September 15th: WHITE WAVE: SoloDuo Dance Festival, September 28th: New England Dance Fund, October 13th: Community Arts Grant - Zellerbach Family Foundation Deadline 3, October 13th: Asian American Ballet Project: Choreographer Residency Program, October 14th: Shubert Foundation Dance Grant, October 22nd: Perform Europe Open Call, November 1st: Howard Fellowship, December 1st: Culture Forward Grant - The Svane Family Foundation Deadline 3, December 31st: National Dance Project Presentation Grants - New England Foundation for the Arts, December 31st: National Dance Project Travel Fund, December 31st: New England Presenter Travel Fund
InStyle‘s third Badass Women issue is here! And the cherry on top is always the bi-annual Badass 50 feature which spotlights dedicated women from the spheres of science, social justice, law, entertainment, politics, and other industries. Their poignant contributions to this issue are both enlightening and inspiring. We even have a handful of nominees in conversation with each other. You won’t want to miss what they have to say.
1. MINDY KALING: At 24 she became the first woman and person of color to join the writers’ room on NBC’s cult comedy The Office. Since then her career has taken off, with TV shows, big-budget films, and two best-selling memoirs. Her latest project, Late Night, which marked the first time she has written, produced, and starred in a feature film, is centered on a writer who challenges the role of women at work. Up next? An Indian wedding comedy with Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Think of it as the subcontinent’s answer to Crazy Rich Asians.
2. ABIGAIL DISNEY: Despite the long shadow of her family name, she has carved out her own space as a philanthropist, an activist, and an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. She considers herself a peace builder, hell-bent on seeking justice — even when that means taking the family company to task for the huge pay gap between CEO Robert Iger and other employees. “From time to time I’m going to enrage people on my own side, and that’s hard,” she says. “But there’s incredible strength in stepping into danger, trouble, or conflict on behalf of others. It’s the right thing to do.”
3. BRIGADIER GENERAL JEANNIE LEAVITT: In 1993, after graduating first in her class, she asked to fly a fighter jet, knowing that the U.S. Air Force wouldn’t yet allow it. Months later, when officials changed their minds, she became the Air Force’s first female fighter pilot. Now the brigadier general (and muse for Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel) heads up Air Force recruitment, a role in which she hopes to inspire more women to take the lead. “We all think of movie stars as superheroes, but the Marvel team saw our airmen as the superheroes,” Leavitt says. “That was really neat.”
Still of choreographer Nicole Haskins. Photo by Chris Hardy. Courtesy of Haskins.
If we want there to be more female ballet choreographers, we first have to develop bold, confident female ballet dancers.
From an early age, female ballet dancers are taught that they are replaceable, expendable, and that one-hundred others are waiting in the wings to take their place. It is instilled in us that one wrong move can destroy any chance we have of making it and there are rarely second chances in this profession. The ballet world calls us girls, no matter what age we are, tells us we are stupid, that we are fat, that we aren’t trying hard enough. How can we expect these girls to become women who think they can have anything to say? To think they can lead? To think they are worthy of choreographing? If we want to truly change the proportion of female choreographers working in ballet, then we have to open up the voices, minds, and creativity of our female dancers.
To do this we need to give the same confidence and freedom we give male dancers in ballet. It’s not surprising to me that most female choreographers that are working with major companies tend to have at some point danced in Europe or for contemporary or modern companies: Helen Pickett, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Penny Saunders, Amy Seiwert, and many others. In most cases, they were not the prima ballerinas of their generations; they were the strong, confident, badass women, who spent some or most of their careers as dancers outside the rigid hierarchy of ballet.
We can’t simply look around and declare there aren’t that many women interested in choreographing for ballet. We have to foster the creativity, vulnerability, and confidence needed to step to the front of the room, take charge, give direction, and create. We have to give male and female ballet dancers alike the courage and confidence to put themselves in front of everyone -other dancers, the audience, themselves- and take risks. If we don’t teach our female ballet students and professional dancers to believe in themselves, to think their voice is important, how do we expect them to feel comfortable showing us what they have to say?
Photo of Haskins by Tatiana Wills
About Nicole
Nicole Haskins, originally from Venice Beach, California, is a dancer, choreographer, mentor, and coach who tries everyday to live up to her mantra that “Art is Risk Made Visible”. Her choreography is sought after across the country and has been commissioned by Richmond Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, The National Choreographic Initiative, and Smuin Contemporary Ballet. She has been awarded The New York Choreographic Institute’s Commission Grant, Fellowship Grant, and participated in the Institute’s Spring Session in New York. After spending 14 years dancing professionally with The Washington Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet, and The Sacramento Ballet, Haskins will become the Resident Choreographer for Mid-Columbia Ballet this summer and cannot wait help the next generation of dancers gain the confidence, intelligence, and perseverance to take their own risks and reap the rewardsof this magnificent art form. Visit her website here.
DDP wants to hear your voice. That is why part of our blog, New Voices, is dedicated to guest commentators – artists and choreographers starting out on their missions to create in classical ballet or dance. We hope to feature a revolving selection of new and emerging female artists sharing their struggles and successes as they build careers in the industry. What is it like trying to get your work staged? How is working with company management frustrating or easy? How do you deal with childcare or work/life balance? Read New Voices to learn more about these topics and more!
Recently, a friend of mine was tasked with hiring a new employee at work. He interviewed an impressive candidate who was a natural fit, but he said there was just one problem: She had a 3-year-old, and he was concerned with her reliability. Would she request more time off? Come in late if she couldn’t find child care? Call in sick more often? This friend would never describe himself as biased, but when I asked if he would say the same of a male worker with a 3-year-old, he was silent. In the end, she got the job. But this real-world scenario reinforces the growing amount of research that reveals how unfavorable workplaces can be for women.
The following stories come from The Times’s Working Woman’s Handbook, which is your guide to learning to dodge office land mines, fight bias in the workplace and not burn out in the process.
There are a number of reasons the pay gap exists, and “women don’t negotiate” has been tossed around as an explanation. But research suggests it’s not entirely true.
A 2018 study concluded that women ask for raises and promotions as often as men, they’re just less likely to get what they want. This might be because when women are assertive in the workplace, they’re viewed as unlikable or demanding, according to a 2016 study. Negotiating is trickier for women, and many experts agree: It’s important for women to have groups where they can discuss salary and workplace issues openly.
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DDP Founder and President Liza Yntema had the pleasure of interviewing choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa for DDP’s latest Meet the Artist. Read the article below and learn more about Annabelle Lopez Ochoa on her website, here.
Liza Yntema (LY): Can you tell me about your background, both as a dancer and as a choreographer?
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (ALO): I trained in the classical Vaganova technique at the Royal Ballet of Flanders for seven years, along with some Martha Graham technique, jazz, and flamenco. Then I danced in four different companies in Germany and The Netherlands for 12 years, going from a Dance Theatre based group in Germany, to a modern jazz troupe in Holland, and ending at the Scapino Ballet, a contemporary dance company in Rotterdam, where I choreographed my first pieces during the annual choreographers’ workshop. The company’s artistic director, Ed Wubbe, noticed my talent and subsequently commissioned a new work of mine for the company. The same happened after I made a short duet during the choreographers’ workshop at the Dutch National Ballet. After seeing the work, Ted Brandsen commissioned me to create a new work for the company – this would be my first ballet piece with the dancers en pointe.
LY: What was your first piece?
ALO: I started choreographing at the age of 11, so I’m not quite sure what I would count as my first piece. I suppose I could choose “Symbiosis,” my first creation for the 1997 choreographers’ workshop at Scapino Ballet. It was a short female duet based on a French rhyme that I had written during my daily commute on the train. The piece became very popular and was performed for a few years by the Codarts students.
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Liza Yntema, and BalletX artistic director Christine Cox together at the opening night of The Little Prince, Lopez Ochoa’s 2019 commission for the company.
LY: What obstacles have you had to overcome?
ALO: Obstacles are there for you to bounce back from average work you make or bad reviews you get. Finding solutions to problem tickles my creativity. I have had lots of average work, and I still get bad reviews! I keep learning and keep growing as an artist.
It just doesn’t take as long anymore to bounce back from a bad review. Each time I am reminded that I am lucky to be a choreographer instead of a dance reviewer in this life.
LY: Tell us about your 2019-2020 Schedule?
ALO: My 2019-20 season is jam-packed with 11 premieres and nine revivals, comprised of three full-length ballets:
Chamber Dance Project – Rondo ma Non Troppo (June 20, 2019)
BalletX- The Little Prince [world premiere] (July 10, 2019) and at Joyce Theater (Oct 1-6, 2019)
Jacob’s Pillow – New Work for the Contemporary Classical Summer School (June 13, 2020)
LY: Do you have any future commissions you can discuss?
ALO: The future doesn’t exist and has no certainty, so I rather not discuss it. What I am certain about is that the premiere of The Little Prince is approaching soon [DDP note: at the time of interview], and it has been a beautiful journey to work with BalletX and dig deep into the symbolism of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s wonderful story.
LY: What motivates you? A piece of music, a story?
ALO: The concept usually comes first, then the music.
LY: Tell us about your relationship with BalletX: Christine Cox has supported so many emerging artists.
ALO: Christine invited me in 2008 to create a work for an all-female choreographers’ evening. I think I might have been the first overseas choreographer at the time. She is fearless- she didn’t let the whole visa application process phase her.
Since then, Christine has invited me three more times. BalletX has really grown as an art institution in Philadelphia, and I have grown and matured as a choreographer. The Little Prince will be my fourth piece for the company. I think that Christine focuses on the potential of artists and hence invites them back. I am forever grateful to her.
Program from BalletX’s world premiere of Lopez Ochoa’s The Little Prince . Photo of program by Liza Yntema. Image of Roderick Phifer of BalletX. Photo by Gabriel Bienczycki.
LY: What might change the culture of ballet to allow more talented women to emerge?
ALO: Parents should allow their daughter(s) to behave in a more “masculine” way. Why do we make a difference between games boys versus girls should play? Young girls, with their leadership instinct, should be allowed to pick their teams in gym class and be captains of a soccer team. We need to stop talking to young girls about the fact that marriage and becoming a mother is the highest form of success and happiness one can achieve. Our happiness should not depend on others.
In ballet school you are taught that if you get chosen for the main character, the princess or the ingenue who is cheated on by a prince, you made it. Seriously?
We should make the other roles just as important. Who are the villagers in Giselle? What is the backstory of the corps of swans? Please, let’s give the corps de ballet more identity instead of screaming at them to stand in line on the right count. Let’s inspire these young women.
That being said, you can’t impose choreography on a woman for the sake of creating more female choreographers. Unlike choreographers, some artists simply love being the vehicle of someone’s creation- and they’re great at it. However, if there is a female choreographer with potential, please don’t ditch them after their first work just because it wasn’t as amazing as you had hoped. Masterworks come much later in one’s life and career, and that is the difference between young male and female choreographers. Male choreographers are given a second opportunity much faster than their female counterparts. Hence, they grow faster at their craft.
Smuin Contemporary Ballet rehearses Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose (2016). Photo by Chris Hardy, courtesy of Smuin Contemporary Ballet.
LY: Do you have a dream ballet or an idea you carry around with you?
ALO: If I had, I wouldn’t tell it.
LY: So, what is home right now? You are on the road so much.
ALO: I’m a Buddhist, I don’t give much importance to material things. Home is the place where happiness is. It can be anywhere. But my fiscal address is in Amsterdam.
LY: Do you have a routine for preparing a piece? Thinking it through?
ALO: I think a lot, and I’m aware I should be writing more down. That being said, when I work on a narrative ballet, I usually start with the script six months in advance, and I update it as I rehearse. When it is an abstract ballet, I hardly write anything down (except my search for a title can be found in my notebooks). I find that creativity happens mostly in the studio with the dancers, but can also happen on the street, in the shower, at an exhibition, or while observing any human behavior.
LY: How about what restores you? Spending time with family? Meditation?
ALO: I try to disconnect once a year: turning off the internet, watching and listening to the sound of the waves, and reading books.
I always meditate for a hot second right before rehearsal starts – that’s why in that moment I can never hold a conversation.
LY: Are you still dancing yourself?
ALO: I don’t dance anymore, except every now and then I’ll dance to salsa or 80’s music. Dancing is good for the soul!
LY: Any thoughts about how Dance Data Project can better serve women leaders in ballet and connect you with funders? the press?
ALO: Give women visibility. Have them be interviewed for magazines like Vogue, etc. to reach to a larger spectrum of young women. Make documentaries. Anything that receives exposure becomes a normalcy, and hopefully in 20 years we won’t be having this gender gap discussion anymore, and we will simply be talking about artists and leaders.
Tamara Rojo as Frida in Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Photo by Laurent Liotardo.
‘West Side Story’ Producers Announce Cast for Broadway Revival
By Julia Jacobs
10 June 2019
The reimagined production of “West Side Story” from the experimental Belgian director Ivo van Hove will open on Feb. 6 at the Broadway Theater, the producers announced on Wednesday. They also named the show’s full cast, which includes 23 actors making their Broadway debuts.
Isaac Powell, best known for playing the young love interest in the 2017 revival of “Once on This Island,” will be Tony, a former leader of the Jets street gang. Shereen Pimentel, an undergraduate at the Juilliard School who made her Broadway debut in “The Lion King” at 9 years old, will be Maria.
Portraying Bernardo, Maria’s brother and leader of the Puerto Rican gang the Sharks, is Amar Ramasar, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet who had a prime role in the 2018 Broadway revival of “Carousel.”
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A badly designed and painfully clunky page hidden away on the Government Equalities Office website is beginning to grab the attention of women all over the country. If you work for a company that employs more than 250 people and you haven’t looked at the site yet, set aside some time and prepare for your eyeballs to spring from their sockets.
The government’s gender pay gap reporting website opens up for scrutiny the hidden power dynamics inside all mid-sized to large organisations, revealing pay differences between male and female staff, and the proportion of women in the best- and the worst-paid roles. With a month to go before the deadline for reporting, the site is already having an explosive impact on how women view their employers.
Last week, a female senior manager at Barclays investment bank in London opened the site, searched for her own company and discovered that women’s median hourly rate is 43.5% lower than male colleagues and that women’s bonuses are 73.3% lower. It was an unpleasant sensation, confirming in black and white something that she had long suspected. Perhaps most revealingly, the website also divides organisations into four groups according to the amount staff are paid – the best-paid quartile, the second best, the third best and the worst quartile. At Barclays, 81% of the best-paid employees are men; 63% of the worst paid are women.
“Sadly, I wasn’t shocked,” the woman, who has asked not to be named, says. At 29, she is paid very well but is conscious of younger male colleagues advancing faster through the ranks. The pay gap data has crystallised her desire to quit. “Junior women are feeling very dispirited and upset. The figures made me feel that this organisation isn’t the right place for me, that it won’t let me achieve my potential.”
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Melissa Barak’s Ballet Company, Barak Ballet, is becoming a staple at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
Since 2013, they have been appearing annually and she has continually delivered her talent and creativity to her home town. A native Santa Monican, she is now one of America’s foremost rising female choreographers. Ms. Barak spent a decade dancing for New York City Ballet and choreographing for the School and Company of American Ballet at age 22. And her tenacity has paid off.
On the program were three new works, the first being choreographed by South African born Andi Schermoly, entitled “Within Without,” which explores the pain women endure when a pregnancy does not come to fruition; featuring Julia Erickson, Zachary Guthier and Stephanie Kim, to several haunting and beautiful pieces of music by Vivaldi, The Chopin Project and an operatic vocal solo “Cessate, omai cessate,” it begins with a fervent female solo, very nicely done.
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Ford Theatres presents Women Rising – Choreography from the Female Perspective, a program assembled and produced by Deborah Brockus, artistic director of the annual Los Angeles Dance Festival, featuring a stellar line up of ten Los Angeles-area choreographers and dance companies on Friday, August 16 at 8:30pm at Ford Theatres.
The companies include Blue13 Dance (Achinta S. McDaniel), BrockusRED (Deborah Brockus), Heidi Duckler Dance, JazzAntiqua (Pat Taylor), Kitty McNamee, Kybele Dance Theatre (Seda Aybay), LA Contemporary Dance Company (Genevieve Carson), Luminario Ballet (Judith FLEX Helle) presenting “Turf” by Bella Lewitzky, , MashUP Contemporary Dance Company (Victoria Brown and Sarah Rodenhouse) starting the show in a production number by JoAnn Divito, Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide, and Whyteberg (Gracie Whyte and Laura Berg).
Filling every inch of the Ford with dance, Women Rising celebrates both the groundbreaking work of the Los Angeles-based female choreographers that were instrumental in the creation of modern dance beginning in the early 1900s. That creative excellence lives on today in the current generation of female choreographers, whose styles are influenced by modern, jazz, Bollywood and contemporary but who share the perspective that comes from being a woman creating dance in Los Angeles today.
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Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team for their epic World Cup dominance! Now that the tournament is over and we’re basking in all the patriotic feminist glory, we decided to do the only thing that made sense to us as soccer-obsessed dancers: Decide what kind of dancers the USWNT players would be if they made sudden and drastic career changes.
We’ve been watching their technique closely for weeks now, and have come up with what we’re pretty sure is a definitive and highly accurate list:
Megan Rapinoe: Contemporary Ballet
You’re probably familiar with star forward Megan Rapinoe’s port de bras. But have you seen her attitude derrière?! We’re honestly envious. Pinoe clearly has the technique for ballet, but with her penchant for pink hair and outspokenness (which we love!), we think a contemporary troupe would be the best fit.
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LYON, France—FIFA president Gianni Infantino called the 2019 World Cup phenomenal, incredible, fantastic, the best Women’s World Cup ever. He added: “There will be a before, and an after, the Women’s World Cup 2019, in terms of women’s football.”
Such success has immediately raised a difficult question for FIFA: With record-setting TV ratings around the world, and a four-time U.S. champion whose players have made issue of pay equity, how much should the prize money be paid to women’s teams be increased?
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