But when the board voted this past May to close the Manhattan school and suspend company activity until financial problems were cleared up, and, in response, Protas shut off access to the dances, the board deemed the licensing agreement terminated. At that point, both parties hoped the state attorney general's office would mediate a settlement. Overtures were made to each side, and, according to Brad Maione, a spokesperson for the attorney general, for a while it seemed as if progress would be made. He insists the board's May suspension of its agreement with him means their claims to financial aid have been forfeited. This recent disagreement has exacerbated the differences between the Center and the Trust.
Litigation appears inevitable.
What board members see as Protas's reneging on his July 1999 promise has caused them to question his licensing power. His ownership of the dances, they think, can be contested. Indeed, they will dispute whether Graham herself owned the dances and was therefore in the position to leave them to Protas. The board has already laid the foundation for an inquiry. Not surprisingly, Dale Cendali, the Center's lawyer, has a different take.