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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

Smuin Contemporary Ballet / Photo by Chris Hardy

The Mercury News: Smuin Ballet tours with greatest hits, new work from Amy Seiwert

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By Randy McMullen

Smuin Contemporary Ballet is headed out on the road beginning this weekend, with a goodie bag stuffed with fan favorites and a new work by an old friend.

In a touring program titled “Dance Series 02,” the company, noting its 25th season, is reviving several longtime favorites from company founder Michael Smuin, who died in 2007. Among these are “Unforgettable,” “Fever” “Carmina Burana,” “Frankie and Johnny” and “Dancin’ with Gershwin” — all works that helped define the troup’s endearing blend of sumptuous choreography and vibrant personality.

The new work comes from former company dancer and choreographer-in-residence Amy Seiwert, who’s now artistic director at Sacramento Ballet. Titled “Renaissance,” the work was inspired by the famed 385-mile “Women’s Wall” protest over gender inequality in India earlier this year, and is set to an a capella score performed by East Bay women’s chorus Kitka.

Details: April 26-May 5 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; May 17-18 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, May 23-26 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, May 31-June 1 at Sunset Center, Carmel; $25-$81; www.smuinballet.org.

Read the full article in The Mercury News.


Harvard Business Review: Make Peace with Your Inner Critic

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Discussion between Sarah Green Carmichael and Tara Sophia Morh

14 January 2016

SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I’m Sarah Green Carmichael. Today I’m talking with Tara Moore, author of Playing Big. Tara, thank you so much for talking with us today.

TARA MOORE: Thanks for having me.

SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: So you argue in the book that too many of us are playing small when we actually have the capacity to do bigger things. Is it just fear that holds us back? What’s the thing that’s really is getting in our way?

TARA MOORE: Absolutely at the core is fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of doing something so innovative that maybe it’s controversial or makes you feel alone in what you’re doing. All of those are really big fears. But another huge block for people is simply self-doubt. Having that inner critic voice, and not having any tools to manage it.

SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL: So before we get too far down the rabbit hole of the inner critic, I do want to just pause here and ask you something you wrote in the book about dealing with praise. In the book you mentioned that you have to unhook from both criticism and from praise. So why is it so important to re-evaluate your relationship with praise as well as how you feel about criticism?

TARA MOORE: Well, certainly none of this is a have to. But it is a question of is my relationship to praise really serving my biggest goals? And what I find is that for many people, they come to a juncture in their careers where to move forward they need to evolve their relationship to praise. And what I mean by that in practical terms is particularly if you’ve been a high achiever. And that could start early in your life or early in school.

Read the whole discussion (or listen to the recording) on Harvard Business Review.

Forbes: Act Now To Shrink The Confidence Gap

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By Nancy F. Clark

28 April 2014

There’s been distressed chatter about the gender confidence gap ever since journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman began promoting their new book, The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know. I like to see studies that show how women are thinking and acting in comparison to men. Sometimes it’s easy for us to assume that others are holding us back and there’s nothing we can do. Sometimes they are, but instead of blaming others, I believe we can make more progress by arming ourselves with good information and using it to improve our aim for success.

A few years ago, when Hewlett-Packard wanted to see why more women weren’t in top management positions they made an interesting discovery:

Women working at HP applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100 percent of the qualifications listed for the job. Men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60 percent of the job requirements.


Women, we aren’t taking action often enough and that’s crucial. We don’t have to be perfect. Men are confident about their ability at 60%, but women don’t feel confident until they’ve checked off each item on the list. Think about the difference between 60% and 100%. I say, “Let’s be confident and act when we’re 70% sure. If we’re shot down, take it like a guy on the football field and shrug it off. None of that 2 weeks worth of negative self-talk anymore.” Which brings up another gender difference.

Read the full article on Forbes.

Courtesy of Cincinnati Ballet/Photo by Peter Mueller

Morgan Shows Us All the Way: Anything is Possible

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During a visit to Cincinnati Ballet, DDP founder Liza Yntema filmed a moment of rehearsal. Victoria Morgan was coaching Principal Melissa Gelfin for an upcoming production: Bold Moves. Morgan’s new Dancing to Oz is a feature of the triple bill, and is based on The Wizard of Oz. The video shows the great amount of trust, joy, and collaboration that goes into this process between two women.

The journey of Dorothy is a familiar one. Gelfin must embody an independent girl, journeying to a new land (though the story begins in the studio) and defying all odds. In the novel, the villain is a woman (The Wicked Witch of the West); the hero is a woman (Dorothy); the comfort of home is represented by a woman (Aunt Em); and the primary aid of the hero is a woman (Glinda). The predominant role of women remains in Cincinnati Ballet’s Oz.

Victoria Morgan certainly has women on her mind. The artistic director is outspoken when it comes to women’s roles in dance. The Cincinnati Business Courier recently highlighted this, examining Morgan’s rare opportunity as a woman leading a significant ballet company in America. “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.” Janelle Gelfand then quoted Morgan, who said, “’It is rare, and it was rare when I became the artistic director. I just assumed that things would change…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.’”

The women leading in and out of the studio should be empowered to use their voice and be heard. DDP hears Morgan loud and clear.

Watch Morgan and Gelfin rehearse below:

Melissa Gelfin and Victoria Morgan rehearse Dancing to Oz for Cincinnati Ballet’s Bold Moves.

Read the Cincinnati Business Courier feature here.

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.

Seattle Times: Dance Theatre of Harlem, formed when ballet companies weren’t hiring dancers of color, celebrates 50 years with a Seattle tour stop

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By Moria MacDonald

19 April 2019

“The first company was made up of people who had all been said no to,” said Virginia Johnson, a founding member and current artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH). The company and its school, created by legendary New York City Ballet (NYCB) dancer Arthur Mitchell, arose at the height of the civil-rights movement in America, as a place where dancers of all colors could train, perform and excel in the world of classical ballet.

Dance Theatre of Harlem, which visits Seattle April 27-28 as part of its 50thanniversary tour, was born in a Harlem church basement. Mitchell, who became the first black principal dancer at NYCB in 1955, began teaching classes in 1968, wanting to make a difference in his community. The classically trained Johnson went on leave from New York University to join Mitchell’s fledgling company of 24 dancers — which soon left that basement and moved to a nearby garage.

“From the beginning it was a great success,” Johnson remembered. “People were excited and interested in it, or outraged and impatient to see it fail.”

Read the full article in The Seattle Times.

New York Times: Commuting While Pregnant: A Long Ride Could Be a Risky One

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By Maya Salam

19 April 2019

It’s no secret that the United States lags the rest of the developed world when it comes to policies that support mothers and families. As former President Barack Obama put it in 2014: “Family leave. Child care. Flexibility. These aren’t frills. They’re basic needs. They shouldn’t be bonuses. They should be the bottom line.”

Five years and little progress later, we’re learning more and more about the toll inflexible work cultures have on new and expectant mothers.

Last fall, a New York Times investigation exposed the devastating cost of pregnancy discrimination on women in physically demanding jobs. Now, a new study has explored the dangers of a long commute on pregnant women and their unborn babies. The longer the commute, the study found, the worse the impact.

The study, recently published by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Lehigh University, suggests that women who travel 50 or more miles each way to work by car may be at a “much greater risk” of having low-birth-weight babies (under 5.5 pounds) as well as fetuses with intrauterine growth restriction — a condition, in which the fetus doesn’t grow as fast as expected, that’s generally associated with mothers who have diabetes, high blood pressure, malnutrition or infections including syphilis.

Read the full article in The New York Times.

Charlotte Ballet/Chris Record

When Will Women Get to Tell Women’s Stories?

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In 2018, Les Ballets Canadiens de Montréal were heavily criticized after artistic director Ivan Cavallari announced Femmes, a program with women as the theme. The triple-bill, which DDP also called out, had a roster of three male choreographers to explore women, their lives, thoughts, roles, etc. The program was rebranded, later entitled Parlami d’Amore, which means “talk to me about love,” after men and women all over the dance world expressed their distaste for a male-led company telling women’s stories based on the male choreographer’s imagination.

This was not the first – nor has it been the last- time the female experience has been portrayed by a male. Every classical ballet centers on a female character. In Giselle, women are wronged and take nasty revenge. In Don Quixote, they are the subject of whimsical dreams. Recently, there has been a trending storyline of rape and violence against women. Odessa, set on New York City Ballet by Alexei Ratmansky, was criticized in a 2017 New York Times article for displaying aggression against women, or as Siobhan Burke called it, gang rape. Joffrey Ballet presented The Miraculous Mandarin in 2016, in which, Timothy Robson writes for Backtrack, “The Young Woman (Victoria Jaiani) lures men to her room so that the three thugs (Raúl Casasola, Paulo Rodrigues and Joan Sebastián Zamora) can rob them.” The Royal Ballet, too, has faced backlash for The Wind, Arthur Pita’s piece that includes yet another scene of female abuse (read about that here). For The Guardian, Luke Jennings heavily critiqued the company’s repertoire beyond The Wind, writing:

There is an increasingly acute issue surrounding women’s roles in ballet. In the last few seasons the Royal Ballet stage has seen record numbers of female characters brutalised and killed. Emily, Mary-Jane, and Annie eviscerated in Sweet Violets, Justine hanged and Elizabeth murdered in Frankenstein, Stephanie raped and Mary shot in Mayerling, the girl raped in The Invitation, the youngest sister hanged in Las Hermanas, and the woman raped and murdered in The Judas Tree. Consider this body-count alongside the number of recent abstract works in which women are split, splayed and otherwise manhandled, and certain embedded attitudes reveal themselves.

In 2019, the controversy is not over. Ballets with sometimes questionable storylines and female experiences staged by men are still commissioned or restaged.

This spring, on its tour to Sadler’s Wells in London, San Francisco Ballet’s Programme D will present yet another male triple-bill. The work includes David Dawson’s Anima Animus, which “draws on the theme of gender and the roles of male and female, and how they view each other,” according to Rhinegold Publishing. A piece explores gender roles and how they view each other…without headlining female input.

San Francisco Ballet tour is publicized as tackling “modern-day issues,” and artistic director Helgi Tomasson told Rhinegold, “‘Dance has the power to reflect social issues in our world today.'” Sadly, once again, we see women’s perspectives and imaginations excluded from the essential dialogue of social issues.

Read Rhinegold Publishing’s article about the San Francisco Ballet tour here.

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.