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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

Broadway World: 50 FORWARD: Dance Theatre Of Harlem Announces Annual NYC Season

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29 January 2020

The celebration continues this spring for the illustrious Dance Theatre of Harlem, following over a year of performances that both commemorated its 50th anniversary and paid tribute to its late, legendary co-founder, Arthur Mitchell. A former New York City Ballet dancer and the first black dancer to be elevated to Principal, Mr. Mitchell’s extraordinary, trailblazing vision for ballet thrives well into the 21st century through DTH’s performances across the country and around the world. Along with master teacher Karel Shook, Arthur Mitchell challenged perceptions of what classical ballet could be and created new opportunities for artists to join him in changing the landscape of the arts. Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 2020 season builds on this monumental legacy while looking to the future of ballet.

Dance Theatre of Harlem will kick off its New York City Center homecoming season with its annual Vision Gala on April 15 with an evening titled 50 Forward, setting a vision for DTH’s next 50 years. Bringing together the company’s past and future, the evening will feature the New York premieres of both a richly expanded version of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s recent hit Balamouk, featuring a live performance by Grammy-winning klezmer band The Klezmatics, and excerpts from Resident Choreographer Robert Garland‘s soon-to-be-titled new ballet. Company member Dylan Santos stages Odalisques Variations from Petipa’s Le Corsaire, and the company pays tribute to late Grammy-winning operatic star and DTH Board of Directors member Jessye Norman with Arthur Mitchell‘s Balm in Gilead.

Read the full article on Broadway World.

HuffPost: How Ballerinas of Color are Changing the Palette of Dance

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By Rohina Katoch Sehra

Ballet’s aristocratic origins and an early association with opera mean that it remains wedded to a Euro-classical ethos. Certain ideas about it still persist ― that only an expensive cultural education can unlock its meaning and that it belongs in gilded venues accessed only by the elite. Then there’s the unmistakable race-signaling; despite documenting the decline of ballet in the late 1800s and showing us how terribly dancers suffered at the hands of predatory male patrons, French artist Edgar Degas’ paintings have bypassed their nightmarish context, at least in the popular imagination. Today these instantly recognizable scenes are visual shorthand for everything ballet embodies ― beauty, pristineness, perfection ― all of it encoded as whiteness.

Even today, ballet prizes the physical and emotive attributes that set European nobility apart from commoners ― poise, daintiness, adherence to etiquette and hierarchy, erectness of carriage. So it seems that ballet and whiteness are inseparable, to be divorced from each other at a cost no less than the extinction of the form itself. Some stakeholders reinforce this idea by favoring homogeneity, claiming a Black dancer in the corps could throw off the symmetry needed for pleasing optics. Others ostensibly reject Black dancers for having what they say are unsuitable contours. The cumulative impact of these beliefs is felt hardest by aspiring dancers of color.

Read the full article online here.

Verb Ballets: Meet choreographer Stephanie Martinez

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3 February 2020

Verb Ballets was thrilled to welcome sought after choreographer Stephanie Martinez to studio last week. Her versatility expands the boundaries of contemporary ballet movement language with original creations for Charlotte Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Sacramento Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City Ballet, Dance Kaleidoscope, Kansas City Dance Festival, Moving Arts Cincinnati, and National Choreographers Initiative among others, . In 2014, Martinez received a “Winning Works: Choreographers of Color” award from The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Stephanie Martinez mounted Wandering On, originally commissioned by Eugene Ballet in 2017 on the company. The work is inspired by the Sanskrit word Samsara that translates as “wandering through the constant cycle”.This work will make its Cleveland premiere on February 8, 2020 at The Breen Center on a program of all female choreographers.

Read the full blog on Verb Ballets’ website.

Sacramento Bee: Pints and plies: A pairing that brings opportunity to ballet and the uninitiated

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By Mitchel Bobo

29 January 2020

Artistic Director Amy Seiwert recalled debuting a piece during the Sacramento Ballet company’s inaugural Beer and Ballet event in 1994. The event was a chance for the troupe’s dancers a rare opportunity to step from the back of the class to the front of the room.

“It’s an incredibly vulnerable place to put yourself in. You make a ballet, you put it out there and you have no control how people see it, what they experience when they see it or what they take away from it. And that’s hard because you have to just put it out there and hope it reaches an audience in the way you intended,” Seiwert said.

Beer and Ballet’s choreographic workshops give nine members of the local ensemble the opportunity to create and perform their own pieces, which will debut Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and run through Feb. 16. Each performance is followed by a Q&A session where dancers field questions from attendees.

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Previous reporting by The Bee highlighted Seiwert’s initiatives to create channels for women to step into leadership roles in ballet. According to the Dance Data Project, Seiwert and Sacramento Ballet’s commission of The Nutcracker was the only female-choreographed, full-length world premiere during the 2018-19 season.

“Amy is passionate about making sure there is equal representation of male and female representation in choreography. It’s vital that there are more female voices represented in the ballet world,” Feldman said.

Read the full article in the Sacramento Bee.

DANCE DATA PROJECT® COLLABORATION WITH BERKELEY HAAS SCHOOL FINDS EQUITABLE LEADERSHIP AT TOP 50 U.S. DANCE VENUES WITH AN AVERAGE OF 45% FEMALE LEADERSHIP

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Dance Data Project® (DDP) today published its ninth study. For this collaboration with the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL) at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, MBA Candidate Patrick Crocker joined DDP in an examination of gender equity in the 50 largest U.S. dance venues. The “Dance Venue Leadership and Programing Report” reveals nearly-complete gender parity at all levels of dance venue leadership. Research indicates that if a venue selects a ballet company led by a woman, the resulting work is more likely to include works choreographed by women.

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The Atlantic: The Death of the American Dance Critic

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By Madison Mainwaring

6 August 2015

Misty Copeland has become something of a household name in recent months. In late June, she became the first black ballerina to be named principal at American Ballet Theater, one of the most storied companies in the U.S., and her success is a milestone in the predominantly white world of ballet. But while her legacy is endlessly analyzed, her technical, lyrical, and theatrical abilities as a dancer are less frequently discussed: She can attack steps with fierce intensity, plays a great Juliet, and possesses unparalleled comedic timing. This is because hardly any of the countless stories published about Copeland have been written by dance critics—a dying breed of writers uniquely capable of offering informed commentary on the singular talents she brings to the stage.

Over the course of the last 20 years dance coverage—and dance criticism in particular—has been decimated in the mainstream press. This past April, Gia Kourlas left Time Out New York, where she had been dance editor for 20 years, after they eliminated her stand-alone section. The New York Post stopped commissioning regular reviews from its critic Leigh Witchel in 2013, and Jennifer Homans left The New Republic last year. The Village Voice and New York have both let go of their regular dance writers and editors in the past 15 years. The trend hasn’t been limited to New York, the dance capital of the U.S. either: Both the Los Angeles Times and the Orange Country Register laid off their critics, and the San Francisco Chronicle hasn’t had a full-time dance writer since 2004. “There aren’t many outlets to begin with, and every day you hear about another [critic] going down,” said Marina Harss, who writes about dance for The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Which leaves very few publications with house critics and editors who are dedicated to the art form. Today there are only two full-time dance critics in the country: Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times and Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post. Some freelancers continue to publish reviews, but more likely than not the space for this kind of writing has been cut significantly. One could argue that though this trend is unfortunate, it’s almost expected given that dance concerts cater to small audiences, and the constituency reading about them tends to be even smaller still. But for a medium that can be difficult to understand, generalist coverage remains vital to the accessibility of the dance scene.

Read the full article in The Atlantic.

San Francisco Examiner: SF Ballet changes program in wake of Liam Scarlett misconduct allegations

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By Leslie Katz

30 January 2020

San Francisco Ballet’s second program of 2020 won’t have English choreographer Liam Scarlett’s “Hummingbird” on it in the wake of an announcement this week that The Royal Ballet has suspended him as it investigates allegations of sexual misconduct.

In a press statement today, San Francisco Ballet Executive Director Kelly Tweeddale that the troupe’s decision to remove the piece is made is “out of respect for the ongoing inquiry in London, the dance community at large, patrons of San Francisco Ballet, families of the San Francisco Ballet School and artists of the company.”

The BBC reports that a representative for the Royal Opera House, where England’s Royal Ballet is based, said: “We were made aware of allegations relating to Liam Scarlett in August 2019. The individual was immediately suspended, and an independent disciplinary investigation opened.”

Read the full article in the Examiner.

New York Times: Royal Ballet Suspends Choreographer Over Sexual Misconduct Claims

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By Alex Marshall

30 January 2020

LONDON — The Royal Ballet has suspended Liam Scarlett, its artist-in-residence, after accusations of sexual misconduct involving students at the Royal Ballet School.

The company was made aware of the accusations against Mr. Scarlett in August, it said in an emailed statement on Thursday. Mr. Scarlett was suspended immediately and an investigation is ongoing, the statement added.

Mr. Scarlett, who was heralded as a “choreographic wonder boy of British ballet,” has created work for the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Miami City Ballet, among others.

The impact of the accusations is already spreading beyond Britain. On Thursday, the Queensland Ballet in Australia suspended Mr. Scarlett, an artistic associate of the company, and canceled its planned productions of his new ballet “Dangerous Liaisons,” The Australian newspaper reported.

Read the full article in the New York Times.

The Standard: Tamara Rojo to choreograph Florence Nightingale-inspired first production with English National Ballet

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By Robert Dex

Dancer Tamara Rojo will choreograph her first ballet with a production inspired by Florence Nightingale.

The star will also direct the show as part of the English National Ballet’s (ENB) new season which was announced today.

Ms Rojo, who as artistic director of the company has overseen its move to a new HQ in east London, will adapt the classic 19th century ballet, Raymonda, setting it during the Crimean war.

She said: “It continues to be a part of my vision for English National Ballet to look at classics with fresh eyes, to make them relevant, find new contexts, amplify new voices and ultimately evolve the art form.  

“Raymonda is a beautiful ballet – extraordinary music, exquisite and intricate choreography – with a female lead who I felt deserved more of a voice, more agency in her own story. Working with my incredible creative team, I am setting Raymonda in a new context and adapting the narrative in order to bring something unique, relevant and inspiring to our audiences.  

“I have truly enjoyed delving into the creative process of adapting and choreographing a large-scale ballet and have been inspired by Florence Nightingale’s drive and passion.”

Read the full article in The Standard.

Broadway News: Protesters rally at ‘West Side Story’ against Amar Ramasar casting

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By Caitlin Huston

 A group of protesters gathered outside the Broadway Theatre Friday night to speak out against the casting of Amar Ramasar in the “West Side Story” revival. 

Ramasar, who plays Bernardo in the musical currently in previews, has been accused of sharing explicit images of female ballet dancers without their permission during his time as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.

One of those female dancers, Alexandra Waterbury, brought these allegations forward in September 2018 after filing suit against her former boyfriend, Chase Finlay, and other dancers at New York City Ballet, including Ramasar. Waterbury alleges in her suit that Finlay had sent unauthorized nude images and videos of her to Ramasar and others, who sent back illicit images of other women in exchange. 

Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro, another dancer reportedly involved, were fired from the ballet in September 2018. Finlay had already resigned. Ramasar and Catazaro were reinstated to the New York City Ballet in April 2019, after an arbitrator, hired by the union for ballet dancers, the American Guild of Musical Artists, handed down a ruling. 

The civil suit Waterbury filed against New York City Ballet, as well as Finlay, Ramasar and Catazaro and others in State Supreme Court in Manhattan is still ongoing. The defendants have filed motions to dismiss. 

Read the full story here.