhambra
skit, described as “a musical etcetera” (the delightful music of which,
by the way, was by Mr. George W. Byng), served to introduce to a
London audience for the first time La Belle Leonora, a very handsome
danseuse of, I believe, Spanish origin, who was, for several seasons,
to become the “bright, particular star” of the Alhambra.
These two productions held sway for some months, but gave place
in October, 1908, to “Paquita,” a charming romantic ballet arranged
and produced by Signor Alfredo Curti, with music by Mr. George W.
Byng, who once more proved his talent for composition of the kind
essential for ballet, music rich in expressive melody, dramatic in
orchestration, and always appropriate to the action and mood of the
situation. The production introduced to London audiences for the first
time, Mlle. Britta, a young Danish dancer, with an interesting
personality and a marked gift for acting.
In the same programme was included “On the Square,” a
divertissement arranged and produced by Miss Elise Clerc, the scene
of which was laid in Herald Square, New York, and formed a
background for dances by newsboys, flower-girls, equestriennes,
cake-walks, “apache” dances, a dance of “Fluffy Ruffles and Rough

Riders,” a clever eccentric pas de deux, by Miss Elise Clerc herself and
the late Mr. Frank Lawton (the whistler, who first came into
prominence in London in the original production of “The Belle of New
York”), the most attractive item in the whole production perhaps
being a marionette pas de deux by Mlle. Britta and Miss Carlotta
Mossetti, a clever dancer and mime.
Hana
Mme. Guerrero

Dover St. Studios
Mlle. Leonora
The divertissement held its place in the programme for a
considerable time, but was in general character hardly up to the
artistic tone of the Alhambra’s past; and the production of “Psyche,” a
classic idyll in three scenes, of which the dramatic action and dances
were by Signor Alfredo Curti, and the melodious, and always
expressive music was by Mr. Alfred Moul, came as a welcome relief to
the banalities of ragtime, the more so in that it provided a fine
opportunity for another striking success by Mlle. Leonora, whose
statuesque grace was particularly well displayed by the classic beauty
of the setting provided for her.
“Femina,” another fine production by Signor Curti, gave Mlle.
Leonora opportunities, of which she fully availed herself, more
especially in her own national dance, and Mlle. Britta achieved a
marked success both as dancer and actress. Since then the more

recent influx of Russian dancers to the Alhambra, in “The Dance
Dream,” invented and produced by Alexander A. Gorsky, and notable
for superb mounting and the fine dancing of Mme. Catrina Geltzer and
M. Tichomiroff; then the exquisite “1830,” and since then again,
another superb production of a new version of “Carmen,” produced by
Mr. Dion Clayton Calthrop, and with some especially fine dancing by
La Malaguenita and other Spanish artists, all offered us fresh and
delightful examples of the enterprise of the management responsible
for them.
We must, however, leave any further consideration of the many
notable examples of Ballet at the Alhambra, which during the past
two or three years has been mainly given up to the Revue; and must
now turn to the Empire where an extensive series of always artistic
productions have provided those who witnessed them with many
interesting and happy memories.

B
CHAPTER XXXIII
THE EMPIRE 1884-1906
efçêe it opened its doors as a regular theatre, with the late H. J.
Hitchins as Manager, on April 17th, 1884, the Empire had “played
many parts.” The site had been occupied by a royal residence which
became in time a picture, or exhibition gallery and a café chantant,
before being burnt down in 1865. Then the late John Hollingshead
and some friends proposed erecting a theatre on the site, but the
scheme fell through and the ruin remained ruinous for some years,
until it became for a time a panorama of Balaclava. Then a theatre
was started, to be called the Pandora, but did not get finished under
that title. Finally it opened as the Empire in 1884, with “Chilperic,” a
musical spectacle in three acts and seven tableaux, founded on the
opera adapted by H. Hersee and H. B. Farnie, with music by Hervé.
The production included three grand ballets invented and arranged by
Monsieur Bertrand.
The sensation of the third act was a “midnight review and electric
ballet of fifty Amazons, as invented by Trouvé, of Paris (being the first
time where three electric lamps are carried and manipulated by one
person, with the most startling and gorgeous effect).”
The dancers included Mlle. Sismondi, Mlle. Aguzzi and Fräulein
Hofschuller; and the costumes by Mons. and Mme. Alias were after
designs by Bianchini, Faustin and Wilhelm, the last name being
famous in association, from the opening in 1884, with the many
brilliant productions at the Empire.
It does not seem to be commonly known that while still counted as
a “theatre,” the Empire was already foreshadowing its destiny as a
home of English Ballet. The production of “Polly” was followed by a
real ballet, a version of Coppélia—not that of Delibes—but one
founded on Hoffman’s famous story, with music by Léo; Delibes’
“Sylvia” also being produced at about the same period. Probably few
people of to-day are aware that the famous ballet “Giselle” was also

given in these early days at the Empire, in December, 1884. And
again, on December 21st, 1885, was produced “Hurly Burly,” a military
pantomime ballet. Yet again, on June 12th, 1886, came “The Palace
of Pearl,” in which there were a Moorish ballet, with a Mlle. Luna as
première, and a lace ballet, in which Mlle. Pertoldi was the bright
particular star. The Empire was afterwards occupied for a time by the
Gaiety Company in burlesque, while a French company was occupying
the Gaiety, and, later, by the musical extravaganza, “The Lady of the
Locket,” in which Miss Florence St. John played the lead, and Mr.
Hayden Coffin, I believe, made his first appearance as “Cosmo.” Mr.
Edward Solomon’s opera, “Billee Taylor,” was also mounted for a short
run, as well as—on March 3rd, 1886—a version of “Round the World
in Eighty Days,” in which Miss Kate Vaughan and Mons. Marius
appeared.
Its career as a regular theatre not being as successful as had been
hoped, a fresh licence was obtained, and on December 22nd, 1887,
under the joint direction of Mr. George Edwardes and the late Sir
Augustus Harris—with Mr. H. J. Hitchins as Manager—it started afresh
as a theatre of varieties, with Ballet as its chief attraction, and it at
once assumed an important place as one of the leading variety
houses of the world.
At the beginning of the Empire’s prosperous career a wise choice
was made in the selection of the late Madame Katti Lanner as
maîtresse de ballet.
Daughter of the famous Viennese waltz composer, Joseph Lanner—
who, when he died, was followed to the grave by some ten thousand
people—and herself a keen lover of music, Mme. Katti Lanner had
been in her earlier years a famous danseuse, who had appeared as a
child at the Vienna Opera-House, and later made her world-tour, as
great dancers did then and do to-day.
She told me, in the first of many pleasant interviews I had with her
in her retirement, how, as a young girl, she had danced with Cerito,
and with Fanny Elssler, and how the latter had prophesied for her a
successful career; and she spoke with deep enthusiasm of the

personal fascination, the brilliant art, and the noble bearing of the
great dancer who was known to London of the ’forties as the “divine”
Fanny.
In the course of time Mme. Lanner came to settle in London, and
had produced ballets at Her Majesty’s—at which she had also
appeared—and at Drury Lane, before her invaluable services were
secured by the far-seeing management of the Empire in 1887.
She had already, some ten years before, established her National
School of Dancing; and with this to draw upon, it was only natural
that, from the first, her productions at the Empire should be marked
by a uniformly high standard of technique. At no theatre or opera-
house can a high standard be maintained unless it can draw upon
some such school, either on the premises or off, where young talent is
fostered and developed, where consistent practice is kept up under
critical eyes, and where a uniform degree of technical efficiency and a
high sense of style are cultivated. So it has been with Milan and Paris,
Vienna and Petrograd; and so it became when Mme. Lanner began
her association with that series of productions at the Empire of which
it may be truthfully said that each achieved both artistic and financial
success.
The programme on the opening night, Thursday, December 22nd,
1887, included two ballets, “Sports of England” and “Dilara.” The
former—the costumes for which were designed by Mr. Percy Anderson
—was, as its title betokens, a representation of the various British
sports and pastimes, and was naturally very popular with the habitués
of the Empire. The second—the costumes of which were designed by
Mr. C. Wilhelm—was a brilliant spectacle, of Eastern character; and
both ballets, arranged by Mme. Lanner, with music by Hervé, had a
run of some months.
They were succeeded by “Rose d’Amour” in May, 1888, which those
who remember it speak of to-day as one of Mme. Katti Lanner’s
greatest triumphs. It was notable, too, for the appearance of such
dancers as Mlle. Adèle Rossi—who, I believe, had come from the Paris
Opera—Mlle. Santori, Mlle. de Sortis; Ænea, the flying dancer, and the

wondrous Mons. Cecchetti, who, gifted with amazing youth, was
appearing recently with the Russians at the Royal Opera, Covent
Garden. “Rose d’Amour,” like Darwin’s poem of a century earlier, dealt
with “the loves of the plants,” or at any rate of the flowers, and the
quarrels in flowerland. It was a long and rather elaborate production,
with a prodigal array of lovely costumes designed by Mr. Wilhelm; and
it rather opened the eyes of Londoners as to the possibilities of the
art of Ballet. “Diana,” a graceful idyll on classic lines—the scenario of
which was suggested by Mr. Wilhelm, and arranged by Mme. Lanner—
followed on October 31st of the same year, with that graceful dancer,
Mme. Palladino, and Signor Albertieri in the cast, and, later, Mme.
Malvina Cavallazzi, who appeared for the first time in ballet skirts at
the Empire, and for the last time in the same typical costume; her
subsequent appearances being usually in male character, of which she
was a truly fine exponent. “Diana” was followed by “Robert Macaire.”
Early next year came the first London production of Paul Martinetti
and Hervé’s “A Duel in the Snow,” which was less in the nature of a
regular ballet than of pure pantomime, was a finely dramatic effort
well staged and acted. In the spring of ’eighty-nine was produced
another superb ballet, “Cleopatra” (inspired by Sir Rider Haggard’s
novel, then appearing in serial form in the pages of the Illustrated
London News), which ran for some four months and was immensely
admired.
In the autumn it gave place to a popular production, dealing with
the diversions, and bearing the title of “The Paris Exhibition”; and in
December of the same year, on the eve of Christmas Eve, came a
wonderful production, “The Dream of Wealth,” by Mme. Katti Lanner,
with music by that fine composer—so long afterwards associated with
the Empire—Mons. L. Wenzel, and with costumes and accessories
designed “as before” by Mr. Wilhelm. The cast included that superb
mime, Signora Malvina Cavallazzi, as a Miser; Signor Luigi Albertieri as
the Demon of Avarice; and dainty little Mlle. Bettina de Sortis as
première, representing “The Key of the Jewel Casket.”
The same admirable trio were included in the new ballet, “Cécile”
(by Lanner, Wenzel, and Wilhelm, again), which followed on May 20th,

1890, the première danseuse being Mlle. Giuri, a dancer of exquisite
finish and singularly élégante style, as well as a most admirable mime.
The period of the divertissement was Louis-Seize, and the production
was very charmingly staged, one of the chief points being a wonderful
colour scheme of almost one tone, composed of white and silver and
mother-of-pearl. This was in the second tableau, depicting a court in
the palace of a Rajah who had very wrongly abducted a pupil from a
French school! In this ballet that delightful English dancer Miss Topsy
Sinden first made her London début as a tiny child, with her brother,
Bert Sinden.
The spring of next year was marked by the production of “Orfeo,”
the scenario of which was by Mr. Wilhelm, the scenery by Telbin. It
was an impressive example of classic ballet. Mme. Cavallazzi was a
superb exponent of the title-rôle, Miss Ada Vincent was excellent as
Eurydice, and good support was given by Mlle. Adèle Rossi and Signor
Cecchetti. The autumn of the same year saw the advent of “By the
Sea,” perhaps the earliest of the “up-to-date” ballets; and on
December 22nd that of “Nisita,” the latter a romantic ballet with an
Albanian setting, a very pretty second tableau showing a “Revel of the
Fairies,” and with Mlle. Emma Palladino as the handsome heroine Nita,
and Mme. Cavallazzi as the hero, Delvinos. The first night this was
produced, December 22nd, 1891, by the way, there was one of the
very worst fogs London has ever seen, so thick that you could not see
the drop curtain from the third row of the stalls! But the innate
brightness of the production overcame its gloomy environment at
birth and it ran for months.
In May, 1892, came “Versailles,” another superb production for the
scenario of which, as well as of course the costumes, Mr. Wilhelm was
mainly responsible, though it was as usual “choregraphically”
arranged by Mme. Katti Lanner, with delightful music by Mons.
Leopold Wenzel. This ran until September, when “Round the Town” (a
ballet the scenario of which was by Mr. George Edwardes and Mme.
Lanner) was staged, and proved so popular as a topical
divertissement (not unlike our present day Revues) that it held the bill
for some months. An interesting point in connection with this ballet

was that the late Miss Katie Seymour, one of the very neatest English
dancers that ever trod the London boards, joined the cast after the
production had run a little time, and as a Salvation Lassie performed
an eccentric dance with Mr. Willie Warde, also an extremely able
English dancer, that was one of the successes of the theatrical season.
In 1893, the theatre was closed from October 27th to November 2nd,
owing to intervention by the County Council.
One of the finest productions yet seen at a theatre which by now
had become famous for its ballets, was “Faust,” first produced on May
6th, 1895. The scenario of this, as well as the costume designs, were
by Mr. Wilhelm, and it was an ingenious variation of the Gounod
version, the music not by Gounod, but by Mr. Meyer Lutz and Mr.
Ernest Ford, the ballet being arranged as usual by Mme. Lanner. Mme.
Cavallazzi was superb as Faust; Miss Ada Vincent was the Gretchen,
Mlle. Zanfretta was a striking exponent of Mephistopheles, and among
the cast was Mr. Will Bishop, a clever eccentric dancer, who was
associated with the Empire for several seasons. This was followed, in
the January of 1896, by a charming ballet entitled “La Danse,” in
which the history of dancing was illustrated and various dancers of
the older schools, such as Sallé, Taglioni and others, as well as the
modern, were typified. In October came “Monte Cristo”—another
superb production staged and designed by Mr. Wilhelm, to whom I am
indebted for many interesting details of the Empire’s history. This
brings to a close the record of success from the opening of the Empire
in 1887 to the close of 1896. This first phase was one of increasing
triumph; a second, more splendid still, was to come. We had seen
Ballet perfect of its kind. But yet, perfection was to be crowned by the
supremacy of terpsichorean and mimetic art—the art of Adeline
Génée.
“Under One Flag,” a topical ballet in celebration of Queen Victoria’s
Diamond Jubilee, in 1897, ran for some months. Before the close of
the year the Treasure Island tableau in “Monte Cristo” was staged,
and in this, on November 22nd, 1897, a certain historic event took
place—Mlle. Adeline Génée made her London début at the Empire
Theatre.

One of her critics at the time wrote that: “Her pas seuls
commanded encores which were thoroughly deserved. The dancer is
lissom to a degree and thoroughly mistress of her art. With her
terpsichorean ability she has the advantage of a prepossessing
personality, which will assist in endearing her to the public.” So much
did her personality endear her to the public that Mlle. Génée’s first
engagement at the Empire for six weeks extended to over ten years,
with return visits after that!
Looking back at the great dancers of the past, we see that all
illustrate the incalculable value of personality in art. The technique of
a Camargo or Sallé, Taglioni or Grahn, Karsavina or Génée, has the
same foundation—the traditional “five positions,” which are to the
Dance what the octave is to the sister art of Music. Before a dancer
can hope to appear with success on any stage she must have
acquired a knowledge of those “five positions,” and their possibilities
of choregraphic combination. The ease and rapidity with which she
illustrates them, the fluidity of the phrases and melodies of movement
which she evolves from them, and the qualities of “finish” and “style”
are finally achieved only by incessant practice. She must attain as
complete a mastery of the mechanism of her body as can be attained.
No technique in any art is acquired without labour; and no success is
won without technique. That much therefore can be taken for granted
in any great artist. But persistent practice and the acquisition of a fine
technique may still leave a dancer merely an exquisite automaton if
she has not “personality”; a quality not readily defined, but which
undeniably marks her as different from others. Perhaps that is, after
all, the truest definition—a differentiation from others.
Endowed with the royal gift of personality, Mlle. Génée had worked
incessantly before she made her first appearance in London at about
the age of seventeen. Born in Copenhagen of Danish parents, the
famous dancer began her training when only eight years old, under
the tuition of her uncle and aunt, Mons. and Mme. Alexander Génée,
both of whom (the latter as Mlle. Zimmermann) had won considerable
reputation as dancers, and producers of ballet, at various continental
opera-houses and theatres in the ’sixties and ’seventies. They had

appeared at Copenhagen, Vienna, Dresden, Munich, Budapest, and at
Stettin, where Mons. Alexander Génée had a theatre for some years,
and where Mlle. Adeline made some of her earliest appearances as a
child. Subsequently she went to Berlin and to Munich, and it was
while dancing in the latter city that she was called to London by Mr.
George Edwardes on behalf of the Empire management.
Her first appearance here was emphatically a success. But it was
her performance as the Spirit of the “Liberty of the Press” in the
famous Empire ballet, “The Press” (invented and designed by Mr.
Wilhelm with the choregraphic support of Mme. Lanner and music by
Mons. Wenzel), on February 14th, 1898, that first marked her—and
for many years to come—as a London “star.” The ballet gave her
scope for some wonderful pas, and proved immensely popular. It was
a novel idea, artistically carried out, and illustrated the history and
power of the Fourth Estate. A number of charming coryphées were
ingeniously attired as representatives of the various newspapers,
boys’ costumes indicating the morning and girls’ the evening journals.
The venerable Times was typified by a man in the guise of Father
Time, with hour-glass and other symbols of his ancient office, and
accompanied by a retinue. Mme. Cavallazzi represented Caxton,
Father of the Printing Press; Mlle. Zanfretta, the Spirit of Fashion; and
there were typical costumes for The Standard, The Daily Telegraph,
The Globe, The Daily Mail (then two years old!), The Illustrated
London News (who announced that she was “Established 1842”), The
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, The Lady’s Pictorial, The
Sketch, The Referee, and others too numerous to name. So popular
did the ballet prove that this also ran for months, and it was not until
October of the same year that a new production, “Alaska,” was
staged, the scenario of which was by Mr. Wilhelm, the choregraphy by
Mme. Lanner, and music by Mons. Wenzel.
The production which a contemporary critic described as “one of
the most gorgeous ballets ever produced at the Empire,” is another
example of the influence of topical events on the history of the Ballet,
for it was due to the discovery of the Klondyke goldfields, the first
news of which had come to us the year before, that is, in Jubilee year,

but the real wonders of which only began fully to reveal themselves in
the summer of 1898, when everyone talked and dreamed of little else
than “Klondyke”! The ballet opened with a blinding snowstorm, and
the scene, laid in the snow-bound regions of the North-West, glowed,
as the storm ceased, with the grandeur of the Aurora Borealis. The
story dealt with the adventures of one Alec Wylie (Mme. Cavallazzi),
leader of an expedition to Klondyke, who, tempted by the Demon
Avarice, quarrels with and leaves for dead his partner, Frank Courage,
whose life is saved by the ice fairies and who is vouchsafed a vision of
golden realms by the Fairy Good Fortune. The production was rich in
striking scenes and stage effects, and once again Mlle. Génée further
confirmed her growing capacity to “endear” herself to London
audiences by her performance as the Fairy Good Fortune.
On May 8th of the following year, 1899, “Round the Town Again,” by
Mme. Lanner, Mr. Wilhelm and Mons. Wenzel, was produced. This was
entirely different from the original “Round the Town,” and with a
second edition, also further altered, in January, 1900, ran until the
end of August, 1900, that is, for fifteen months! Mlle. Génée, Mlle.
Zanfretta and Mr. Will Bishop were the leading dancers, with a change
of cast for a time when Mlle. Edvige Gantenberg took up Mlle. Génée’s
part of Lisette, a French maid, during the latter’s absence on a brief
holiday. A revised edition of “By the Sea,” under the title of “Seaside,”
came on in September, 1900, the cast including Mlle. Génée, Signor
Santini, Mr. Will Bishop and also Mr. Frank Lawton, whose whistling
had so long been one of the attractions, elsewhere, of the “Belle of
New York.”
Next came a fascinating ballet “Les Papillons,” the scenario and
staging of which were by Mr. Wilhelm. Of this an enthusiastic critic
declared: “It is, indeed, a beautiful butterfly ballet that the Empire
Theatre is just now able to boast. With it the management draws
crowded houses, and sends them away delighted—delighted with the
colour, exhilarated by the movement, charmed by the fancy, and
ready to sing the praises of all concerned in a truly marvellous
production, and particularly of Mr. Wilhelm, whose designs have given
further proof of the taste which governs his fertile imagination and

invention, and of Mme. Katti Lanner, for whom the dances and
evolutions mean another veritable triumph.” Mlle. Adeline Génée, as
lead, played “Vanessa Imperialis,” the Butterfly Queen, who was
“discovered” at the opening of the ballet fast asleep in the lovely
realm over which she reigned. A glow-worm patrol guarded her
slumbers, which ended with the coming of dawn, when she joined her
subjects and the flower-fays in dances, and the revels of a fairy
midsummer’s day dream.
On November 6th of the same year followed “Old China,” a
delightful ballet, invented and designed by Mr. C. Wilhelm, associated,
as usual, with Mme. Lanner and Mons. Wenzel, and with Mlle. Génée
as première danseuse. The opening scene showed a mantelpiece,
backed by a great mirror, in which the actions of a little Dresden China
Shepherdess (Mlle. Génée) and her two troublesome lovers, were
exactly repeated in the looking-glass, through which finally the
indignant damsel stepped—to the chagrin of her disconsolate lovers—
right into Willow Pattern Land, which formed the second scene, and
into which some particularly rich and beautiful effects were
introduced. “Old China” ran for some months, and on May 28th of the
following year was succeeded by another “topical” ballet, “Our
Crown,” again the work of the accomplished trio, who had so long
contributed to the success of the Empire productions, and were now
receiving the brilliant assistance of the Danish première, who had
thoroughly established herself in popular favour. It was, of course in
celebration of that crowning of the late King Edward which had been
so unhappily postponed, through his late Majesty’s illness on the very
eve of what should have been his Coronation. This, again, was a most
brilliant production, and the final tableau, practically a “Staircase”
scene, in which the great stage was built up with groups
representative of the jewelled products of the various British colonies,
rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls, was magnificent. As in the case of
the Victorian Jubilee ballet of five years before, this was a
conspicuous triumph in the particularly difficult sphere of ballets
d’occasion.

The first production of 1903 was also the first of what may be
called essentially the Génée ballets—ballets, that is, which seemed
more particularly than before, infused with the personality of this
accomplished dancer. Since her London début in 1897 she had played
the leading part, certainly, but now it seemed almost as if her
personality coloured the whole ballet itself, even as unquestionably
her supreme technique set an example and had its influence in raising
the already high standard of technique throughout the corps de ballet.
The scenario and staging of “The Milliner Duchess” were by Mr.
Wilhelm, and the story was specially designed to give Mlle. Génée an
opportunity of further exhibiting her gifts as an actress. Into a
fashionable throng frequenting the establishment of an up-to-date
duchess who was running a milliner’s business was introduced her
demure little niece, impersonated, of course, by Mlle. Génée; and her
first entrance, in a gown of primitively early-Victorian simplicity, was
charming in its hesitancy, and one realised that she was something
more even than a finished dancer, namely, a born mime with a fine
artistic appreciation of the nuances of comedy.
In her dance descriptive of the charms of country life, so clever and
so perfect was the combination of mime and dance that a positive
illusion was created; and only at the close did one realise, suddenly,
that it was veritably a song without words. A step, a gesture, a little
glance, and one could have sworn one heard a poet’s lines! Popular as
the dancer had already made herself, her work in this particularly
charming ballet confirmed the growing opinion that here was a dancer
who was supreme in her art as a dancer-mime; one to be reckoned
among any gallery of the great artists of the past.
In the autumn of the same year was staged a ballet by the same
experienced trio, Wilhelm, Lanner and Wenzel, entitled “Vineland,”
which introduced to us some novel and sumptuous colour schemes
and gave us the sensation of Mlle. Génée’s “champagne” dance, a
piece of terpsichorean music as sparkling as the most glittering of
Offenbach’s operatic melodies. Early next year there followed the
lively, up-to-date divertissement, “High Jinks,” in which the leading

parts were played by Mlle. Génée, Mlle. Zanfretta, Miss Dorothy
Craske, and Mr. Fred Farren.
An adaptation by Mr. Wilhelm from the popular Viennese ballet, “Die
Puppenfee,” under the English title of “The Dancing Doll,” was
produced on January 3rd, 1905, and was notable, among other
things, for Mlle. Génée’s impersonation of an automaton in situations
not very dissimilar from those of “La Poupée,” and a notable point in
the production was a delightful eccentric dance by Miss Elise Clerc and
Mr. W. Vokes, as a pair of Dutch dolls. This very successful ballet went
into a second edition on April 3rd, and on June 30th the theatre was
closed for redecoration.
When it reopened on October 9th of that year the habitués found
considerable alterations had taken place under the direction of Mr.
Frank Verity, f.ê.i.b.a., all designed for their increased comfort, while
the decorative style, representative of the true Empire period, had a
note of distinction hitherto lacking in some of the London vaudeville
houses, a note more in keeping with the demands of modern times.
The opening ballet, by Mr. C. Wilhelm and Mr. Sidney Jones, was “The
Bugle Call,” which had a well defined plot, and in which Mlle. Génée
played the part of a French bugler boy of the late eighteenth century.
On the afternoon of January 6th (1906) a version of “Cinderella,”
one of the most charming of Mr. Wilhelm’s creations, was staged,
originally with a view only to matinée performances, but it proved so
successful that it went into the evening bill on February 5th. The
creator of the ballet had treated the age-long legend of Cinderella
with that respect for its mingled poetry and pathos which an artist of
sympathy must always feel for one of childhood’s most appealing
legends; and he provided Mlle. Génée once more with an opportunity
for proving her remarkable gifts as an actress, fully in sympathy with
the character and sufferings of the little heroine she impersonated.
On May 14th, Delibes’ classic example of Ballet in its ideal form,
namely, “Coppélia,” was produced specially for Mlle. Génée, and gave
her, as the heroine, Swanilda, fresh opportunity for further revelations
of her amazing accomplishments as a dancer and for her expressive

acting; in which, by the way, she was admirably supported by Mr. Fred
Farren in the character of the old doll-maker, Coppélia; and by Miss
Dorothy Craske as Coppélia’s somewhat wavering lover. The
production was a great success. How should it have been otherwise?
Perfectly staged and perfectly performed, it is, with its haunting Slav
rhythms and flowing valse melodies, one of the most charming, and
musically, one of the most expressive ballets in the world’s répertoire.
This was followed on August 6th by one of the most exquisite
productions the Empire had yet seen, a ballet by Mr. C. Wilhelm,
entitled “Fête Galante,” which had been expanded from the opening
scene of “Cinderella.”
To see the “Fête Galante” was itself a liberal education in the art of
stage effect. It was an ideal realisation of the art of Watteau, Lancret,
and Fragonard. The very spirit of the period was caught, and it was as
if all that one had learnt at secondhand of the people, the dress, the
manners, dances, arts and music of the “Grand Century” in France
had suddenly awakened into life, and become a living reality of which
one was a living part. Yet, paradoxically, it was strangely dream-like
still, even as are Watteau’s pictures.
The scene represented a garden such as you see in so many of his
paintings, and those of his school, primarily reminiscent of Pater’s
“Conversation Galante” and Watteau’s “Fête Galante,” “L’amour au
Théâtre Français,” and the “Terrace Party.” One of the young Court
ladies reminded one of the central figure in the “Bal sous une
Colonnade.” A minuet was in progress. All was stately and dream-like,
made the more so by the music.
For all the gaiety of the huntsmen’s entrance it was gaiety demure,
as if restrained by an inherent sense of fitness with stately
surroundings; and so with the troupe of dancers, introduced for the
diversion of the Marquise Belle Etoile, and the Court ladies and
courtiers grouped about her. The mood of all, demurely gay, or gaily
demure, was suffused with a stately languor, a dream-like grace that
found an echo in the subtle colour-harmonies of the old-world garden
in which the people moved.

And when the opera-dancer, L’Hirondelle, and Passepied the master
of the revels, began their pas de deux, the climax of exquisite illusion
was reached, and Camargo was before us—the Camargo of Lancret’s
famous picture, with the soft, full white skirts, trimmed with garlands
of small pink roses and falling almost to the ankle; Camargo with the
red-heeled, red-rosetted shoes; with blue shoulder-knot and
powdered hair adorned with pale blue ribbons.
As the fête drew to a close the picture mellowed in the amber light
of a waning day; and, amid fallen leaf and chestnut bloom, slowly
marquise and prince, Court lady and courtier, dancer and page, began
in stately fashion to dance, their shadows lengthening in the failing
light, the music growing slower and dreamier as, little by little, the
picture was re-formed into the likeness of the opening scene, and the
falling curtain brought one back into the world of living things to-day.
Another brilliant reconstruction of the Past was achieved by Mr.
Wilhelm in his creation of “The Débutante” (November 15th, 1906),
which revivified the men and maids and modes, the dance of life, and
the life of the dance, of that strangely interesting period of the
’thirties and ’forties, the days of Pauline Duverney, Leroux, Fanny
Elssler, and Taglioni’s earlier years. The scene represented the Salon
de Danse attached to an opera-house, the story dealing with the
refusal of a star to take up her part in a ballet which is on the eve of
production, her place being taken at the eleventh hour by a débutante
(Mlle. Génée) with almost miraculous abilities. For this production,
and in order that the style of the earlier dances should be represented
on the stage with regard for accuracy and tradition, Mme. Katti
Lanner, who had left the Empire in 1905, was induced to withdraw
from her retirement temporarily at the request of the Directors, and
out of personal friendship towards Mr. Wilhelm, with whose artistic
aims she had so constantly shown her sympathy. Her reappearance to
take another “call” proved another personal triumph. The ballet was
indeed a charming work, fascinating to students of the dance and
mime; and it proved so successful that a new one was not required
until “Sir Roger de Coverley,” by Adrian Ross and Dr. Osmond Carr,
staged by Mr. Wilhelm, came into the bill on May 7th in the following

year. As its title betokens, it dealt with the period of Queen Anne and
showed a charming representation of the life of old Vauxhall. This,
too, ran for some months and was succeeded on September 30th by
“The Belle of the Ball,” which delighted many old frequenters of the
Empire with its recollection of scenes from many of the earlier
operatic favourites of the ’sixties and ’seventies, such as “Madame
Angot,” “The Grand Duchess,” and other light operas, coming up to
more recent productions, such as “The Belle of New York,” “The
Geisha,” and others.
Mlle. Adeline Génée
The production marked the début of that brilliant young English
dancer, Miss Phyllis Bedells, and also the end of Mlle. Génée’s
unbroken ten years’ reign at the Empire Theatre, the tenth
anniversary of her first appearance being celebrated on November
22nd, when the house was packed from floor to ceiling with a crowd
whose growing enthusiasm culminated in a perfect tornado of

applause on the falling of the curtain and something like a score of
“calls”; the dancer having achieved by her personality and technique
such a triumph as had not been known in London since the great days
of Taglioni and the famous Pas de Quatre of the ’forties. She left to
carry her influence to America, but there were of course return visits
which concern us not at present in dealing only with what may be
styled her ten years’ reign.
But in watching that decade closely with all its procession of
successes, one thing there is that strikes one very forcibly. It was only
the natural corollary of the previous decade before the advent of Mlle.
Génée. For some twenty years the artistic influence of one mind had
been, never obtrusive, but invariably evident; never obtrusive, that is,
to the detriment of that balance of the arts which makes a perfect
ballet; I mean the artistic influence of Mr. C. Wilhelm. Before the
coming of Mlle. Génée they had had some good dancers and some
great artistic successes; but there had hardly been, perhaps, quite
that unity and perfection of ensemble which the coming of a dancer
of superb technique made possible, and which, it may be, enabled a
designer of ballet, already of great experience and inspired always by
high artistic motives—not only to aim at, but to count on, achieving
just the effect at which he aimed. Theatrical art must always be a
somewhat composite art, but its best achievements come from a
perfect blending of artistic sympathies, forming a source of mutual
inspiration. So, while the personality and technical accomplishment of
Mlle. Génée must have proved a stimulus to the poetic imagination of
an artist like Mr. Wilhelm, so, too, the famous Danish danseuse could
well afford to admit a debt of inspiration to the refined, sensitive and
poetic art of Mr. Wilhelm, who has provided so invariably a worthy and
gracious medium for her supreme art as dancer-mime.

W
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE EMPIRE 1907-1914
hen the news was first announced that an end was to come to Mlle.
Adeline Génée’s ten years’ reign at the Empire and that the
famous dancer was seeking, if not new worlds to conquer, at least to
conquer what was once always spoken of as “The ‘New’ World,” many
who had followed the progress of Ballet in London must have
wondered where anyone could hope to find a successor to her throne,
and who would have the courage to accept an offer thereof.
But London theatrical managers are not lacking in resource, or
English girls in courage; and it was with real pleasure that we heard
that so worthy a successor had been found as that graceful and
essentially English dancer, Miss Topsy Sinden, who had already been
associated with the Empire as a child some years before.
Of Mlle. Génée’s triumph in “The Belle of the Ball,” I have already
spoken. Shortly after, the production underwent a change, and the
fact that the new version was still in the bill on the following June 1st,
proves the popularity of the production and of the Empire’s choice of
Miss Sinden as première danseuse. Her success was the more
interesting in that in temperament and in methods she was entirely
different from the famous Danish dancer. A typical English girl, with all
the charm of looks and manner implied thereby, she had studied not
so much the purely traditional French or Italian school of ballet-
dancing—though she had, of course, acquired that too—but the
English school; of which the late Miss Kate Vaughan was, in her time,
the finest exponent, and of which Miss Sylvia Grey, Miss Phyllis
Broughton, the late Miss Katie Seymour, Miss Letty Lind, Miss Alice
Lethbridge, and Miss Mabel Love, may be taken as leading
representatives during the past twenty years.
Miss Sinden had had long and invaluable stage experience before
becoming première danseuse at the Empire; had appeared in
pantomime at Covent Garden, Drury Lane, at the old “Brit,” and at

Liverpool and elsewhere; had “done” the Halls; had appeared at the
Haymarket under Sir H. Beerbohm Tree’s management; had appeared
at the Gaiety in “Cinderella Up-to-Date,” “In Town,” “Don Juan,” “The
Gaiety Girl,” and “The Shop Girl”; at Daly’s in “The Greek Slave,” in
“The Country Girl,” and other productions; and always she won fresh
distinction as one of the most vivacious, piquante, graceful and
finished English dancers the London stage has ever known.
Her appearance in “The Belle of the Ball” was marked by the most
cordial welcome from the Press and the public, and one of the first
greetings she received on her return to the Empire was a telegram
from Brighton which ran as follows: “My good wishes, and I hope you
will do yourself justice. You are one of the best dancers I know.—
Adeline Génée.” That Miss Sinden did do herself justice was seen in
the enthusiastic cheers and demands for encores which greeted her at
the close of her scenes on that “big night” of her return to the Empire
stage.
“The Belle of the Ball” gave place to a revival of “Coppélia” and—
the return of Mlle. Adeline Génée. Many as her triumphs had been
during her ten years’ unbroken reign, that Wednesday night, June
10th, 1908, must be recorded in Mlle. Génée’s memory in letters of
gold, for even she can never have seen such a house, so crammed
from floor to ceiling with a distinguished audience, including King
George (then Prince of Wales), and been welcomed with such
thunderous cheering and applause as greeted her on her first
appearance through the little brown door of Swanilda’s balconied
house, when she floated down the stairs to the centre of the stage, so
lightly indeed that she seemed almost to flutter before the storm of
enthusiasm which welcomed her return. And how she danced! Only
her peer among poets could describe it, and then he would probably
feel as Thackeray felt when endeavouring to do justice to Taglioni in
“Sylphide!”
For some seasons past we have had the Russian ballet as a
standing dish, over which various epicures have gloated as if no other
fare had ever been. But it is interesting to note that the first of “all
the Russias” was Mlle. Lydia Kyasht, who made her London début at

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