DDP on Tour to Companies Large and Small

Pictured from right to left: Patricia Barretto, CEO of Harris Theater Chicago, Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of the English National Ballet, DDP Founder Liza Yntema, and New York Times dance writer Marina Harss at the Guggenheim’s Works & Process.

DDP is interested in dialogue with artistic and executive leadership promoting women and their interests. Our founder, Liza Yntema, has begun a listening tour, visiting on behalf of Dance Data Project at leading domestic companies. Previously, Ms. Yntema visited the ABT for its inaugural choreographic Incubator, as well as attending the Guggenheim’s Works & Process featuring Marina Harss, Patricia Barretto and Tamara Rojo discussing the English National Ballet’s new Giselle by Akram Khan. After a stop at BalletX in Philadelphia, Liza has learned more about their Choreographic Fellowship, and her interview with Artistic Director Christine Cox will appears in a feature for the DDP News page. She intends to familiarize herself with each major company’s culture, while working to advance those companies with DDP’s mission of gender equity in all aspects of classical dance.

DDP Founder Liza Yntema pictured with Christine Cox, Artistic Director of BalletX, in the company’s new studio during Yntema’s Listening Tour.

We believe it is critical to take the time to get to know each company with on-site visits. The companies face challenges as organizations based outside of the dance hubs of the world (i.e., New York, San Francisco, London). Through this tour, Ms. Yntema will match DDP’s future advocacy and programming to actual needs.

She returned to NYC to conduct an initial interview with Katherine Brown, Executive Director of NYCB, the week of December 11th. Recently Liza visited Grand Rapids Ballet to watch Penny Saunders create her newest work Testimony on the company. Ms. Yntema has just returned from San Francisco where she interviewed Amy Seiwert of Sacramento Ballet who is making a new work on the dancers of Smuin Ballet. She hopped a plane to Boston where she met Boston Ballet leaders to discuss the ChoreograpHER initiative.

During the week of February 25th, Yntema paid a visit to Cincinnati Ballet for an interview with Artistic Director, Choreographer, and iconic industry leader Victoria Morgan. On March 15th and 16th, she will travel to the west coast to learn more about Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Choreography Class for young women and meet the company’s executive and artistic staff.

Also on the roster for Spring 2019 are: Richmond Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, and Smuin Ballet.

Companies in secondary markets operating on smaller budgets produce much of the best work in ballet. To fund new innovative work, they often commission up-and-coming women choreographers. Journalists, funders, and audiences are deprived the opportunity to discover the exciting initiatives and original work created outside of the largest cities in the US, with notable exceptions such as festivals like Jacob’s Pillow, or engagements at venues such as the Joyce, Harris, and Ford Theaters and the LA Music Center.

Companies wishing to join the listening tour roster are welcome to inquire through our Contact Us page.