A ROW between Scottish Ballet and Scotland’s visual arts community showed signs of being defused yesterday, following what was called a "positive" meeting of the two parties.

The meeting was the first sign that Scottish Ballet may be willing to compromise on its plan to take over Glasgow’s Tramway arts venue. The plan, which would currently mean the closure of Tramway 2, one of Europe’s most renowned exhibition spaces, has provoked outrage from artists.

"I got the sense there was a willingness to consider other options," said Ross Birrell, the artists’ representative, after the meeting.

According to the protesters, Scottish Ballet has said it will tell the Scottish Arts Council, which is currently deciding whether to fund Scottish Ballet’s plan, that its bid will "need to be redressed". Adding that the company will "consider alternative workshop space [to Tramway 2] if funding was found to do so".

Chris Barron, the chief executive of Scottish Ballet, has also agreed to attend a meeting between the protesters and Glasgow City Council, which owns Tramway, before the end of the month.

Mr Birrell said he was "optimistic" but warned that dialogue with the council would be "very difficult" while Alexia Holt, Tramway’s visual arts programmer, remains suspended. "It’s difficult to have a discussion while a principal player isn’t there," he said.

original article : http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/scotland.cfm?id=1138342003