Current Corruption in Administration
"'Why are men disproportionately the well-recognized choreographers and managers', whereas the dancers--the 'workers'--are chiefly women, 'notwithstanding a more balanced picture in the dance genres that developed since the onset of ballet?'" (Bröcker 116)
The administration side of the dance world has always been a huge point of contention. Companies such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet have predominantly male artistic directors who are the face of the company. When we examine the feeder schools or other pre-professional schools that lead into these companies, it is interesting to note that they are often run by women.
Men in the Dance World
Many industries have been afflicted by the rising concern of gender inequality in recent years, and the dance world certainly has been affected. Just recently, Peter Martins, the former Artistic Director of the New York City Ballet was accused of sexual misconduct by various dancers of the same company, dating all the way back to 1993 (Pogrebin). Wendy Whelan, former star with NYCB, puts it well:
"The tradition of the balletic patriarchy has held a closet full of skeletons. In recent light of things, many artists and dancers are seeing that society is no longer accepting these kind of behaviors as normal, so why do we?"
The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have had a tremendous impact all over the world and it has allowed many to finally speak out over the hardships they have endured.
Growing up as a dancer--particularly a classical ballet dancer--we become used to keeping our head down and solely focusing on the work and the end result (putting our work on stage for the public). The dance world is extremely tiny, and once you burn one bridge, it creates a domino effect in which your reputation is tainted. We turn our heads the other way, for we know that if were to speak out, we would ruin the career we've worked our entire life to achieve. Once again, Whelan makes an excellent point:
"We aren't encouraged to expose the dark side of what is also truly a magical industry for the sake of hurting our father-figure teachers."
It all comes back to the patriarchy that surrounds society and, in turn, influences things such as the dance industry. The fear of burning these career-making bridges has made female dancers succumb to the darkness of some higher-ranking male dancers.
Chase Finlay, another former principal dancer with NYCB, resigned after sharing nude photos of his ex-girlfriend, a female dancer, to other men in the highest rank of the same company. Alexandrea Waterbury, the woman who was victimized in this incident spoke out and said that the,
"Fraternity-like atmosphere permeates the Ballet and its dancers and emboldens them to disregard the law and violate the basic rights of women"
It is maddening to see that women are being used and blackmailed in an environment that used to bring them joy and comfort.
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Despite these incidences, it is still shocking to see that males are still in control of the dance industry, so to speak. Although this line of work has disproportionately more women than men, men have managed to portray themselves as a better leader, thus allowing them to take charge of the management side.
Women in the Dance WorldFor a moment, it was refreshing to see a woman finally appointed to an upper management position at a high-ranking company. This remarkable moment in dance history happened in 2016 when Julie Kent was appointed to Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet. This milestone has become recognized world-wide for she has become "one of the few women leading ballet troupes in the United States." Kent states that,
"My image of a leader was always somebody that likes to tell people what to do. I've never been that person. So I had to change my idea of what a leader was."
Hopefully, with this step in gender equality, the proportion of men to women in management, will lead the way to an era of positive change.
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Steps in gender equality in leadership positions in the dance world are not only being made in the United States, but across other countries too. For example, Karen Kain was appointed to Artistic Directorship of the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto and Aurelie Dupont has recently been promoted to Artistic Director of the Paris Opera Ballet in France.
"Besides acting as role models, these women often bring more open-minded management style to an industry infamous for its stiff hierarchical history."
Image Citations:
(1) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'The Figure in the Carpet' with Joyce Feldman, George Balanchine, Nancy Reynolds and Victoria Simon." NYPL. No attribution required.
(2) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'The Figure in the Carpet' with Joyce Feldman, George Balanchine, Nancy Reynolds and Victoria Simon." NYPL. No attribution required.
(3) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'Glinkaiana' with George Balanchine and Patricia McBride." NYPL. No attribution required.
(4) Pogrebin, Robin. "Peter Martins Retires From NYCB After Misconduct Allegations." NYTimes, NYTimes. 1 January 2018. Web. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/arts/dance/peter-martins-resigns-ballet.html
(5) Cooper, Michael and Robin Pogrebin. "City Ballet and Chase Finlay Sued by Woman Who
Says Nude Photos of Her Were Shared." The New York Times, The New York Times. 5 September 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/arts/dance/nyc-ballet-alexandra-waterbury.html
(6) Harss, Marina. "Taking Flight: Julie Kent at Washington Ballet." The New York Times, The
New York Times. 23 May 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/arts/dance/taking-flight-julie-kent-at-washington-ballet.html
(7) Thompson, Candice. “Leading Ladies.” Dance Magazine. Dance Magazine. 30 June 2016.
https://www.dancemagazine.com/leading-ladies-2307025764.html
(1) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'The Figure in the Carpet' with Joyce Feldman, George Balanchine, Nancy Reynolds and Victoria Simon." NYPL. No attribution required.
(2) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'The Figure in the Carpet' with Joyce Feldman, George Balanchine, Nancy Reynolds and Victoria Simon." NYPL. No attribution required.
(3) CCO. Public Domain. Swope, Martha. "NYCB rehearsal of 'Glinkaiana' with George Balanchine and Patricia McBride." NYPL. No attribution required.
(4) Pogrebin, Robin. "Peter Martins Retires From NYCB After Misconduct Allegations." NYTimes, NYTimes. 1 January 2018. Web. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/arts/dance/peter-martins-resigns-ballet.html
(5) Cooper, Michael and Robin Pogrebin. "City Ballet and Chase Finlay Sued by Woman Who
Says Nude Photos of Her Were Shared." The New York Times, The New York Times. 5 September 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/arts/dance/nyc-ballet-alexandra-waterbury.html
(6) Harss, Marina. "Taking Flight: Julie Kent at Washington Ballet." The New York Times, The
New York Times. 23 May 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/arts/dance/taking-flight-julie-kent-at-washington-ballet.html
(7) Thompson, Candice. “Leading Ladies.” Dance Magazine. Dance Magazine. 30 June 2016.
https://www.dancemagazine.com/leading-ladies-2307025764.html