Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Social Media


Recommended Posts

Now tell me

doesn't look like a suburban Connecticut prep school or worse, an episode of HBO's "Girls."

I hate that show. Bunch of entitled whining ninnies. NYCB needs better PR.

That video (which certainly isn't my style--I stopped watching less than half-way through) is four years old. I'd call that a little past the statute of limitations on objecting to a company's PR methods. But actually it's not clear to me what the video's relation is to the company's PR in any case, since a dancer posted it on his own channel.

I have never watched "Girls," but I see someone in the youtube comments section had the same reaction -- that the video looked like something from HBO's "Girls."

Link to comment

That video (which certainly isn't my style--I stopped watching less than half-way through) is four years old. I'd call that a little past the statute of limitations on objecting to a company's PR methods. But actually it's not clear to me what the video's relation is to the company's PR in any case, since a dancer posted it on his own channel. (It is even less clear to me what it has to do with the 2015-2016 season that is the topic of this thread.)

That video has nothing to do with this thread or the official NYCB PR. It's on Devin Alberda's personal YT channel. It was made by 2 corps dancers, the always funny and acerbic Devin Alberda and Lydia Wellington, about their second week at SPAC (Saratoga) back in 2011. Most of the dancers are housed in homes with pools and they have more free time than in NYC. So they're having fun while also working. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

Link to comment

Hmmm. It came up when I googled NYCB videos.

I thought Devin was into photography and twitter where he's pretty funny in a smug sorta way.

And I thought City ballet had some control over what is posted concerning their organization, especially after Devin joked about Martins' DUI on social media.

Link to comment

[....]

And I thought City ballet had some control over what is posted concerning thier organization, especially after Devin joked about Martins' DUI on social media.

I do not know the exact NYCB policy, but I think it is wise for a company to exercise such control VERY lightly...one can imagine the controversies, poor impact on morale etc. if it were otherwise.
Link to comment

Hmmm. It came up when I googled NYCB videos.

I thought Devin was into photography and twitter where he's pretty funny in a smug sorta way.

And I thought City ballet had some control over what is posted concerning thier organization, especially after Devin joked about Martins' DUI on social media.

Google will find items that include the search term, but that doesn't mean they are produced by the company. I could make a claymation version of Symphony in C, tag it "New York City Ballet video" and it would go off into the churning sea that is the internet.

And yes (to Drew's observation) -- an employer has to be very careful about the external controls they want to exert on their employees, especially when it comes to first amendment issues.

Link to comment

I like it because it shows excerpts from company class and rehearsals. I don't care one way or another about 3 seconds of pool parties and I didnt notice any raves.

According to published sources, they screen dancers' twitter accounts. not everyone has time to comb through relatively innocuous youtube videos from 4 years ago. they can't always anticipate what people will feel victimized by.

Link to comment

And that haziness is endemic to the internet, where re-tweeting and "sharing" is happening all the time. I keep trying to remember that I need to make attribution even more clear in this environment than I do in other places, but it's a tough job when the standard style is more casual than academic!

Link to comment

I'll modify my comment then, if I can.

Without referencing anyone specific or any specific page, company or image,

I can see your point in a general sort of way, Tapfan, especially when looking at some of the younger kids instagrams.

I just think its petty to focus on imagery that's not officially sponsored by a company, and not meant for public viewing, and particularly when there are vastly greater problems with the media today. that's all.

Link to comment

Yesterday I looked at the public facebook page for John Clifford. He has some *wonderful* snippets of ballets on there, incisive commentary....and some biting remarks about Peter Martins. Here is an example from May 20 2015 discussing SAB:

It's his interpretation of Balanchine....which scares me too as he rarely took his (Mr Balanchine's) class and when he did he hated them and made fun of them. Peter was a great turner...but Balanchine only allowed two pirouettes in class. That really frustrated Peter.
Link to comment

The First Amendment only pertains to restraint of free speech by the government, not by private entities like a ballet company. More than likely, NYCB has provisions in their contracts requiring a certain standard of behavior from its employees. Dissing the boss is never a good idea in any corporate setting. Devin Alberda is lucky he wasn't let go.

If Balanchine only allowed two pirouettes in class, does anyone know why?

Link to comment

About Devin's YT, it is VERY CLEAR on YT, whose channel you are watching (i.e., who posted the YT). Depending on what device you're watching it on, it's either at the top right of the screen or just under the video. NYCB has their own YT channel with lots of videos but none like this (usually it's dancers talking about a ballet and then you see a bit of the ballet). It's impossible not to see Devin's name near this video (which, BTW, was directed by Lydia Wellington) as the poster of the YT and mistake it for an official NYCB one.

Link to comment

If Balanchine only allowed two pirouettes in class, does anyone know why?

Don't know about class -- though, according to accounts I have read, his classes changed over the years -- but he has been quoted or referred to as saying he preferred dancers not to do more than triple pirouettes in performance because as soon as one did 'the audience starts to count.' I'm afraid I don't remember the interview/article where I read this, though the phrase stuck with me...

Link to comment

Gia Kourlas wrote an article published today in "The New York Times" about different companies' attitudes about social media, with the company's explanation about what happened before Saratoga Springs this summer:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/arts/dance/ballet-life-unfiltered-and-uploaded-to-instagram.html

Rob Daniels, a spokesman for City Ballet, said in an email that he recognized that some of the dancers thought the policy had changed, but that “at no time were N.Y.C.B. dancers told that they could no longer post images on Instagram, and any dancers’ decision not to post images from Saratoga permitted by the policy was their own.”
Link to comment

Not exactly social media proper, but I found this piece on Guillaume Côté's foray into small screen video front and center in today's OZY.com email newsletter.

Guillaume Côté, Ballet's Smartphone Pioneer

"Why you should care"* per OZY: "Because ballet may be 600 years old, but it’s getting a new look."

The look will not be new to most Ballet Alerters, but then it doesn't look anything like ABT's marketing materials, either ...

* Every OZY piece features a prominent "Why You Should Care" box right below the headline image and right above the "Share" buttons.

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...