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July 31st: Community Engagement Artists and Creatives Grant, December 31st: New England Presenter Travel Fund, December 31st: Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Scholarship, December 31st: 24 Seven Dance Convention, December 31st: National Theater Project Presenter Travel Grant, December 31st: Breck Creek Artist-in-Residence Program

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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

Pointe: Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet’s “Constellation Project” Maps the Complex Histories of 6 Dance Pioneers

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By Zoe Phillips

09 February 2021

Last week, Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet celebrated the start of Black History Month with the launch of The Constellation Project, a star-studded online exhibition of dance history. The project maps the lives of six influential Black dancers—Arthur Mitchell, Mel Tomlinson, Lavinia Williams, Mabel Jones Freeman, Doris Jones and Claire Haywood—across a digitally rendered galaxy of historical events, institutions and more. The result is an educational experience that, much like its galaxy-inspired title, will no doubt only continue to grow.

Writer and activist Theresa Ruth Howard founded MoBBallet in 2015 with a fairly simple mission: to make the invisible visible. She started with projects like her Roll Call of Black dancers and the Timeline that traces their presence back into the 19th century. These designs highlighted Black artists as individuals, but the more that Howard learned, the more complex these stories became.

“We don’t dance in a vacuum,” Howard explained recently, “and history is not as siloed as it’s presented when we teach it.”

Read the entire article here.

New York Times: On Ballet TikTok, a Place for Young Dancers to Be Real

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By Margaret Fuhrer

05 February 2021

“How am I supposed to feel confident in myself when these are the ballet body standards?” begins a TikTok video by user @hardcorpsballet. The question stopped this former dancer mid-scroll. An honest conversation about ballet’s cult of thinness? Yes, please.

Then came the slide show: not a parade of waiflike bodies, but instead the well-padded Bear from Boston Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” and the furred and feathered creatures of Frederick Ashton’s “Tales of Beatrix Potter.”

Reader, I giggled.

I had entered ballet TikTok, where a rule-bound art form meets unruly creativity. Casual, confessional and playful, TikTok offers a release for ballet dancers, particularly students, who spend their days chasing impossible perfection. TikTok is a place to laugh about the impossibility, rather than obsess over perfection.

As more and more stuck-at-home dancers join TikTok, it has also become a place to dissect some of the problems and clichés that dog ballet. Users make darkly funny memes about body dysmorphia, eating disorders, abusive teachers, misogyny and homophobia. They are the same issues that dance films and TV shows mine for drama and melodrama. But the wounded whimsy of ballet TikTok reflects what it actually feels like to be a ballet dancer — the frustrations and joys of a demanding, problematic, beautiful art.

Read the entire article here.

Pointe: David Hallberg Takes the Reins at The Australian Ballet

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Candice Thompson for Dance Magazine

29 January 2021

The Australian Ballet has long been a home away from home for David Hallberg. During a two-year struggle with an ankle injury that required two surgeries, he spent the most pivotal time of his recuperation in Melbourne, working with TAB’s in-house medical and physical therapy team. Combined with a decade of guest performances there, including his triumphant comeback show in December 2016, it seems only fitting that Hallberg has returned to TAB as its new artistic director.

 

The announcement that you were taking over leadership at The Australian Ballet came about a week before much of the world started locking down due to the coronavirus. How has the pandemic affected your career transition?

When COVID hit, I was about to dance Swan Lake with The Royal Ballet, my last scheduled shows with Natasha [Natalia Osipova]. We’d wanted to do Swan Lake for years, and just as we were finally getting our chance, everything shut down. I got on a plane to Melbourne before the borders shut in Australia. I stayed there for three months, and—this is the silver lining—I got so much preliminary work done.

I’m not used to being on the other side. A lot of the ballet career is passive; if you’re in the machine of a huge organization, the machine just runs for you. So now I’m running the machine, in a way, and I’m green, but I’m learning.

You more or less said goodbye to New York City audiences with ABT’s digital fall gala.

There was supposed to be a farewell tour. I was in shape to dance Siegfried when everything stopped. I essentially took about four months off dancing. After Melbourne, I spent time with my parents and went on an epic road trip. I started getting back into shape in Phoenix and when I returned to New York, some things started to form: Christopher Wheeldon created on Sara Mearns and me for Fall For Dance. We had always wanted to dance together. And then Pam Tanowitz and I worked together on a solo that we filmed for ABT’s gala.

Tell us about your history with Pam.

When ABT Incubator was called the “Innovation Initiative,” she was the first choreographer I brought in. That was 10 years ago, and she wasn’t getting the recognition that she is now. She’s really fascinated with classical ballet, but comes from a completely different background, approaches it with a bookish dissection. Pam’s work is smart, not showy, and well thought out. She doesn’t spoon-feed the audience, nor does she tell the dancers, “Oh my God, do that trick that I saw you do on Instagram.” The solo was actually the first time we’ve ever created together. We did this kind of dark, film noir piece with a vintage feel.

Read the entire article here.

Top 50 Affiliate Schools Data Byte 2020

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Dance Data Project® (DDP) today announces the Data Byte: Top 50 Affiliate Ballet Schools 2020, a mini-report focusing on the gender distribution in leadership among the ballet schools connected to the Top 50 U.S. ballet companies. The mini-report looks at the 45 out of 46 schools affiliated with the Top 50 companies who made faculty information publicly available on their websites.

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Dance Magazine: What Will It Take to End Sexual Abuse in Dance Education?

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By Garnet Henderson

27 January 2021

Though the #MeToo movement has spurred many dancers to come forward with their stories of sexual harassment and abuse, the dance world has yet to have a full reckoning on the subject. Few institutions have made true cultural changes, and many alleged predators continue to work in the industry.

As Chanel DaSilva’s story shows, young dancers are particularly vulnerable to abuse because of the power differential between teacher and student. We spoke with eight experts in dance, education and psychology about steps that dance schools could take to protect their students from sexual abuse.

Make Basic Safety Measures Standard

Peter Flew, director of the School of Education at University of Roehampton in London, trustee of the Royal Academy of Dance, and chair of Safer Dance

“When I joined the RAD Board of Trustees, I couldn’t believe how little regulation there was around dance schools. When a school is hiring a teacher, they need to do a background check. Does that person have a conviction for sexual abuse or child abuse, for example? Are there gaps in their CV that they don’t want to explain?

“Another important issue is data protection. Does the dance teacher have the cell phone number of the student? This is a common and really bad practice. Teachers should be talking to parents, not the children. And this is an issue with social media, as well.

Read the entire article here.

Irish Times: Ballet schools push for official pirouette on ‘unfair’ Covid restrictions

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By Ellen O’Riordan

23 November 2020

“Alice, can you put the cat down now?” ballet teacher Miss Rita asks as music begins for pliés.

The young student is waltzing around her living room cradling her cat. Such are the opportunities for distraction when lessons are conducted via video link.

Movement is restricted to what can be done within a small space at home and what is visible to Miss Rita and her assistants on a Zoom video thumbnail.

Coffee tables have been pushed aside, rugs rolled up and younger siblings begged and bribed to stay clear of makeshift studios.

This is ballet class in the age of the pandemic.

The Metropolitan School of Dance, which operates from six locations across Dublin and Kildare, had been reopened for just a week when Level 3 restrictions came into force in the capital on September 18th.

“We were so excited about getting back to work,” school principal Maireád Langan said. “I had planned for the possibility of more restrictions and a return to Zoom; I just didn’t realise it would happen a week after reopening.”

Read the full article here.

Harper’s Bazaar: How Three Women Produced a Ballet Gala in a Pandemic

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By Erica Gonzalez

17 December 2020

Ballerina Melanie Hamrick wanted to do something to help the dance community months into a pandemic that put many of them out of work. “I hate seeing my friends and colleagues not getting to dance,” she tells BAZAAR.com. After lockdowns and social distancing measures were introduced this year, live performances went on hiatus. Prestigious companies like the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre had to close for the season. But Hamrick also thought about the audience members who wouldn’t be able to watch their favorite performances in person, especially during the holidays. “How can we also help them?” she thought.

The former ABT ballerina teamed up with ABT principal dancer Christine Shevchenko and choreographer Joanna DeFelice to produce a unique performance during the COVID-19 pandemic that gave dancers a chance to work while adhering to health and safety guidelines. Through their new production company, Live Arts Global, they created A Night at the Ballet, which features dancers from a variety of troupes: ABT, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Dance Theater of Harlem, and even Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia.

The one-hour streaming event goes live on YouTube on Live Arts Global’s channel starting at 7 p.m. ET on December 17, and lasts through December 20. The set will include pieces from The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Don Quixote, and more. And it’s completely free to watch; though, they’re asking for donations to benefit the performers and crew of the production.

While many dance companies are already showing virtual online performances to make up for their closed seasons, A Night at the Ballet was produced entirely during the coronavirus era rather than using footage from older performances. But that’s where the challenge came in: How does one do that safely?

Read the full article here.

Forbes: World-Class Ballerina Misty Copeland And TIME’S UP CEO Tina Tchen Discuss Equity And Breaking Barriers

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By Monica Haider

17 December 2020

Two remarkably powerful women, Tina Tchen, President and CEO of TIME’S UP Now and TIME’S UP Foundation, and Misty Copeland, Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theater, have shattered glass ceilings and helped amplify the discourse on racial and gender equality. On a panel for the 2020 Forbes Power Women’s Summit moderated by ForbesWomen Editor Maggie McGrath, the changemakers shared their thoughts on dismantling barriers, and underscored the importance of empowering one another and building a new normal in a world that has much progress to make.

Copeland, who was the first African-American woman to become Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, didn’t let the pandemic hinder her work. In fact, she leveraged her experience and position to help the dance community in a time of need. She cofounded Swans for Relief, a fundraiser to support dancers who have been financially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Together with 31 other female ballet dancers from 14 countries, Copeland performed “The Dying Swan,” which was released on YouTube in May 2020 and generated money for the Covid-19 relief funds of various dance companies.

Tina Tchen’s monumental work advocating for gender equity and workplace diversity, namely through TIME’S UP—which she cofounded in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal—has remained strong in 2020. They documented stories of women working on the front lines of the pandemic, created a guide to equity and inclusion to advise companies on how to maintain anti-racist practices during a crisis, commissioned a survey showing Covid-19’s impact on the pay gap and launched a five-year initiative with Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures to examine the impact of gender and racial inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. TIME’S UP also started the “We Have Her Back” campaign this year, calling on the media to refrain from unfair coverage of women. Eliminating racist and sexist attacks is a focal point of the mission, which was widely highlighted when Biden announced that Kamala Harris would be his running mate.

Read the full article here.

Prestige: Misty Copeland on Finding a Higher Purpose in Ballet

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By Charlene Co

15 December 2020

Under the unforgiving, highly competitive and elitist spotlight of classical ballet, Misty Copeland shines. Copeland, who in 2015 became the first African-American promoted to principal dancer at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre (ABT), moves with youthful exuberance, stunning artistry and sheer veracity.

She’s come a long way from her days of attending ballet classes on the basketball court of a local youth community centre. There, at the late age of 13, she learned her pliés and elevés while living in a motel room, struggling for a space to sleep on the floor with her five other siblings. But as most awe-inspiring stories go, this rough journey propelled her to successes she never thought was even remotely possible.

Over her 25-year career, Copeland has taken on a range of both classical and contemporary roles – among her most notable ones was in 2012, when she performed the title role in The Firebird, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, and the lead role of Odette/Odile in ABT’s Swan Lake in 2014, making history as the first black woman to assume the role. In 2015, she was promoted to principal dancer at ABT, and in the same year named by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people. Copeland’s professional success provided her with a platform from which she continues to rally passionately behind racial and gender equality, and inspires aspiring young ballerinas, especially those of colour and from less privileged circumstances.

 

Read the full article here.

Dayton Ballet The Nutcracker - Paul Gilliam as Cavalier - photo credit Scott Robbins.

DDP’s Holiday Picks

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Instead of streaming the same old Nutcrackers this year, we’d recommend exploring something outside the usual male-choreographed, big city productions…

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