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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

New York Times In Her Words:

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By Alyson Krueger

With the spread of the coronavirus, more people around the globe are not only examining their hand-washing habits, but also wondering about those of the people around them. Personal hygiene habits have far-ranging consequences.

There are some things we’ve long suspected about how men and women approach hygiene in the past, said Rosie Frasso, program director of public health at Thomas Jefferson University.

“Traditionally women were more engaged in meal prep and house cleaning and were more likely to do the diaper changing,” she said. “My guess is that these roles made women think about hand washing differently.”

She also points out that women and men have different experiences in the bathroom, making women more conscious of germs. “Women are dealing with seats,” she said.

Past scientific surveys back up the idea that women are the superior hand-washers.

In 2010 a study by the American Cleaning Institute and the American Microbiology Society found that men are less likely to wash their hands even after petting an animal, handling food, coughing or sneezing.

The market research company Ipsos found in 2018 that more women than men agreed that washing their hands after using the toilet is “very important” (91 percent vs. 84 percent). More women also agreed it was “a crucial behavior” after taking public transportation (74 percent vs. 66 percent).

A 2016 paper by the Los Alamos National Laboratory analyzed the results of dozens of studies from around the world to determine what factors influence the adoption of protective behaviors, specifically within the context of pandemics.

“Women are more likely — about 50 percent more likely — than men to practice non-pharmaceutical behaviors, things like hand washing, face mask use and avoiding crowds,” said Kelly Moran, one of the authors of the study. Even when the researchers tested their findings against factors such as culture or a country’s level of development, they found that the gender gap persisted.

Read the full article in the New York Times.

National Geographic: These 20 women were trailblazing explorers—why did history forget them?

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BY NINA STROCHLIC

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH SARA MANCO

BE SURE YOU’RE the first woman somewhere,” an editor advised budding photographer Dickey Chapelle as World War II escalated. Chapelle took the advice and sneaked ashore with a Marine unit during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, flouting a ban on female journalists in combat zones. She temporarily lost her military press accreditation but went on to earn a reputation as a fearless war correspondent.

Since National Geographic’s founding in 1888, women have churned out achievements in science and exploration, often with only fleeting recognition. They mapped the ocean floor, conquered the highest peaks, unearthed ancient civilizations, set deep-sea diving records, and flew around the world. They talked their way onto wars’ front lines and traveled across continents.

“There is no reason why a woman cannot go wherever a man goes, and further,” explorer Harriet Chalmers Adams said in 1920. “If a woman be fond of travel, if she has love of the strange, the mysterious, and the lost, there is nothing that will keep her at home.”

Read the full article in National Geographic Magazine.

Columbia Spectator: Choreographer Mari Meade re-examines gender norms in the pas de deux with Columbia Repertory Ballet

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By Lizzie Green

11 March 2020

What does a typical ballet duet look like? Perhaps it is a depiction of a heteronormative couple, where the woman wears pointe shoes and is spun, contorted, and hurled through the air at the mercy of her male counterpart. But in choreographer Mari Meade’s work, “paired reflections,” she strives to challenge this prototype.

Originally choreographed for dancers at New York City Ballet as part of the fall 2018 New York Choreographic Institute, Meade will stage “paired reflections” on dancers from Columbia Repertory Ballet, a student group that provides advanced dancers with the opportunity to perform established repertoire in ballet and contemporary dance.

Meade was born in California and raised outside of New Orleans. In 2009, she moved to New York to found her own contemporary company, Mari Meade Dance Collective. She has since traveled the world showcasing her work and has held a number of prestigious fellowships such as the Kenan Fellowship at Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center, as well as residencies around the country. She heard about the opportunity to work with CRB through “the grapevine” from other New York artists.

Read the full article here.

‘Sleeping Beauty’: State Street Ballet Updates Classic Fairy Tale

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By Daisy Finefrock

09 March 2020

The traditional Sleeping Beauty story presents cultural challenges to a contemporary audience — a stranger kissing an unconscious woman isn’t the heroic gesture it used to be viewed as. Thanks to State Street Ballet, however, female choreographers are coming to Beauty’s rescue. On Saturday, March 14, the company will present the classic Tchaikovsky/Petipa Sleeping Beauty as reimagined for 21st-century audiences of all ages. Choreographers Cecily Stewart MacDougall, Megan Philipp, and Marina Fliagina have taken on the daunting task of adapting the classic ballet version while altering certain details to deliver a message of women’s self-empowerment. 

One of the most eye-catching aspects of this new production comes thanks to UCSB professor Christina McCarthy, who designed a 15-foot wearable dragon to act as sidekick to the wicked fairy, Carabosse. With great props, moving colors, beautiful costumes, and the dancing, this 90-minute version of what was originally a two-and-a-half-hour ballet should keep the kids engaged through every second. 

As part of their popular Family Series, State Street Ballet intends Sleeping Beauty to resonate with all ages. MacDougall pointed out some of her favorite moments to watch for, including the Garland Waltz, during which the prince and Aurora fall in love in the forest; as well as any scene with Carabosse, the Maleficent fairy godmother, and her dragon sidekick. 

Read the full article and see the gallery here.

WBUR: Choreographer Helen Pickett Explores Femininity With Boston Ballet

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Sharon Basco

10 March 2020

Choreographer Helen Pickett approaches her art in an intellectual way. She refers to music, literature, painting, design, philosophy and history. Her latest big project is “The Crucible,” an award-winning full-length work for the Scottish Ballet, on the weighty subject of the Salem witch trials. And yet, there’s something of the flower child in Helen Pickett. Not the flakey kind, but rather a force-of-nature type.

“I always thought I could have been a florist,” Pickett said of her ballet “Petal,” which has been evolving since 2007, and is part of Boston Ballet’s upcoming “Carmen” program. “My brain’s really oriented toward smell and the color, it’s always ignited my sensory system,” she continued. “Nature doesn’t try. It ‘is’ in its vigor and its beauty. It just ‘is.’ And it’s that ‘is’ of nature that inspired ‘Petal.’ The whole exercise of ‘Petal’ is to take the artifice of performing away and give the dancer onstage their individuality, their nature.”

“Petal” is one of two Pickett works included in the “Carmen” program, whose title is also the name of the program’s Bizet-opera-inspired piece by Jorma Elo. Also included is the 1935 classic “Serenade,” the first work George Balanchine choreographed in America.

The company’s stated goal of the “Carmen” program is to explore and celebrate many facets of femininity. How do these four short ballets — two by men and two by a woman — address the subject of being female? How are they all about women?

“Basically, George Balanchine’s ‘Serenade’ is about femininity, it’s about regular women turning into dancers. Epic, classic, the ultimate feminine brilliant ballet,” said Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet’s artistic director. “And Helen Pickett is the creative female force, and we see ‘Tsukiyo’ and ‘Petal’ from her. And then there’s another really strong woman, ‘Carmen,’ in the Jorma Elo choreography.”

Click here to read the full article.

The Economist: The Glass Ceiling Index: Go north, young woman

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07 March 2020

To mark International Women’s Day on March 8th we have updated our glass-ceiling index, which ranks 29 countries on ten indicators of equality for women in the workplace: educational attainment, labour-force participation, pay, child-care costs, maternity and paternity rights, business-school applications, and representation in senior positions in management, on company boards and in parliament. East Asian women face a ceiling that appears to be made of bulletproof glass. In South Korea they earn on average 35% less than men and occupy only one in seven managerial jobs and one in 30 board seats. In Iceland, which topped the league table this year, women claim nearly half of all executive and board positions. As usual, Nordic countries perform best overall. America, which granted women the right to vote a century ago this year, continues to frustrate the ambitions of female workers. It comes a dismal 22nd on The Economist’s list, a little ahead of Britain and below the average for the oecd club of industrialised countries. Full results can be found at economist.com/glassceiling2020■

Boston Globe: Boston Ballet’s ‘Carmen’ program puts strong women in the spotlight

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By Karen Campbell 

06 March 2020

While it may not have been the initial theme, Boston Ballet’s upcoming “Carmen” program (March 12-22 at the Citizens Bank Opera House) seems to come into focus as a celebration of strong, complex women. In addition to the feisty antiheroine of the title piece by company resident choreographer Jorma Elo, and “Serenade,” George Balanchine’s luminous ode to young ballerinas, award-winning dancemaker Helen Pickett contributes two evocative ballets — “Petal” and “Tsukiyo.”

“It’s a really special program that highlights every aspect of a woman — the sassiness of a woman, the strength, sensuality, camaraderie,” says Boston Ballet principal dancer Lia Cirio, who will perform the role of Carmen as well as dance in both of Pickett’s ballets. “I think it’s a really beautiful, very positive show.”

The evening suggests an evolution of womanhood, beginning with Balanchine’s landmark “Serenade.” The choreographer’s first original ballet created in America, the work is set to Tchaikovsky’s stirring “Serenade for Strings” and was originally created as a lesson in stage technique for aspiring ballerinas. “The whole ballet is about a regular woman turning into a ballerina, and what a masterpiece it is,” says Boston Ballet artistic director Mikko Nissinen. “It is an absolutely gorgeous essence of a woman, of a dream of a woman and dream of a ballet all in one. Every time I watch it, I still find it fresh.”

The evening takes a different turn with the works of Helen Pickett. Boston Ballet gave Pickett her first ever choreographic commission in 2005 and has commissioned five works in total from her. An impressive commitment to Pickett’s talent and artistic development, it has translated into a kind of collaborative dialogue she says she is able to have with dancers she has worked with over many years. “We understand each others’ movement ideas,” she says. “You can have conversations without words. There’s a symbiosis through art, and I really value that.”

In fact, Pickett’s “Petal” comes full circle with the upcoming Boston Ballet presentation. The seeds of the ballet were planted here in 2007 through a grant from the New York Choreographic Institute and resulted in a 10-minute piece for a Boston Ballet in-studio workshop. Pickett later developed the piece into a full ballet for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and this marks the first time the complete version of the work will be seen in Boston.

Pickett recalls a key moment of inspiration, walking by a flower shop and being taken by the vibrant explosion of colors. “It was this visceral moment of buds in spring, of life bursting forth,” she says, “and the colors and the kinetic relationship between the dancers came to reflect the vigor of nature.”

The work is not just about the sensory swirl of colors and patterns, Pickett says, but also about communication and connection. “It’s a celebration of the birth of color, the sound and touch of the human being, without which we would all wither.”

Pickett says the intimate duet “Tsukiyo” is also about the power of touch, but in a more sensual vein. She calls it a kind of “fated meeting” freighted with anticipation. “I want audiences to live in the possibility of what can happen between two people.”

Nissinen calls it “very steamy, very personal.” He adds with a laugh, “The funnest compliment I heard from someone was that after watching it, they felt like they needed a cigarette.”

Read the full article online here.

Washington Post: The U.S. hasn’t signed the world’s foremost women’s rights treaty. Activists have gotten local versions passed instead.

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By Heidi Nichols Haddad 

08 March 2020

On International Women’s Day, how is the U.S. doing on women’s rights? That question could be answered in many ways, of course, pointing to anything from Harvey Weinstein’s recent conviction for sexual assault to how a diverse Democratic field of presidential candidates narrowed to a race between two white men. But here let’s look at a different, less celebrated arena: local governments. In the past several years, Honolulu, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Berkeley and the counties of Miami-Dade and Santa Clara have put binding gender equality laws on the books.

Turning to local government to get past national gridlock

These local laws are a direct answer to federal inaction on women’s rights. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would constitutionally enshrine equal rights regardless of sex, failed to win the necessary 38 state ratifications by the legislation’s 1982 expiration date.

Further, the United States is one of only six United Nations member states — and the only industrialized democracy — that hasn’t joined the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The other non-signatory countries are Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Palau and Tonga.

Dubbed the “international women’s bill of rights,” CEDAW represents the most comprehensive global consensus on promoting and protecting women’s rights and the associated obligations of both governments and private actors. President Jimmy Carter signed CEDAW in 1980. The Senate held hearings on CEDAW in 1988, 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2010, and twice reported favorably on it, but the treaty never reached the Senate floor for a vote.

U.S. policymakers have generally agreed with CEDAW’s goal of eliminating gender discrimination. But they clash, mostly along party lines, over its likely effect on the private lives of Americans. During the 2002 hearing on CEDAW, Republican Sens. Mike Enzi and Sam Brownback questioned why the U.S. would join a treaty that did not reduce women’s oppression in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. The activist groups Concerned Women for America and the National Right to Life Committee have strongly mobilized against CEDAW; they see it as undermining traditional family roles and implicitly endorsing abortion.

Read the full article online here.

New York Times: A Cellist’s Tragic Tale, Told in Dance

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By Farah Nayeri

28 February 2020

LONDON — The stirring sounds of Elgar’s Cello Concerto rise from the orchestra pit in an opening scene of a new production by the Royal Ballet, “The Cellist.” The ballerina in the title role settles into position with her instrument: a male dancer, dressed in brown tones. She grips his upstretched arm as if it were the neck of a cello and makes sweeping gestures across his back, as if moving a bow.

This rapturous musical union is suddenly interrupted, as the cellist collapses onstage, then rubs her hands, trying to chase away the numbness. Soon, her hands begin to quiver intermittently, as do her legs. Playing the instrument becomes impossible. Her human cello tries to revive her musical powers, as does her husband, who has been conducting from a nearby podium. They wrap themselves around her in a desperate embrace. But her musical career is permanently over.

Choreographed by Cathy Marston for the Royal Ballet, “The Cellist” tells the story of two highly gifted musicians: the cellist Jacqueline du Pré, considered one of the instrument’s finest musicians, and her husband, the star conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim.

The two met in London in 1966 and married the next year, performing and recording together nonstop and forming one of the most memorable couples in classical music.

Read the full article here.

DDP On Twitter re: THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET APPOINTS DAVID HALLBERG AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

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The Australian Ballet announced this week that famed American danseur David Hallberg would be the company’s next Artistic Director, effective January 2021.

Read the announcement here.

See DDP’s tweets on the subject in the shots below: