Behind the Gender Gap in Ballet

This Psychology Today article by Dr. Audrey Nelson describes the historical development of gender inequity in ballet and emphasizes the lack of opportunities for women in dance to pursue leadership roles like director and choreographer. To demonstrate these inequities, the article cites various statistics and research by Dance Data Project®. The author commends DDP Founder & President Liza Yntema’s decision to create an organization to study the previously under-researched gender disparity in dance leadership. She then goes on to recommend DDP’s research as a tool to help support women in earning funding and other opportunities:

“Women are using the data collected by the Dance Data Project in applying for grants to make the case they should be funded. By putting out more and more research, this effort has the potential to generate interest and sometimes it shocks the dance world. Hopefully, this is only the beginning.”