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DDP Talks To

"The Devil Ties My Tongue" by Amy Seiwert performed for the SKETCH Series, 2013. Photo by David DeSilva. Courtesy of Amy Seiwert's Imagery

DDP will cover stories from the corporate, for profit world regarding issues surrounding pay equity and transparency where relevant, such as other industries with low representation of women: tech, the sciences, venture capital, the entertainment industry, etc. to examine parallels between these male dominated spheres where informal hiring and word of mouth is the norm.

Inquirer.net: Ballet school owner, dance instructors face raps for abuse of teen students

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By Carla P. Gomez

15 October 2019

BACOLOD CITY –– Charges were filed against a ballet school owner and his two female dance instructors for allegedly abusing three female teen students.

Three complaints for violation of the Special Protection Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, were filed against the ballet school owner, who is also a dancer and choreographer, and his two female dance instructors at the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.

The names of the respondents were withheld to protect the identities of the alleged victims.

The abuses began in January 2019 when certain requirements were imposed on the complainants who entered into a scholarship contract with the respondents’ school.

The three ballet students were allegedly subjected to an excessive dietary program that affected their health, as well as to physical, verbal and emotional abuses, said Jeremy Moreno, the lawyer of the three complainants.

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1177760/ballet-school-owner-dance-instructors-face-raps-for-abuse-of-teen-students#ixzz62WSv3LA8
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Washington Post: Suzanne Farrell returns to New York City Ballet to coach dancers

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By Sarah Kaufman

10 April 2019

Ballet eminences across the country hailed the news this week that Suzanne Farrell, the celebrated ballerina and choreographic inspiration to …

Read the full article in The Washington Post.

Dance Business Weekly: 4 Things to Know Before You Open a Dance Studio—or Any Dance Business, for That Matter

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By Rachel Rizzuto

9 October 2019

Dreaming of opening a dance studio of your own? It might be more of a rude awakening than you’re imagining—especially if you’ve spent a few years as part of another studio’s faculty. Sure, you might have good ideas you’re ready to implement and a vision of yourself as the boss you’ve always wanted. But owning a business also means you’ll have to give up some of your favorite parts of your old job and learn or take on or even hire others for new roles and skills in order to keep your business moving forward. “If you’ve got the bug, it’s a magical adventure to own your own business,” says Genevieve Weeks, founder of Tutu School, a dance studio business with a successful franchise model that has grown to 34 locations throughout the country. “But some people are drawn to it because of the way they see it presented on Instagram. They’re not thinking about the layers underneath.” 

You’ll Need a Business Owner’s Mind-set

Owning a studio is a dramatic change in job description and requires a switch to a business mind-set—so here are four things to keep in mind before you launch.

1. Make sure you have enough capital to give yourself a really long runway for takeoff. 

“One of the primary reasons small businesses aren’t successful is that they’re not properly capitalized,” says Weeks. “You need enough of a runway to really give yourself a chance. You could be one month away from really turning a profit and becoming successful, but you have to shut down because you don’t have the next month’s rent or payroll.” 

Read the full article on Dance Business Weekly.

Vox: Why HR is powerless to effectively handle sexual harassment claims

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By Laurie Ruettimann

3 October 2019

Nobody goes looking for a meeting with HR. That had always been Maya’s thinking. Even after she was sexually harassed by wealthy board members on the job, rather than report the incidents to the human resources department, she did what so many employees do — she tried to manage it.

“I side-stepped hugs and squeezes, redirected conversations when it turned to my appearance, and politely ask not to be called ‘doll’ or ‘kitten,’” said Maya (whose name has been changed for this story).

However, when a board member made sexual advances to a college intern on her team, Maya felt differently. She was compelled to report the incident to HR.

Unfortunately, the harassment investigation lived up to Maya’s low expectations. Nobody offered a timeline or shared updates. It was unclear who, if anyone, outside of HR knew about the accusations. University leaders grew cold and distant, but Maya wasn’t sure if they were reacting to the investigation or if she was paranoid. Eventually, the stress drove her to resign.

Maya’s story is not uncommon. In my work as a human resources consultant, people come to me with questions about the intricacies of sexual harassment investigations. How does it work? Who is responsible for what? When does HR manage this process, and when is it handled externally? Can you report your boss and remain confidential?

The answer to all of those questions is this: It depends.

Read the full article on Vox.

The Progress 1000: London’s most influential people 2019 – Creative Arts: Dance

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By Emma Byrne

Tamara Rojo​

Lead ballerina and artistic director, English National Ballet
Rojo has turned her company into a formidable force, championing women choreographers and talented youngsters alongside heavyweight stars. She’s overseen ENB’s move into its new home in Canning Town, cementing east London as the capital’s up-and-coming dance centre.

Cathy Marston

Choreographer | NEW
Marston has had one hell of a year already, creating ballets for the world’s great companies and winning a Critics’ Circle award. And there’s another major coup — her first main-stage work for the Royal Ballet, based on the life of Jacqueline Du Pré.

Cassa Pancho

Atistic director, Ballet Black
Pancho is changing the face of British dance. Last year she worked alongside Freed to create pointe shoes and tights for black and mixed-race ballet dancers – a UK first.

Read the full list in the Standard.

Pointe Magazine: Behind Ballet’s Diversity Problem

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By Joseph Carman

14 May 2014


Ballet has a lily-white reputation.

The great “ballet blanc” works glorify white swans, white shades, white wilis and white sylphs. Still, in 2014, balletgoers might expect some progress in racial diversity onstage, especially in the U.S., where populations of color are growing. But comb the rosters of most American companies and you’ll find a striking sameness. While a few have established inclusive policies in training and hiring, they are the minority. There is a notable exception—Asian and Asian-American dancers have made real inroads. However, dancers of other ethnic backgrounds continue to face challenges, especially women.

Many factors contribute to ballet’s lack of diversity: economic inequality—ballet training is notoriously expensive; a lack of role models for aspiring dancers to emulate; a failure on the part of schools and companies to provide support for young dancers of color on the uphill road to professional success. And another factor looms large in the discussion: Many believe a thread of racism still runs through the ballet world. “There are people who define ballet in a very specific and historic sense and think it should look like the Mariinsky in 1950,” says American Ballet Theatre executive director Rachel Moore, who last year launched the company’s Project Plié, an initiative to support the training of ballet students from underrepresented communities.

Read the full article in Pointe.

The Daily Californian: Alexandra Waterbury talks sexual assault, harassment in ballet at Berkeley Forum

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By Maxine Mouly

30 September 2019

Renowned ballet dancer, Columbia University junior and fashion model Alexandra Waterbury spoke about the origins of her sexual harassment lawsuit against the New York City Ballet, or NYCB, at a Berkeley Forum event Thursday.

Ankita Inamdar, the Berkeley Forum vice president of finance, invited Waterbury after being inspired by the many women who came out during the #MeToo movement. Inamdar said she was unaware of the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault and wants to continue the conversation to change women’s treatment in various professions.

Waterbury explained the origins of her lawsuit, which was filed in 2018. It started when she found group chats between her now ex-boyfriend Chase Finlay, Zachary Catazaro and Amar Ramasar, all of whom were male dancers with NYCB at the time. According to Waterbury, these men allegedly shared intimate photos and videos of her and other female dancers without their consent, apparently equivocating some women to “farm animals.”

According to Waterbury, Finlay stepped down from his position a few days before the lawsuit was filed, whereas Catazaro and Ramasar were suspended and later fired.

Catazaro and Ramasar were reinstated, however, after a union arbitration took place that did not take any evidence from Waterbury’s lawsuit. Waterbury said Catazaro chose to continue dancing in Europe and Ramasar resumed his position at NYCB.

Read the full article in The Daily Californian.

Washington Post: Michelle Williams’s Emmy speech on pay equity and power is an instant classic

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By Kim Bellware

23 September 2019

With her first Emmy in hand, actor Michelle Williams got right down to business with her acceptance speech at Sunday’s award show: believe women and pay them fairly — particularly women of color.

The 39-year-old actor took fewer than 290 words to articulate her message and drew a standing ovation.

“The next time a woman — and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterparts — tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her,” Williams said. “Because one day, she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it.”

Read the full article in The Washington Post.

Joyce Theater Director’s Wisdom Leads to More Female Work at The Joyce

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New York Times: At the Joyce, Embracing Tap and Awe

By Gia Kourlas

3 September 2019

When Aaron Mattocks became director of programming at the Joyce Theater in 2018, he didn’t have an agenda. He didn’t even have a list of artists he wanted to push. But he knew one thing: “I have no idea what this place needs except change,” he said. “I’m going to shut up and listen, and I’m going to shut up and watch.”

In retrospect, it was a good plan. A couple of weeks into his new job, Mr. Mattocks, 39, attended a discussion about decolonizing curatorial approaches. It was there that he saw, for the first time, the tap dancer Ayodele Casel. “She stood up and said, ‘I’m going to say this: Tap is a black form,’” Mr. Mattocks said. “I wrote down her name.”

Ms. Casel, who is African-American and Puerto Rican, spoke about how tap dancers were being displaced from performance and rehearsal spaces in New York City. “Obviously, I know that tap is open to everybody,” Ms. Casel, 44, said recently. “But I wanted to remind people that this is our tradition, and we shouldn’t be pushed out.”

Mr. Mattocks took note. Under his watch, Ms. Casel — a spectacular tap artist who has been working in the field for more than 20 years — finally has an evening of her own at the Joyce, the dance-dedicated theater that is one of the city’s most important spaces for the art form. In September, she will collaborate with Arturo O’Farrill on a program focusing on Afro-Latin jazz culture. To say that it’s about time is an understatement.

Read more in The New York Times.

New York Times: Martha Graham Dance’s Empowerment

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According to The New York Times, “Martha Graham choreographed the all-female ‘Chronicle’ in 1936, the same year she turned down the Nazis’ invitation to dance at the Olympic Games in Berlin and 16 years after women were granted the right to voted in the United States.”

Watch the speaking in dance video here.