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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

New York Times: ‘We, the Dancers’: At City Ballet’s Gala, Affirming Ballet’s Honor

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By Alastair Macaulay

28 September 2018

On Thursday night at the David H. Koch Theater, the curtain rose to show the dancers of New York City Ballet, assembled to face the audience. Then Teresa Reichlen, standing center front, delivered a speech — written by her and Adrian Danchig-Waring, another principal — that began with the words, “We the dancers of New York City Ballet.” The unlikely occasion was the company’s fall fashion gala.

This central announcement was crucial: “We will not put art before common decency or allow talent to sway our moral compass.” Ms. Reichlen also spoke of “the high moral standards that were instilled in us when we decided to become professional dancers” and affirmed that “each of us standing here tonight is inspired by the values essential to our art form: dignity, integrity, and honor.”

Why do these words matter so greatly now? Earlier this month, New York City Ballet — and then its affiliate School of American Ballet — became one of the prime targets of a lawsuit, charging the institution with condoning multiple aspects of the abuse of women. The issues involved here are complex; they will not — should not — be dispelled soon. Yet the dancers have been responding all season by showing not just physical skill but also the moral distinction that underlies ballet’s classicism.

Read the full article in the New York Times.

Le Figaro: Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker’s School

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By Ariane Bavelier

2 September 2018

From Europe, the Figaro describes the work and style of Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker, a world-renown woman choreographer based in Brussels.

Read the full article in the Figaro.

The Guardian Exclusive: #PayMeToo campaign launched to close gender pay gap

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By Alexandra Topping

2 April 2018

A group of female MPs have joined forces to encourage women to hold their employers to account and demand action over the gender pay gap, as the deadline for reporting nears.

Led by Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, MPs will on Monday launch an online campaign called #PayMeToo, which aims to give working women advice on how to tackle the gender pay where they work. 

Across the UK a whiff of revolution is in the air. As companies report their gender pay gap and the disparity between male and female pay is revealed, disgruntled employees are asking what they can do to force their firms to take action.

All private companies with more than 250 employees must by law reveal the difference in hourly rate paid to men and women before midnight on Wednesday 4 April. As the public sector deadline approached on Friday, it was revealed that nine out of ten public sector employers pay men more than women, with women paid on average 14% less than male colleagues.

The social media campaign aiming to keep pressure up on employers will launch alongside a #PayMeToo website on Monday. It aims to ensure that women know they have the right to address pay issues at work, as well offering advice for what to do next, including working with trade unions and women’s networks.

Read the full article in The Guardian.

Dance International: Paris Fall 2018

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By François Fargue

18 August 2018

A summary of the fall season in the Paris dance scene. Fargue details his experience at the L.A. Dance Project triple bill, which may have been labeled as approaching mediocracy. At the Paris Opéra Ballet, dissatisfaction with former Étoile and now-Artistic Director Aurélie Dupont plagues the revered institution. Fargue discusses rumors of Dupont’s mismanagement and the recent talks of employee harassment downplayed in the past and only now revealed in an anonymous survey of dancers.

Read the full article in Dance International.

Ballet X & Candice DeTorre

DDP Self Report Form Sent to Top 50 Domestic Companies

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DDP will be publishing aggregate data analyzing the 2018-2019 ballet season. In early 2018, Dance Data Project developed its proprietary Self Report Form. Comprised of a series of 80 questions, the Form is meant to capture the representation of women in a company’s artistic team (including choreographers, designers, composers), executive and board-level leadership, as well as details surrounding initiatives intended to empower aspiring choreographers. By collecting data directly from the source – the dance company – we will be able to record and analyze data not previously available to the public in aggregate form.

Read more

New York Times: ‘The Nutcracker’ Chronicles

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By Alastair Macaulay

28 December 2010

“This is the 25th “Nutcracker” production I’ve seen this season, and of the 23 I’ve seen for the first time it strikes me as the most perfect. That’s not to say it has the best dancers, that its choreography and designs aren’t surpassed here or there by others, or that all its episodes strike me as the best responses to Tchaikovsky’s music. But it’s certainly up there with the Ballet West (Salt Lake City) and the Ballet Arizona (Phoenix) productions as the most satisfying, and it’s the one that follows its own internal logic with most unflagging consistency and detail.”

Read the full review in the New York Times.

The Guardian: UK firms face action over failure to report gender pay gap

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By Sarah Butler

10 May 2018

Hundreds of companies are being pursued by Britain’s equality watchdog after failing to file gender pay gap data on time.

This year, for the first time, all companies and public bodies with more than 250 employees were legally obliged to publish the gap between the average amount paid to a man in their business compared with the average for a woman.

More than 10,600 UK employers have reported their gender pay gap data.
Photograph: Jill Mead for the Guardian

The data compares men in all roles with women in all roles, rather than those in similar jobs, in a bid to highlight the prevalence of men in high-paid and management roles and to encourage companies to make changes.

More than 10,600 employers have reported the gender pay gap data alongside their bonus pay gap and the proportion of men and women in four different pay grades.

Read the full article in The Guardian.

Tiler Peck Could Run a Company

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Embed from Getty Images

Below is an excerpt from an article in the New York Times.

By Gia Kourlas

13 July 2018

“In “Ballet Now,” a new documentary directed by Steven Cantor, Ms. Peck is captured in the days, hours and minutes leading up to the performances. “It changed me as a person, and I think that’s what has translated into my dancing now,” she said. “I do feel a difference.”…It tracks Ms. Peck, who in less than a week put together an eclectic program of ballet, tap, hip-hop and mime, featuring choreography by George Balanchine, Justin Peck (no relation), Bill Irwin, Michelle Dorrance and others; she oversaw dancers, choreographers, the orchestra and every other last detail. Of course, she danced, too.

“It was such a huge turning point for me,” she said, adding that it brought on an important realization: “I know I could run a company. And I could do it really well.’”

Read the full article in the New York Times.

Who wouldn’t be on-board with this stellar female leader in dance taking over a company? Tiler, if you’re reading, we know you could run a company, too.

New York Times: Alvin Ailey Returns to Lincoln Center With a Tribute to Women

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By Gia Kourlas

14 June 2018

The notion that female choreographers are underrepresented at major dance companies has hit the mainstream, so much so that just about any program with the word “women” in its title is starting to feel more than merely unimaginative: It has an air of pandering.

On Wednesday night, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continued the trend by opening its season at the David H. Koch Theater with “Celebrate Women,” featuring works by Jessica Lang, Judith Jamison and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and concluding with “Revelations,” Alvin Ailey’s 1960 masterpiece and the company’s meal ticket. It keeps the crowds coming back (just in case an all-female choreographer program doesn’t),

Leading off the company’s brief Lincoln Center season was Ms. Lang’s “EN,” her first work for the company and her 100th dance in total.

Ms. Lang and Robert Battle, Ailey’s artistic director, have known each other since their days at the Juilliard School. Ms. Lang’s husband, Kanji Segawa, is a member of the Ailey company and previously danced with Mr. Battle’s troupe, Battleworks Dance Company. (He was featured in “EN,” naturally.) It was a chance, you hoped, for Ms. Lang to dig beneath her usual sleek, designed surface. But while handsome, “EN,” named after a Japanese word with multiple meanings — a circle, destiny, fate or karma — fizzled out.

Read the full article in the New York Times.

Dance Magazine: ABT Is Getting Serious About Female Choreographers

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Claudia Schreier in the studios of Ballet Academy East; courtesy of Schreier. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor.

Claudia Schreier in the studios of Ballet Academy East; courtesy of Schreier. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

By Jennifer Stahl

9 May 2018

American Ballet Theatre is putting more women in charge of its ballets.

Today, artistic director Kevin McKenzie announced that the company is launching a multi-year initiative called the ABT Women’s Movement.

ABT will hire at least three female choreographers each season. The idea is that, in general, one woman will create a new ballet for the main company, one will make a work on the Studio Company, and one will workshop with dancers from either group for a choreographic residency without the expectation of a final product.

Lauren Lovette choreographing in the studios of NYCB; courtesy of NYCB. Photo by Erin Baiano.

Lauren Lovette choreographing in the studios of NYCB; courtesy of NYCB. Photo by Erin Baiano.

The launch will be celebrated this October during ABT’s Fall Gala. That program will be devoted entirely to work by women: a premiere by Michelle Dorrance, Lauren Lovette‘s Le Jeune for the ABT Studio Company and Twyla Tharp’s iconic In The Upper Room, which has been in ABT’s rep since 1988.

Read the full article in Dance Magazine.