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
The Lily: We talked to an employment lawyer about ‘mom bias.’ Here’s what she wants you to know.
Stephanie Murray
27 July 2020
In late May, a working mom named Dris Wallace filed a complaint to the human resources office at her company. Her manager had been insisting that she keep her toddlers quiet during work calls while working from home during the coronavirus, which she felt was an impossible and discriminatory standard.
A week later, she was fired.
That’s when employment attorney Daphne Delvaux stepped in and filed a lawsuit against Wallace’s company on her behalf.
For Delvaux, who specializes in defending mothers facing discrimination at work — or retaliation for reporting it — this is just another day on the job. According to her, “mom bias” has always been a problem in the corporate world, but the coronavirus has exacerbated it. Businesses are under pressure to cut costs, and workers are terrified of losing work, creating fertile ground for abuse. Since many businesses are reopening while so many day cares and schools remain closed, it will probably get worse before it gets better.
In addition to her work as a litigator, Delvaux runs The Mama Attorney, an organization devoted to educating mothers about their rights at work so that they can protect both their time with their kids and their careers as they transition to motherhood.
Here are a few things she wants working moms to know:
‘Mom bias’ is real and no industry is immune to it
Bias against parents — and specifically mothers — arises out of a workplace culture that favors unencumbered workers, Delvaux said. “Employers like people at work who are a hundred percent committed, so they don’t have any other obligations, no health concerns, they don’t have to take a leave of absence, they don’t have to take breaks, they don’t have to ask for accommodation — the employers favor those employees.” As a result, managers operating under pressure to hit quotas are often really hard on employees with obvious limitations or outside obligations.
With mothers in particular, Delvaux has observed a pervasive perception that they are “less available,” and “too distracted” to do their jobs properly. As a result, a lot of mothers face discrimination either before or after maternity leave, based on the assumption that they will be less committed to their jobs. Some of the mothers Delvaux has represented came back from maternity leave only to be immediately replaced, or let go while their employer continued to post new job openings. Others were muscled out, demoted or forced to cut their maternity leaves short.
Read the full article online here.
DANCE DATA PROJECT® TO RELEASE PART 2 OF GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS SERIES, FEATURING THE BALLET WORLD’S TOP LEADERS AND THEIR METHODS FOR CRISIS NAVIGATION
Dance Data Project® (DDP) today announced the release of Global Conversations – Navigating Challenging Times, the second round in a series of virtual interviews. Round 2 features 10 artistic directors, executive directors, and CEOs of some of the most globally esteemed ballet companies. See the full roster in the announcement.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly’s daring BalletX taps choreographers around the world for subscription-based film festival
By Ellen Dunkel
21 July 2020
Nutcracker performances have been canceled, theaters sit empty, and dancers all over the world are wondering how to salvage their careers.
But BalletX artistic director Christine Cox has not let coronavirus prevent her company from leaping into the future.
“There was a panic moment,” Cox said. “At first you’re managing the crises by shutting down your performances, which is something we did early. And then slowly as the season was developing, in my mind, [there was] this idea of going big.”
The plan, which Cox announced Tuesday morning, is a new series launching Sept. 10 celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary with world premieres by 15 choreographers. She sees the season in terms of a subscription-based film festival with nine shorts and six features.
The shorts will be dance films presented on a new virtual platform hosted on the company’s website called BalletX Beyond. The features are intended to be performed live in the spring or summer, depending on public health concerns, but they, too, may be turned into films, if necessary.
Read the full story here.
The Observer: Troy Powell, Artistic Director of Ailey II, Has Been Fired for Sexual Misconduct
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
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:
Representative John Lewis: 1940-2020
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
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
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.
