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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

The Observer: Troy Powell, Artistic Director of Ailey II, Has Been Fired for Sexual Misconduct

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By 

20 July 2020

Troy Powell has been removed from his position as Artistic Director of Ailey II following an independent investigation into alleged acts of sexual misconduct. This investigation was launched in early June after two videos accusing Powell of inappropriate behavior were posted on TikTok, the popular video sharing app.

The first video involved dancers dropping scraps of paper as a message appeared: “When you wanna be in Ailey II. But guys gotta sleep with Troy Powell.” The second video involved an unidentified dancer accusing the Ailey organization of housing a known sexual predator. After these videos were removed from TikTok, the Ailey organization placed Powell on leave of absence. His name and most-recently choreographed ballet were also stricken from Ailey’s June 11th Virtual Spirit Gala. The gala was an online substitute for the company’s traditional spring gala event, which Powell choreographed last year using students from the Ailey School.

Online outrage to the allegations included denouncements from Ryan Houston, a former apprentice with Ailey II—who urged dancers via an Instagram post to speak up about their experiences with Powell—and from Addison Ector, a former student of the Ailey School and soloist with Complexions Ballet.

In an Instagram video that was posted on June 29, Ector alleged that during his time as a student at the Ailey School, Powell sent him a text message containing an inappropriate photo of his anatomy. In Ector’s recollection, he was interrogated about the incident by a male director of the Ailey School. After being asked if Powell’s face was in the picture—it was not—Ector stated that he was told, “Well we can’t really confirm that it was him or not.” A Title XI investigation was not launched on Ector’s behalf. Instead, he continued to interact with Powell during the remainder of his time as a student.

Read the full article here.

FSU | Corps de Ballet International: Current Perspectives in Ballet and the Arts: Examining the Relevancy, Recovery and Resilience

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Florida State University has shared a recording from the Current Perspectives in Ballet and the Arts: Examining the Relevancy, Recovery and Resilience panel from Corps de Ballet International‘s conference. The panel included the following leaders from the industry:

Melanie Person, Panel Facilitator; Co-Director, The Ailey School
Robert Garland, Resident Choreographer, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Stefanie Batten Bland, Choreographer, Ballet Arts and Jerome Robbins fellow
Ashley Bouder, Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet
Elena Comendador, Costume Designer & Ballet Faculty, Marymount Manhattan College
James Gilmer, Dancer, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Iyun Ashani Harrison, Creative Director, Ballet Ashani

Watch the panel at the link below:

https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/play/tcJ-cO_6r2k3EtSS4gSDC6UrW466f6-s0idMqfVYyBq0ASYHZAaiZudANuPo61Eam6XNGpd10N2x1g4H?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=j3y_uDfjRiKMamXz68JBxA.1595259270504.654acd099229083ccc09c3882e9bc26b&_x_zm_rhtaid=940

 

Representative John Lewis: 1940-2020

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Representative John Lewis passed away on Friday at the age of 80. Lewis was an American civil rights leader, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and representative of his state of Georgia from 1987 up until his death in 2020.

Never, ever be afraid
to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

Rep. John Lewis (1940-2020)

The Atlantic: This Isn’t Sustainable for Working Parents

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The pandemic has already taken a toll on the careers of those with young children—particularly mothers.

By Joe Pinsker

9 July 2020

Child care is the immovable object around which so much else in family life orbits, and when the usual child-care options disappear, something else has to give. During the pandemic, with schools and day-care centers closed or operating at reduced capacity, many parents’ careers—particularly mothers’ careers—are getting deprioritized.

When Salpy Kabaklian-Slentz left her job in April because her family was moving to Southern California, she thought she’d be able to devote her days to job searching and then start working again soon enough. Three months later, she’s struggled to find any open positions similar to the one she gave up, as a local-government attorney.

Her main task these days is looking after her and her husband’s boys, two “bundles of energy” ages 6 and 4. Kabaklian-Slentz’s husband, also a lawyer, has mostly been going into the office, but when he works from home, he’s protective of his time. “He’s not only locked the office door but barricaded the sofa in front of it to get stuff done,” she told me. “Otherwise the kids pop in every two seconds.”

Instead they go to her, preventing her from getting the sort of uninterrupted time that a job search, as a well as a job itself, demands. She doesn’t yet know how or when schools in her area will reopen, and thus whether she’d even be free to start a new job in the fall, if an opportunity were to open up. “It sucks,” she said. “Being a stay-at-home parent was never on the radar for me.” It wasn’t on the radar for many other parents of young children either, and yet here they are, even those in households with lots of resources, leaving their jobs or reducing their hours.

Read the full article online here.

Broadway World: NEW YORK CITY CENTER LIVE @ HOME Announces Virtual Programming Featuring Misty Copeland, Tiler Peck and More

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By BWW News Desk

8 July 2020

New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler today announced New York City Center Live @ Home virtual programming including a newly commissioned weekly performance series conceived and curated by tap dancer Ayodele Casel, alongside frequent collaborator Torya Beard, called Ayodele Casel‘s Diary of a Tap Dancer V.6: Us, and the popular Studio 5 series curated and hosted by Alastair Macaulay and featuring Misty Copeland, Sara Mearns, and Tiler Peck in a special five-part event titled Great American Ballerinas. The much-loved social media series Encores! Archives Project, which revisits selections from City Center’s illustrious musical theater vault, also continues through September.

“During these uncertain and turbulent times, it is even more important that City Center provides a platform for artists to develop and share their work,” said Shuler. “I’m excited that City Center Live @ Home programming showcases some of the extraordinary dance artists who are part of our extended family. This has been a challenging time for so many and I am personally grateful for the support City Center has received from our loyal audiences. I hope you will all tune in as we launch these new online initiatives.”

In keeping with City Center’s founding mission to provide access to the best in the arts for all, City Center Live @ Home programs will premiere for free on City Center’s YouTube page and website at NYCityCenter.org.

Ayodele Casel‘s Diary of a Tap Dancer V.6: Us

For this new virtual series, Ayodele Casel has curated a group of artists who will present seven different video performances-solos and duos created and performed by a multigenerational and multicultural group-to be released weekly at 12pm beginning Tuesday, July 14 (through Tuesday, August 25). Co-directed by Casel and Torya Beard, the series is a continuation of her Diary of a Tap Dancer project and will feature performances from Casel and other tap artists including Amanda Castro, Starinah Dixon, Andre Imanishi, Ryan Johnson, Lisa La Touche, Ted Levy, Michela Marino Lerman, Anthony Morigerato, Makenna Watts, and more. Kurt Csolak serves as editor of the series, with Darren Biggart and Anthony Morigerato acting as creative producers.

To read more about these program, click here.

New York Times: In Her Words: Ava DuVernay’s Fight for Change, Onstage and Off

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By Emma Goldberg

8 July 2020

They might depict scenes from decades past, but movie sets featured in films by the director Ava DuVernay are starting to look a lot like the United States today.

For “Selma,” her 2014 film about the 1965 marches for voting rights and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s part in them, Ms. DuVernay directed hundreds of Black and white actors in a restaging of civil rights protests. “When They See Us,” her mini-series on the wrongful conviction of teenage boys known as the Central Park Five, released last year, had her grappling with the injustices Black men experience at the hands of the police. And her Netflix documentary “13th,” from 2016, traces the legacy of American slavery to the present day criminalization of Black communities.

As hundreds of thousands across the United States march for Black Lives Matter, Ms. DuVernay’s films about Black histories and experiences have come to feel more essential than ever.

But there aren’t enough Black directors telling those stories.

For decades, few Black women have had access to the resources and platforms to make major motion pictures. In 2018, Hollywood saw a record high number of top films from Black directors — and it was only 14 percent. Only one of them was a woman, and she was Ms. DuVernay.

The calls to break up Hollywood’s entrenched disparities are building. Five years ago, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite put a spotlight on the industry’s lack of diversity, and its following has since continued to hold Hollywood to account for its lack of representation. Two years later, the #MeToo movement erupted and dozens of women exposed the film titan Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuses.

Today, industry leaders are listening to people of color protesting films that romanticize the slavery era. For a brief moment, “Gone With the Wind,” the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation, was removed from HBO Max. (It was later restored with additional videos offering historical context.) Filmmakers, like Ms. DuVernay, are working to ensure the momentum does not subside.

Last month, Ms. DuVernay’s media company ARRAY introduced the Law Enforcement Accountability Project in the wake of George Floyd’s killing while in police custody in Minneapolis, with the goal of commissioning, funding and amplifying works from Black and female artists that focus on police violence. One of the goals, she said, is to consider who is writing the history of this moment.

Ms. DuVernay spoke with In Her Words about the role she sees for artists in a time of widespread unrest, and whether problematic films — like problematic statues — should be removed to make space for new voices.

Read the full article here.

Broadway World: Gloria Estefan and Lin-Manuel Miranda Extend Invitation to Ballet Hispánico’s NOCHE UNIDOS

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By BWW News Desk

29 June 2020

Ballet Hispánico continues to celebrate 50 years of uniting people through dance with Noche Unidos on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 from 7:30-8:15pm EDT on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. All are welcome to view the show, with an advanced RSVP requested here, donations are optional.

The evening includes ten virtual world premiere performances featuring Ballet Hispánico Company dancers and students, new works created remotely in the past weeks by world renowned choreographers Carlos Pons Guerra, Michelle Manzanales, Andrea Miller, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Pedro Ruiz, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Nancy Turano, and Eduardo Vilaro; and celebrity appearances including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Gloria Estefan, Norman Lear, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, and other Latinx artists. A highlight of the evening will be performances by Ballet Hispánico School of Dance students Julienne Buenaventura and Ruby Castillo, Nuestro Futuro scholarship recipients in BH’s La Academia program, works choreographed by Kiri Avelar and Rodney Hamilton.

The pre-recorded show will include new works set remotely on our dancers by prominent choreographers. The choreographers are social distancing in locations around the world, and our dancers are across the country, yet the beauty of dance transcends the distance between them.

Read the full article here. 

New York Times: In Her Words: Setbacks

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By Emma Goldberg

26 June 2020

“I admitted to myself that I couldn’t do it all.”
— Ellen Kuwana on quitting her job in scientific communications
Women have shouldered more child care and housework responsibilities than men since long before the coronavirus era. But with schools, day care centers and camps closed, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated that disparity. Even with men pitching in more, women are scrambling to balance their work with household obligations.Patricia Cohen and Tiffany Hsu, business and economics reporters at The Times, have written that the effects of the pandemic on working mothers will last far beyond this period of crisis. Their reporting showed that a generation of working women will experience setbacks that may have lifelong consequences for their earning potential and career opportunities.

Some of the women they interviewed are balancing child care and jobs by working late-night or early morning shifts. Others have reduced their working hours or have quit their paid work altogether. One woman interviewed left the highest-paying role she had ever had: “I admitted to myself that I couldn’t do it all.”

Not surprisingly, the pressure is heaviest for single mothers who are the sole income providers for their families. Those who have lost their jobs have had the cumbersome task of seeking unemployment benefits and applying for new work while simultaneously helping their children with remote learning.

I asked Cohen and Hsu to share what they had learned in the course of their reporting. While some of the economists they cited had grim predictions, the reporters also shared some of the possibilities they see for reforms promoting work-life balance and workplace parity in the long term.

Read the full article here. 

 

 

Dance/USA: Leadership During Crisis: Kelly Tweeddale, Executive Director, San Francisco Ballet

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‘Our opening night would be our closing night’

By Lisa Traiger

12 May 2020

“I’m running a $52-million ballet company out of my San Francisco apartment,” Kelly Tweeddale said with a rueful laugh last week. “Even though we’re all at home and we might be in our sweats,” she added, “everyone is working harder than they’ve ever worked in their lives.” Tweeddale especially.The arts manager has 30 years of experience including as the former president of Vancouver Symphony, executive director of the Seattle Opera, along with leadership positions at the Cleveland Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. In the early 1980s, she began her career as an administrator at an improvisational dance company.

Tweeddale just joined San Francisco Ballet, one of the nation’s oldest dance companies, September 2, 2019, where, as executive director, she oversees 350 employees, including 78 dancers, 49 musicians, faculty and teaching artists at the school, and administrative and artistic staff; at peak season, employees go up to 450 and payroll ranges between $2.3 million and $3 million a month. Then a global pandemic changed everything.

Talk about a first-year trial by fire.

She is undeterred, noting, “In some ways, having lived through the 2008 financial crisis, many of us feel we’ve been through something kind of like this. But, in truth, there’s nothing like this pandemic. I feel like everything in my career has prepared me for this moment. And nothing has prepared any of us for this moment.”

San Francisco was one of the earliest U.S. jurisdictions to face closures and, ultimately, shelter-in-place orders. The ballet felt the ramifications on the first day. “March 6 was opening night of our Midsummer Night’s Dream. As we were taking the stage, we got the call from the city that they were closing the War Memorial Opera House. Our opening night would be our closing night.”

Navigating Uncertainty

Tweeddale said, “Helgi [Tomasson, the company artistic director] and I looked at each other and I said ‘We’ll either look at this, and say it was the biggest overreach ever or we’ll look back at this moment and say it was the most brilliant decision ever.’” Looking back, she feels fortunate that city leadership made decisions that erred on the side of health and science, even with the overwhelming ramifications those have for the 87-year-old ballet company.

To navigate uncertainty during this trying period, Tweeddale has relied on Tomasson, whose 35-year tenure at the company has been a godsend to her. She also included SFB’s 52-member board, and former dancer-turned-doctor Richard Gibbs, who started the company’s wellness center, as instrumental in providing guidance to help the organization navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Gibbs runs a free medical clinic in San Francisco and has offered essential advice to Tweeddale and the leadership team as it develops plans and protocols amidst the pandemic. “We thought about what social-distance seating might look like if that was the next step. Then the shelter-in-place [order] came March 16, to begin on March 17. We had 24 hours to notify everybody in the organization that we would be sheltered in place. That was a game changer.”

Read the full article online here.

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Ballet announces details of 2021 season with hope and a bit of uncertainty

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By Joshua Kosman

18 June 2020

World premieres by choreographers Cathy Marston, Mark Morris, Danielle Rowe and Myles Thatcher — as well as a return engagement for George Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic after a single performance in March — are among the highlights of the San Francisco Ballet’s 2021 season.

Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson announced details of the season on Thursday, June 18, under the title “Leap of Faith,” an aptly balletic rubric acknowledging the elements of uncertainty and hope that surround any planning by a performing arts organization in the current climate.

“The situation is totally un-normal right now, and we will have to be able to adjust to different situations,” Tomasson told The Chronicle in a phone interview. “The season is assuming that the city will allow us to perform and that people are willing to come. That would be the ideal.”

If that doesn’t happen by the time the season is scheduled to open on Jan. 19, Tomasson said, the company has backup plans, including the possibility of live-streaming performances from the studio.

The season’s seven programs, which run through June 27, 2021, have been arranged with the goal of keeping the two biggest and most elaborate programs at the end, in order to maximize the chances that performances will be fully possible by then. Those are the full-length story ballets “Swan Lake” (May 28-June 6) and “Romeo and Juliet” (June 18-27), both choreographed by Tomasson.

Read the full article here.