Loading
Dance Data Project
  • About
    • Our Purpose
    • The DDP Team
    • The DDP Advisory Council
  • Research
    • Our Research
    • Research Calendar
  • Advocacy
    • Connecting the Dots: Yes This Is An Arts Story
    • #AskB4UGive
    • Financial Literacy Checklist
    • Minding The Gender Pay Gap
  • Resources
    • 2020-2021 Season Status Updates
    • Covid-19 Resources
    • Competitions, scholarships, w/ deadlines, requirements, stipends, grants, etc.
    • List of Women in Prominent Creative Roles
    • Choreographer Checklists
    • Books and Film on Ballet and the Business of Ballet
    • Articles and Research
    • Previously Published Research
    • Minding The Gender Pay Gap
  • Interviews
    • Global Conversations
    • DDP Talks To
  • News
    • Announcements
    • DDP in the News
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

News

"The Devil Ties My Tongue" SKETCH Series 2013 | photo: David DeSilva

Charlotte Ballet/Chris Record

When Will Women Get to Tell Women’s Stories?

April 21, 2019/0 Comments/in Ballet Programming, Awards, and Season Announcements /by dancedata

In 2018, Les Ballets Canadiens de Montréal were heavily criticized after artistic director Ivan Cavallari announced Femmes, a program with women as the theme. The triple-bill, which DDP also called out, had a roster of three male choreographers to explore women, their lives, thoughts, roles, etc. The program was rebranded, later entitled Parlami d’Amore, which means “talk to me about love,” after men and women all over the dance world expressed their distaste for a male-led company telling women’s stories based on the male choreographer’s imagination.

This was not the first – nor has it been the last- time the female experience has been portrayed by a male. Every classical ballet centers on a female character. In Giselle, women are wronged and take nasty revenge. In Don Quixote, they are the subject of whimsical dreams. Recently, there has been a trending storyline of rape and violence against women. Odessa, set on New York City Ballet by Alexei Ratmansky, was criticized in a 2017 New York Times article for displaying aggression against women, or as Siobhan Burke called it, gang rape. Joffrey Ballet presented The Miraculous Mandarin in 2016, in which, Timothy Robson writes for Backtrack, “The Young Woman (Victoria Jaiani) lures men to her room so that the three thugs (Raúl Casasola, Paulo Rodrigues and Joan Sebastián Zamora) can rob them.” The Royal Ballet, too, has faced backlash for The Wind, Arthur Pita’s piece that includes yet another scene of female abuse (read about that here). For The Guardian, Luke Jennings heavily critiqued the company’s repertoire beyond The Wind, writing:

There is an increasingly acute issue surrounding women’s roles in ballet. In the last few seasons the Royal Ballet stage has seen record numbers of female characters brutalised and killed. Emily, Mary-Jane, and Annie eviscerated in Sweet Violets, Justine hanged and Elizabeth murdered in Frankenstein, Stephanie raped and Mary shot in Mayerling, the girl raped in The Invitation, the youngest sister hanged in Las Hermanas, and the woman raped and murdered in The Judas Tree. Consider this body-count alongside the number of recent abstract works in which women are split, splayed and otherwise manhandled, and certain embedded attitudes reveal themselves.

In 2019, the controversy is not over. Ballets with sometimes questionable storylines and female experiences staged by men are still commissioned or restaged.

This spring, on its tour to Sadler’s Wells in London, San Francisco Ballet’s Programme D will present yet another male triple-bill. The work includes David Dawson’s Anima Animus, which “draws on the theme of gender and the roles of male and female, and how they view each other,” according to Rhinegold Publishing. A piece explores gender roles and how they view each other…without headlining female input.

San Francisco Ballet tour is publicized as tackling “modern-day issues,” and artistic director Helgi Tomasson told Rhinegold, “‘Dance has the power to reflect social issues in our world today.'” Sadly, once again, we see women’s perspectives and imaginations excluded from the essential dialogue of social issues.

Read Rhinegold Publishing’s article about the San Francisco Ballet tour here.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.dancedataproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Stephanie-Martinezs-Unsex-Me-Here_dancers-Alessandra-Ball-James-and-Drew-Grant_-Photo-by-Christ-Record_60.jpg 4480 6720 dancedata https://www.dancedataproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/DDP_logo_Primary.png dancedata2019-04-21 19:11:362019-04-21 19:11:38When Will Women Get to Tell Women’s Stories?
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • Initiatives Worth Following
  • DDP in the News
  • Global Conversations
  • #YesThisIsAnArtsStory
  • DDP Talks To
  • Ballet Programming, Awards, and Season Announcements
  • Choreographer/Artist Profile
    • New Voices
  • Pay Equity, Transparency and Safety
  • News
  • Other Arts & Related Fields
  • DDP Announcements

Tags

Akram Khan Alastair Macaulay Alexander Sanger Alexandra Botti Alexei Ratmansky Anna D- Shapiro Ballet West Black Swan Caroline Miller Classical Indian Dance Courtney Escyne Cristina Rocca Dance Data Project Dance Magazine Eri Yoneda Financial Times Flesh and Bone Gia Kourlas Gianna Reisen Griselda Murray Brown Harvey Weinstein Heather Hartley Helen Pickett Jennifer Stahl Lauren Lovette Lauren Wingenroth Liza Yntema Luke Jennings Michael Scolamiero New York City Ballet New York Times Not Our Fate Odissi Orlando Ballet Patricia Baretto Peter Martins phindie PRI Public Radio International Ritha Devi Roell Schmidt Tania Castroverde Moskalenko The Guardian Twyla Tharp Vail Dance Festival

Contact Us

Reach out to us to learn more about our mission.

Contact Us

"The Devil Ties My Tongue" SKETCH Series 2013 | photo: David DeSilva

About DDP

  • About the Dance Data Project
  • The DDP Advisory Council
  • The DDP Team
  • DDP in the News

Research

  • Our Research
  • Research Calendar

Interviews

  • Global Conversations
  • DDP Talks To

Resources

  • Resources
  • 2020-2021 Season Status Updates
  • Articles and Research
  • Books and Film
  • Choreographer Checklists
  • Competitions & Scholarships
  • Covid-19 Resources
  • List of Women in Prominent Creative Roles
  • Minding The Gender Pay Gap
  • Previously Published Research

Advocacy

  • Advocacy
  • #AskB4UGive
  • Financial Literacy Checklist

Contact Us

© Copyright - Dance Data Project
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Data Disclaimer
  • Press
  • Submit Your Data
We Need to Stop Rehabilitating Abusers – Whether in Ballet or Hollywood... New York Times: Commuting While Pregnant: A Long Ride Could Be a Risky One
Scroll to top