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"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.

Dance Magazine – Op-Ed: What AGMA Got Wrong in Advocating for the NYCB Principals Trading Nude Photos of Ballerinas

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By Kosta Karakashyan

24 April 2019

Last Friday, through an appeal to an independent arbitrator, the American Guild of Musical Artists successfully reinstated NYCB principals Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro, previously fired for allegedly circulating sexually explicit texts containing nude photos.

AGMA opposed Ramasar and Catazaro’s terminations in order to prevent the setting of a dangerous precedent that would allow dancers to be fired under less understandable consequences. But we cannot allow future cases to dictate the way we handle this situation—particularly a union committed to “doing everything in [its] power to ensure you have a respectful environment in which to work.”

In deciding to advocate for these two dancers, AGMA has not only sided with alleged offenders in multiple serious cases of degradation and sexual harassment, but has also sent a clear message to the whole dance community that the redemptive narrative of these male dancers is more important than the trust and safety of their female colleagues. The union has given these male dancers a seemingly free pass to privately demean and harass women.

Allegations of Ramasar and Catazaro’s behavior first came to light last year when former SAB student Alexandra Waterbury came forward with the story that her then-boyfriend and NYCB principal Chase Finlay had been circulating sexually explicit photos and videos to the other two men without consent. Waterbury filed a suit against NYCB and the three men.

Ramasar and Catazaro were initially suspended, but the company proceeded to fire them, citing “the concerns of dancers, staff members and others in the City Ballet community.” The arbitration ruled that while NYCB was within its rights to suspend the dancers, termination was too severe.

Forty three states—including New York—now have laws against nonconsensual disclosure of sexually explicit images and video, yet AGMA maintains that the two men were fired based on “non-criminal activity in [their] private life.“

It’s astounding that anyone would believe that any one of these dancers could be successfully reintegrated into the company. (Although Catazaro has announced that he will not return, Ramasar will rejoin, on the condition that he undergo counseling.)

Read the full article in Dance Magazine’s Blog.

Cincinnati Ballet/Peter Mueller

Cincinnati Business Courier – Ballet’s Morgan on a mission: More elevated roles for women

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By Janelle Gelfand

19 April 2019

Victoria Morgan twirled slowly for her dancers, lifting her arms gracefully to demonstrate exactly how she wanted them to execute a turn.

“It should be a nice, slow pace,” instructed Cincinnati Ballet’s artistic director, turning to check copious notes scribbled into a loose-leaf binder.

Morgan was choreographing “Dancing to Oz,” a new work that will have its world premiere as part of the company’s “Bold Moves” triple bill, April 25-28 at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

They were rehearsing at the Ballet headquarters on Central Parkway in the West End, the Ballet’s home since 1995. Seated nearby, music director Carmon DeLeone penciled notes into his new orchestral score for the piece.

Now in her 22nd season with Cincinnati Ballet, the Covington resident is one of just three female artistic directors of American ballet companies with budgets of more than $10 million. Despite avenues that have opened for women in other industries, it is still unusual for a woman to hold a leadership role in dance.

“It is rare, and it was rare when I became the artistic director. I just assumed that things would change,” she said during a lunch break, as she nibbled nuts and her mini-poodle, Cami Mo, sniffed around her feet. “I think it’s a little bit better – there are women at the head of Washington Ballet and Miami City Ballet. But of companies with an operating budget of $10 million and above, there’s just the three of us. In those top-tier companies in the upper echelon, it’s all men.”

Furthermore, even though classical ballet has legions of female dancers – it was George Balanchine who said, “The ballet is a purely female thing” – the art form lacks female choreographers. Women have long succeeded in modern and contemporary dance going back to Martha Graham, who famously choreographed Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” But women choreographers are strikingly underrepresented in classical ballet across the country.

Read the full article and see images in the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Disturbing Turn of Events at NYCB: Dancers Fired for Crude Interactions Reinstated Against Company’s Wishes, Female Dancers Uncomfortable – NY Daily News: Overstepping?

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By Larry McShane

The New York City Ballet stepped on the wrong toes when it fired a pair of high-profile male dancers over a sex scandal.

An independent arbitrator restored principal performers Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro to their former positions with the venerable Manhattan cultural organization just seven months after they were canned amid allegations of swapping sexually explicit photos of unwitting female victims.

The NYCB, while disagreeing with the decision to reinstate the pair, said it would abide by the arbitrator’s finding. “NYCB is gratified that the arbitrator upheld the company’s right to discipline the men, but still believes strongly that it was also within its rights to terminate Catazaro and Ramasar,” the company said in a statement.

In a statement on Friday, Catazaro hailed the ruling and announced his immediate departure from the NYCB.

“I feel vindicated knowing that the arbitrator has found NYCB’s decision to be wrong,” said Catazaro, 29. “As I continue my career elsewhere, I look forward to challenging myself as an artist and renewing my spirited passion for dance.”

Read the full article in NY Daily News.

We Need to Stop Rehabilitating Abusers – Whether in Ballet or Hollywood – Page Six: Disgraced ballet master Peter Martins lands gig in Russia

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By Ian Mohr

Choreographer Peter Martins — who resigned from the New York City Ballet, which he was also director of, amid allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse — has been spotted working in Russia.

Sources said that Martins was recently at the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, where he is overseeing the famed theater’s various productions of Balanchine.NPR reported early last year when Martins stepped down from the NYCB: “The #MeToo moment has come to the world of ballet.” Martins denied the allegations against him, and an internal investigation could not corroborate the claims.

Either way, the Denmark-born Martins, 72, became toxic in New York’s ballet world.

A source said of his gig in Russia, “They take a different approach to social issues. He’s not in the Ecuadorean Embassy, but he is at the Mariinsky.” Another source said Martins was only there for a couple weeks to rehearse and does not have a full-time appointment at the theater. In February, the New York Times reported that the Balanchine Trust had approved a request by the Mariinsky for Martins to oversee the legend’s work.

Read the full story on Page Six.

Is Anyone Really Surprised? – New York Times: Abuse Allegations Rock Vienna Ballet School

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By Alex Marshall

12 April 2019

The Vienna State Opera’s ballet academy vowed to reform its practices after former students and staff said dancers as young as 11 were kicked, scratched and handled roughly in classes.

Others said they were regularly pressured to lose weight. Another said they had been sexually abused.

“Many children have lost their dream to dance,” said Luisa Solowjowa, 20, a former student, in a telephone interview. She said a teacher once kicked her “like a football.”

The academy acknowledged that students had been subject to physical and emotional abuse after allegations were reported on Tuesday by Falter, an Austrian newsmagazine.

Investigations by the magazine “uncovered very unpleasant incidents, which are completely intolerable and which we regret greatly: Some individuals have behaved very badly,” the academy said in a statement. “The students who were subject to physical or emotional abuse have our deepest sympathy,” it added.

Students said that Bella Ratchinskaia, a teacher at the school, at times went beyond the limits of normal practice during ballet classes, roughly forcing their limbs into position or scratching them as she adjusted their bodies, sometimes drawing blood. André Comploi, a spokesman for the State Opera, said that Ms. Ratchinskaia, who previously worked at La Scala in Milan, was dismissed in February.

Ms. Ratchinskaia did not reply to a request for comment but said in a statement provided by the academy: “Contact is a part of the training in this profession — it is necessary to touch to make corrections in ballet classes, and this is done all over the world. To the students who I have hurt, I apologize sincerely. I never injured anyone deliberately, and it was never done maliciously.”

Read the full article in The New York Times.

New York Times: Ballet’s Biggest Matchmakers (Student, Meet Scholarship)

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An April 16 article by Brian Seibert for The New York Times discusses the founder of the Youth America Grand Prix, the world’s largest ballet competition and one so prestigious that companies from around the world follow it to find their next stars.

The competition features a gala of successful alumni performing new and old work. This year, American Ballet Theatre dancer Melanie Hamrick will choreograph for dancers in the gala. The piece is set to Rolling Stones songs arranged by Mick Jagger, according to The Times. Women’s choreography does not seem to be the norm in this competition’s (or any competition’s) gala. Hamrick’s invitation is a step in the right direction, but DDP hopes to see more women choreography in upcoming galas, which tend to show the same variations and pas de deux the young competitors performed themselves.

Who better than to start this trend than the female founder herself, Larissa Saveliev, who began the competition with the help of her husband and has continued to expand it and start the career of hundreds, if not thousands, of young dancers and choreographers.

Read The New York Times article here.

The Smart Set: The Paradox of Pointe

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By Paula Marantz Cohen

15 April 2019

I just came from a performance of Giselle, the classic ballet in which the heroine, a peasant girl, falls in love with a prince and then dies when she discovers that he is betrothed to a noblewoman. I love this ballet and watched it with rapt attention, but I was struck, in the context of our #MeToo moment, of its problematic appeal and that of other ballets that I love like Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake.

Not for the first time, but more strongly, I was brought up short by the contradictions inherent in what I was seeing. One cannot separate a classical ballet of this kind from its reliance on extreme, stereotypical gender representation. The tutu is a frilly exaggeration of a woman’s hips and the longer skirt is its more romanticized extension, not to mention the diaphanous nightgowns that figure in sleep-walking scenes and bedroom encounters. The male dancer is the support, the prop and pander, to this gauzy female caricature. Often the ballerina dies — in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet there is a duet, if it can be called that, with Juliet’s lifeless body. Ballet also demands rigorous physical conformity from the female dancer. She must be of a certain height and weight, must have a certain leg length, and must possess good turn-out and feet. (My teacher informed me that I had none of these at age 12.) The male dancer, by contrast, is mostly defined by his bulging codpiece and delineated buttocks. So long as male dancers can jump and support their partners, they can be more variable in their physique.

But what strikes me the most as dramatically regressive, while also being the locus of my fascination, are the pointe shoes that ballerinas wear. (Male dancers don’t wear them, except in the most unconventional circumstances.) I have always been besotted by them. Despite having been told early on that I had no future as a ballerina, I somehow managed to acquire a pair and take a few lessons in them in my late teens. Just looking at those pink satin contraptions, or if you will, cages, for the feet still gives me a jolt of pleasure.

Read the full article on The Smart Set.

Dance Magazine: Why Every Dancer Should Choreograph At Least Once, According to Boston Conservatory at Berklee

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5 april 2019

The way we create and consume dance is changing every day. Now more than ever, the field demands that dancers not only be able to perform at the highest level, but also collaborate with choreographers to bring their artistic visions to life. Dancers who miss out on choreographic training may very well find themselves at a disadvantage as they try to launch their careers.

At Boston Conservatory at Berklee—which was just named a top school for aspiring choreographers by College Magazine—choreography courses are an essential aspect of the curriculum. “The skills you learn choreographing make you a better artist all-around, and help you build a diverse portfolio,” says dean of dance Tommy Neblett. “Not to mention these skills are transferable to so many different areas within and beyond the performing arts.”

Here’s why Neblett recommends all dance students try choreography at least once:

1. You’ll have a huge professional advantage.

Read the rest in Dance Magazine.

DDP Founder Liza Yntema on Business First AM

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On April 2, Dance Data Project’s founder, Liza Yntema, appeared on Business First AM to discuss DDP’s advocacy for equitable salaries and opportunity for women in dance. Ms. Yntema highlighted the companies leading the way and smaller cities where companies are going above-and-beyond, advocating beyond their regional status. Our recent findings, available in our February Executive and Artistic Leadership Report , were at the forefront of the discussion.

Watch the clip below and learn more about Liza around our website!

Women’s Programming Should Be As Diverse As Men’s

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South East Dance has announced recent programming to challenge pervasive and systematic inequity in the UK dance scene.

According to UK’s Broadway World’s News Desk, the program, 20:20 Vision, “will feature 20 unique performances from 20 choreographers and producers, all of whom identify as women or non-binary artists.”

The programming is non-classical and certainly defies the norms of productions often commissioned at the Royal Opera House and Sadler’s Wells theatre. An aerial dance company, Gravity & Levity, will perform, according to Broadway World, along with choreographers such as Janine Harrington, a dance artist whose work explores movement and technology.

The program has a significant purpose: to highlight the gender-imbalance and “challenge the status quo and perceptions of what dance is, who makes it, what it can achieve and who it’s for.” But the program also highlights an additional issue we must tackle as a community. When a work diverges too far from classical ballet, or the modern forms of the art, choreographers risk their work falling under an identification that may never be accepted by ballet audiences.

20:20 Vision is exciting and places women in the spotlight – where they should be – but to expect works that diverge so drastically from even the most experimental works the Royal Ballet could perform (think productions like Divergence by Crystal Pite or even Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice in Wonderland) gives such companies basis to ignore urges to program women.

A work that could be identified as “out there” or “extreme” is highly specialized. Ballet and the programming selected for classical/neoclassical companies are specific to those trained in balletic technique and audiences seeking a more identifiable combination of technique, story, and music. Deviating forms of dance, like aerial and even the less-abstract work of Harrington, which can combine several mediums and abstract ideas, do not fall into the same target audiences of a classical ballet company like the Royal Ballet. Sadler’s Wells can perhaps tackle the more experimental programming, as it is no longer associated with only classical ballet, but these major main stages require large-scale productions that capture at least one of the elements a classical ballet audience seeks.

Women’s programming is too often solely associated with experimental productions like those featured in 20:20 Vision. Just like the repertoire we see in men’s programming, women’s programming can and should cover a wider range of works and styles.

Read about 20:20 Vision here.