Resources
Claudia Schreier choreographing on dancers for Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works competition
Courtesy of Joffrey Ballet
Photo by Todd Rosenberg
The people at Dance Data project are in the process of compiling a useful set of resources around equity in the ballet world, as well as articles, books, and a list of women active in the community.
If an individual you believe should be included is omitted from these lists, we kindly remind you that we have a private database of thousands of artists, leaders, and organizations, and we are slowly building a smaller list to display on this page. We do, however, invite you to visit our Contact page to submit suggestions for our public display on the Resources page.
List of Women in Prominent Creative Roles
| Name | Role | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Ashley Bouder | Founder & Director | The Ashley Bouder Project |
| Diana Vishneva | Founder | CONTEXT |
| Jennifer Archibald | Choreographer & Artistic Director | Arch Dance Company |
| Jessica Lang | Choreographer & Artistic Director | Jessica Lang Dance |
| Victoria Morgan | Choreographer & Artistic Director | Cincinnati Ballet |
| Hope Muir | Choreographer & Artistic Director | Charlotte Ballet |
| Natalie Weir | Choreographer & Artistic Director | Expressions Dance Company |
| Tracey Alvey | Artistic Director | Alabama Ballet |
| Melissa Barak | Artistic Director | Barak Ballet |
| Isabella Boylston | Artistic Director | Ballet Sun Valley |
| Christine Cox | Artistic Director | BalletX |
| Michelle Dorrance | Artistic Director | Dorrance Dance |
| Celia Fushille | Artistic Director | Smuin Ballet |
| Virginia Johnson | Artistic Director | Dance Theatre of Harlem |
| Julie Kent | Artistic Director | The Washington Ballet |
| Toni Pimble | Artistic Director | Eugene Ballet Company |
| Tamara Rojo | Artistic Director | English National Ballet |
| Amy Seiwert | Artistic Director | Sacramento Ballet, Imagery |
| Stoner Winslett | Artistic Director | Richmond Ballet |
| Gemma Bond | Choreographer | |
| Liz Gerring | Choreographer | |
| Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker | Choreographer | Rosas |
| Gabrielle Lamb | Choreographer | Pigeonwing Dance |
| Lauren Lovette | Choreographer | |
| Stephanie Martinez | Choreographer | |
| Annabelle Lopez Ochoa | Choreographer | |
| Helen Pickett | Choreographer | |
| Adriana Pierce | Choreographer | |
| Crystal Pite | Choreographer | |
| Emma Portner | Choreographer | |
| Gianna Reisen | Choreographer | |
| Danielle Rowe | Choreographer | SF Dance Works |
| Penny Saunders | Choreographer | |
| Andrea Schermoly | Choreographer | |
| Claudia Schreier | Choreographer | |
| Susan Stroman | Choreographer | |
| Twyla Tharp | Choreographer | |
| Sasha Waltz | Choreographer | |
| Robyn Mineko Williams | Choreographer | |
| Christina Giannelli | Lighting Designer | https://summitentertainmentgroup.com/project/christina-r-giannelli/ |
| Lisa J. Pinkham | Lighting Designer | https://www.abt.org/people/lisa-j-pinkham/ |
| Lucy Carter | Lighting Designer | http://www.roh.org.uk/people/lucy-carter |
| Jennifer Tipton | Lighting Designer | https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/persons/people/895/ |
| Kate Ashton | Lighting Designer | https://www.kateashtonlighting.com/about/ |
| Zoe Spurr | Lighting Designer | http://www.zoespurrlighting.co.uk/ |
| ML Geiger | Lighting Designer | http://www.mlgeiger.com/ |
| Kathy Perkins | Lighting Designer | https://theatre.illinois.edu/portfolio/kathy-a-perkins/ |
| Bonnie Beecher | Lighting Designer | http://bonnie-beecher.squarespace.com/about/ |
| Isabel Toledo | Costume Designer | http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/isabel-toledo.php |
| Becs Andrews | Costume Designer | http://www.becsandrews.com/ |
| Louise Körner | Costume Designer | http://www.louisekorner.com/ |
| Galina Solovyeva | Costume Designer | https://www.abt.org/people/galina-solovyeva/ |
| Haydee Morales | Costume Designer | https://www.miamicityballet.org/tag/haydee-morales |
| Tatiana Noginova | Costume Designer | https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/costume_designers/noginova |
| Franca Squarciapino | Costume Designer | http://www.maestrodartemestiere.it/it/libro-d-oro/2016/franca-squarciapino |
| Sonja Kraft | Costume Designer | https://www.bundesjugendballett.de/e/_bio/__kraft.html |
| Branimira Ivanova | Costume Designer | https://www.linkedin.com/in/branimira-ivanova-142b2a13 |
| Martha Chamberlain | Costume Designer | https://www.uarts.edu/users/machamberlain |
| Christine Darch | Costume Designer | http://www.christinedarch.com/biography.htm |
| Danielle Truss | Costume Designer | https://www.danielleltruss.com/ |
| Andrea Lauer | Costume Designer | http://andrealauer.com/ |
| Rebecca Kanach | Costume Designer | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-kanach-5a925b29 |
| Alyssandra Docherty | Lighting Designer | https://www.alyssandradocherty.com/ |
| Jenna Webster | Lighting Designer | http://www.jennawebster.com/ |
| Mimi Lien | Set Designer | https://www.mimilien.com/ |
| Maiko Matsushima | Set Designer | https://www.brynmawr.edu/people/maiko-matsushima |
| You-Shin Chen | Set Designer | http://www.youshinchen.com/ |
Books and Film on Ballet and the Business of Ballet
| Title | Author | Genre |
|---|---|---|
| American Ballet Theatre: A History | Ric Burns | film |
| Apollo’s Angels | Jennifer Homans | book |
| Ballerina: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection | Deirdre Kelly | book |
| A Ballerina’s Tale | Misty Copeland, Susan Fales Hill & Deidre Kelly | film |
| Celestial Bodies: How to Look at Ballet | Laura Jacobs | book |
| Dancing on My Grave | Gelsey Kirkland | book |
| The Faber Pocket Guide to Ballet | Deborah Bull, Baroness Bull & Luke Jennings | book |
| Writing in the Dark | Arlene Croce | book |
| Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints | Joan Acocella | book |
| Balanchine Variations | Nancy Goldner | book |
| Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer | Elizabeth Kendall | book |
| Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes | Lynn Garafola | book |
| Tchaikovsky’s Ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker | Roland John Wiley | book |
| The Life and Ballets of Lev Ivanov: Choreographer of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake | Roland John Wiley | book |
| Frederick Ashton and His Ballets | David Vaughan | book |
| Dance Writings and Poetry | David Denby | book |
| Terpsihore in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance | Sally Banes | book |
| I was a Dancer | Jacques d’Amboise | book |
| Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham | Agnes de Mille | book |
| Balletomania: The Story of an Obsession | Arnold Haskell | book |
| The Worlds of Lincoln Kirsten | Martin Duberman | book |
| No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century | Malcolm McCormick and Nancy Reynolds | book |
| Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins | Amanda Vaill | book |
| Dance in America: A Reader’s Anthology | Mindy Aloff and Robert Gottlieb | book |
| Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia | Christina Ezrahi | book |
| I, Maya Plisetskaya | Maya Plisetskaya | book |
| No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer’s Story | Carlos Acosta | book |
| BalletNow | Steven Cantor | film |
| Ballet 422 | Jody Lee Lipes | film |
| Sylvie Guillem: Sur le fil | Françoise Ha Van Kern | film |
| Anna Pavlova: Twentieth Century Ballerina | Caroline Hamilton and Jane Pritchard | book |
| Darcey Bussell, A Ballerina’s Life | Ross MacGibbon | film |
Articles and Research
NEGOTIATE YOUR SALARY: A REPORT FOR HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
HOW TO NEGOTIATE SALARY: LEARN THE BEST TECHNIQUES TO HELP YOU MANAGE THE MOST DIFFICULT SALARY NEGOTIATIONS AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN ASKING FOR A RAISE
Shared by Katie Shonk on January 21, 2019 for Harvard Law School’s Daily Blog, the article “Renegotiate Your Salary to Your Advantage” provides insightful tips to develop negotiation skills. These tips are summarized in her article and fully-detailed in the free report, “Salary Negotiations: How to Negotiate Salary: Learn the Best Techniques to Help You Manage the Most Difficult Salary Negotiations and What You Need to Know When Asking for a Raise.” Read an excerpt from the post below:
As we prepare to renegotiate salary, most of us intend to ask for as much as we can without antagonizing our employer. But we sometimes undervalue our worth, with disappointing consequences. To take one dramatic example, in 2013, the board of Chicago public radio station WBEZ offered a big raise—more than $100,000—to Ira Glass, the creator and host of the long-running radio show This American Life, to recognize his value to the organization. Glass’s salary would go from $170,000 to $278,000.
Read the article and get a free copy of the negotiation report here.
SEIWERT/COPLEY CHOREOGRAPHER GENDER RESEARCH
A CASUAL STUDY ABOUT WOMEN MAKING WORK THIS UPCOMING SEASON
During the 2012-2013 regular season, Amy Seiwert and Joseph W. Copley conducted research to investigate the apparent lack of female choreographic work featured amongst leading companies. While in rehearsal, Copley cross-referenced GuideStar data with public data on company websites to create a simple display of the public information (seen below)
This work was published by the Cincinnati Enquirer without reference to the pair’s investigation and metrics. The disproportionate amount of male work that season shown in the study of 24 companies did not make national news even with the Enquirer’s mention but serves as inspiration for what we research every day at DDP.
See the study here: Study of choreography by women in companies with budgets over 5 million.
DANCE/USA WEBINAR SERIES
DANCE/USA: NAVIGATING MUSIC RIGHTS FOR DANCE 101
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Find the recording here!
Obtaining music rights for choreography can be complicated, time consuming, and expensive. Gaining insights into the process of securing music rights and licensing for dance is a must for every choreographer and dance manager. This webinar discussed how to navigate the process as a choreographer and/or manager who is new to securing rights.
Speakers:
Corey Fields – entertainment lawyer, legal writer, teacher, and scholar
Eric Wendell – Director, Rental & Grand Rights Licensing at Boosey & Hawkes.
Competitions, scholarships, w/ deadlines, requirements, stipends, grants, etc.
| Name of Initiative, Fellowship, or Competition/Award | Category | Link |
|---|---|---|
| American Dance Institute Incubator | Fellowship | https://www.lumberyard.org/ |
| Amy Seiwert’s Imagery Sketch Series | Fellowship | https://www.asimagery.org/sketch-series/ |
| Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich) Young Choreographers | Initiative | https://www.staatsoper.de/en/productioninfo/junge-choreographen-2018.html |
| Het National Ballet Young Creative Associates | Fellowship | https://www.operaballet.nl/en/node/5523 |
| Stuttgart Ballet Young Choreographers | Initiative | https://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/schedule/a-z/noverre-young-choreographers-2019/ |
| Danish Dance Theatre GENERATOR | Initiative | http://www.danskdanseteater.dk/performances/generator-work-progress?language=en |
| Emerge by Repertory Dance Theatre | Initiative | https://www.rdtutah.org/shows/emerge.html |
| She – Madison Ballet | Initiative | https://www.madisonballet.org/eventcalendar/2017/2/4/bare |
| Wonderlab | Initiative | https://www.wonderbound.com/shows-events/2018/11/15/wonderlab |
| Beer & Ballet – Sacramento Ballet | Initiative | http://www.sacballet.org/events/beer-ballet-2/ |
| Louisville Ballet Choreographers’ Showcase | Initiative | http://www.louisvilleballet.org/backstage/tag/choreographers-showcase/ |
| Hong Kong Cool | Initiative | http://www.hkballet.com/en/Whats-On/Productions/Hong-Kong-Cool.html |
| Royal Ballet Flanders Choreolab | Initiative | https://operaballet.be/en/programme/2018-2019/choreolab |
| Individual Artists Fellowship – Arkansas Arts Council | Fellowship | http://www.arkansasarts.org/aac-grants/grants-individual-artist-fellowship |
| APAP Leadership Fellows Program (LFP) | Fellowship | https://www.apap365.org/Programs/Leadership-Initiatives/Leadership-Fellows-Program |
| Avant Chamber Ballet Women’s Choreography Project | Initiative | http://avantchamberballet.org/wcp.html |
| BalletX Choreographic Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.balletx.org/programs/choreographic-fellowship/ |
| CHIME: Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange | Initiative | http://www.actaonline.org/content/chime-choreographers-mentorship-exchange |
| Boston Ballet ChoreograpHER | Initiative | https://www.bostonballet.org/Home/Support/choreograpHER-initiative.aspx |
| Choo-San Goh Awards for Choreography | Competition/Award | https://goh-mageefoundation.org/ |
| Joyce Theater Closing the Gap Initiative | Initiative | https://www.joyce.org/ballet-festival-2017 |
| Milwaukee Ballet Genesis | Initiative | https://www.milwaukeeballet.org/performance/genesis-2019/ |
| Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award | Competition/Award | https://www.jacobspillow.org/community-programs/opportunities-for-artists/jacobs-pillow-dance-award/ |
| Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition | Competition/Award | http://www.joffrey.org/winningworks |
| MacArthur Genius Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/ |
| McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers | Fellowship | http://www.mcknightdancechoreo.org/fellows/ |
| Millennium Stage Local Dance Commissioning Project (LDCP) | Initiative | https://www.kennedy-center.org/pages/specialevents/dancecommission |
| Choreography Unlocked Festival/New Directions Choreography Lab | Competition/Award & Initiative | https://www.alvinailey.org/choreography-unlocked-festival |
| New York Choreographic Institute Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.nycballet.com/About/New-York-Choreographic-Institute.aspx |
| NYFA Artists’ Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Artists’-Fellowships |
| Pina Bausch Fellowship | Fellowship | https://fellowship.pinabausch.org/en/home |
| Performing Arts Japan Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.jfny.org/arts_and_culture/paj.html |
| Princess Grace Foundation Choreography Fellowship | Fellowship | https://www.pgfusa.org/grants-program/grant-applications/guidelines/choreography |
| Nederlands Dans Theater Shortcuts XL | Initiative | https://www.ndt.nl/en/tickets/shortcuts-xl.html |
| Virginia B. Toulmin Fellowship for Women Leaders in Dance | Felllowship | https://balletcenter.nyu.edu/fellowships/virginia-b-toulmin-fellowship-for-women-leaders-in-dance/ |
| Pacific Northwest Ballet New Works Initiative | Initiative | https://www.pnb.org/support/new-works-initiative/ |
