From Alastair Macaulay’s Collection of Essays:

In response to the recent announcement that Susan Jaffe will be the next Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre, this essay by Alastair Macaulay presents and celebrates the ever-growing list of global female artistic director appointments. He discusses the significance of this trend and speaks about the historical context of inequity in ballet leadership.

Macaulay recommends Dance Data Project®’s 2021 Global Ballet Leadership Report as a resource and notes several key findings. He mentions that since this research was published, several additional female directorships have been announced, including Tamara Rojo to San Francisco Ballet, Jodie Gates to Cincinnati Ballet, Hope Muir to the National Ballet of Canada; and Jaffe to ABT.  He writes that women are being appointed to these director positions at a higher rate than during any of the years between 2018 and 2021. He goes on to further celebrate Jaffe’s announcement and to applaud Tamara Rojo’s groundbreaking work at English National Ballet, speculating about the changes she may bring to San Fransisco Ballet.

To read the full essay on Alastair Macaulay’s blog, click here.