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Tapfan

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Posts posted by Tapfan

  1. Does City Ballet try to keep a fixed number of dancers on their roster or does the number vary? Is the number of new dancers that that they hire as apprentices each year, based on the number of people that retire from the ranks of the corps de ballet or the number that retire from the entire company?

    Since city ballet has such vast Balanchine and Robbins repertoire, why do they need ANY outside choreography? If they danced nothing but Balanchine and Robbins they couldn't go for years and never repeat themselves?

    Does the the core City Ballet audience really want to see other works?

  2. The current issue of Pointe Magazine has a nice survey of racial issues in ballet by Gus Solomons, Jr., including the episode with the Ballet Russe and Raven Wilkinson that Helene mentioned: http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/junejuly-2014/moments-time

    Thanks for mentioning the Pointe magazine. Their latest issue tackles the topic of diversity in ballet and has as one of its cover girls, DTH dancer Ashley Murphy, a native of Shreveport, La. which is just thirty miles from my hometown.

    That someone from Shreveport made it as a classical dancer is a minor miracle. That means there is hope for everyone!

    Another one of the June/July Pointe magazine cover girls is Misty Copeland. I don't know enough about ballet to give an informed opinion as to whether she deserves to be a principal. But I do know that those people who claim to care about the importance of making the ballet world more welcoming to new audiences in the U. S., should bend down and kiss her pointe shoes. This woman is introducing ballet to girls and their families who would never have given it a second thought.

    Copeland is hands down, the best PR machine that U.S. ballet has. For a ballerina, her profile is stratospheric. The fact she has become a relentless, and some would say shameless self-promoter that has probably made herself a millionaire many times over, isn't really the story.

    The story is that she's shown the possibilities, not for getting rich, but for simply having a career.

    And I truly think she enjoys being a role model.

    https://twitter.com/nickey_y/status/473189326265020417/photo/1

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200190041333303&set=o.124918560854303&type=1&theater

    https://www.facebook.com/mistycopeland/photos/a.154770291202463.28756.124918560854303/565952123417609/?type=1&theater

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150939933876152&set=o.124918560854303&type=1&theater

    https://www.facebook.com/BrownGirlsDoBallet/photos/pcb.555570584561215/555570504561223/?type=1&theater

  3. The fact that there is if anything a positive prejudice towards believing that people of Asian descent excel at difficult-to-master, classical, Western performing arts, is one reason why the lack of several artists on the NYC Ballet roster struck me as odd. As my politically incorrect nana would say, "Those Asian people love to do stuff not in spite of it being hard but because it's hard!" I felt that surely if East Asians were underrepresented at City Ballet then that could signal the fact the powers-that-be were at best, indifferent to their company's lack of diversity.

    When it came to ballet, I was definitely indifferent. I was much more concerned about African American under-representation in STEM occupations than in classical dance. If anything, I was dismissive of the classical dancers of color who complained that the unfair treatment experienced by people like Delores Brown was not totally a thing of the past but that still exist in ways that are much more subtle.

    Why, I thought, would you want to be part of an art form that according to you, has so many petty, lingering, little, biases? Why do that when you have so many more options open to you today? I also had uninformed and unfair opinions that categorized ballet as a frou-frou art form that didn't actually mean anything to most people and that this fact was fine with balletomanes. But having a child who has shown a serious interest in ballet has changed all that for me. I'm trying to learn about the art form. If she should choose this as a career, I want her to have as level a playing field as possible.

    I believe Virginia Johnson when she said that she frequently gets calls from AD's who are looking for her to recommend good, black, dancers. But that tells me that AD's want and expect brilliant black dancers to show up on their doorsteps, fully developed. When they don't they say, "Well, we tried." In my opinion, they don't try hard enough.

    As to role models, we may want to pretend that having someone who looks like you onstage is unimportant, but it actually is important. I've seen it work.

    And the gate swings both ways. My brother coaches basketball camps in the summer. On several occasions he's been told by little, white, boys that they can't do something because they "have white man's disease" and they are therefore too slow or can't can't jump high. Hearing that from a nine-year-old is heartbreaking.

  4. Prioritizing diversity is only a purely political goal if the dancers don't meet the standard, and quotas work both ways. Although we pretend that many things are meritocracies, particularly when standards are high in spite of racism and nepotism, these are two forces that undermine it by ignoring those of merit and creating an artificial elite.

    Where is the evidence that dancers of merit are being ignored? That argument equates not actively seeking out with ignoring. It equates passivity with activity.

    All the evidence I've run across has been anecdotal. Unless someone does a scientific study, there will be no hard evidence.

    As to diversity being political, well, what's wrong with that? Since when does art have to be free of political content? I'm sure Balanchine could have cast Agon with a white male dancer. Surely he was trying to make a statement or many statements.

  5. Maybe tutus don't come in vanity sizes. I think the point being made by the person who remarked that Michaela wore a size zero,

    was simply that this young woman was tinier than people thought. The person making the remarks said size zero tutu, but she MAY have meant size zero street clothing. I didn't think or know to ask.

    I don't want to see bad dancers of color onstage simply for the sake of diversity. That's condescending to minorities and it produces bad art.

    But not seeking to diversify the art form with qualified dancers, just perpetuates the cycle of ballet being an art form that says it's for anybody but really isn't.

    And it's not like ballet exists in some vacuum that can't possibly be tainted by any hints of bias, be it size or color.

  6. By the way, I suspect they'd turn up their noses at a wonderful white powerhouse like PNB's Carrie Imler because she in't stick thin.

    Sara Mearns is far from stick thin but she is one of NYCB's most lauded ballerinas.

    There are a number of NYCB dancers in addition to Mearns who could be added to the "not stick thin" list and it's to the company's credit that we get to see them dance regularly, despite some carping from the critics.

    Okay here's where I'm certain to get into trouble. I do think that unconscious biases influence how SOME people think about the bodies of non-Caucasion women.

    Months ago on this forum, I remarked that Michaela DePrince was tiny, she reportedly wears a size zero tutu and that she was certainly no bigger than say, Sarah Mearns. Yet some folks remarked that this size could be meaningless because retailers that specialize in Junior size clothing often label clothing with vanity sizing to make young women feel they are smaller than they really are.

    Some folks even implied I was trying to compare Michael DePrince's, talent and skill as a dancer to Sara's. Including some self-described black folks. I'm ignorant of much concerning ballet, but even I am not that naive.

    My point is that because black women are more often associated with athleticism - think women track and filed athletes, who are themselves typically smaller than many people imagine - some people think all black women are muscular behemoths.

    They obviously have never seen Michaela DePrince when she is standing next to real, live, female ballet dancers who happen to be white. She's no bigger than most of them and is indeed, smaller than many.

    I know I'm off topic. My apologies.

  7. Edwaard Liang Taiwanese. Georgina Pazcoquin filipino. Puanani and Likolani Brown Hawaiian. Misa Kuranaga Japanese was offered an apprenticeship to NYCB. Sokvannara (Sy) Sar Cambodian

    Geez. Today's roster doesn't reflect that.

    Once upon a time, NYC Ballet even had three black women; Andrea Long, Debra Austin and Aesha Ashe. But in the very long history of the company, that's hardly something to stand up and cheer about.

    There are undoubtedly other factors in play other than racism as to why there are so few people of color in general and people of Asian descent in particular in the company's ranks. But despite all those supposedly benign reasons, Asians and Asian Americans seem to break through in larger numbers and with some consistency at other world-class companies. Why not City Ballet and SAB?

    Having read the remarks of some classical dancers of color, I'm inclined to believe that there is some unconscious racial bias among the folks in charge.

    As has been stated repeatedly on this forum, AD's don't have to justify their hires or promotions to anyone. Do I think Peter Martins and company are racist?. Nope. Or at least no more than the average decent human being. But I do think their concepts of how beautiful dancers are supposed to look is very, very, limited.

    By the way, I suspect they'd turn up their noses at a wonderful white powerhouse like PNB's Carrie Imler because she isn't stick thin.

  8. But City Ballet still looks like a 1950's coed New England prep school.

    Principal Amar Ramasar looks nothing like any New England prep school students I'm aware of. He is of Pakistani origin, I believe

    Mr. Ramasar is just one guy.

    As to ethereal not being the stereotype for Balanchine ballerinas, didn't he make dances showing all aspects of womanhood? The ballerina in Serenade is NOT like the ballerina in Rubies.

    As to Asians not being interested in dance because they are supposedly encouraged to only want to be doctors or computer engineers, well, Frances Chung says her parents were just like the stereotype we have of all Asian parents who push for academic excellence and higher education in a top-flight school. But she was so determined to become a professional dancer that they decided not to stand in her way. She was so focused that it was actually a compromise just to get her to finish high school. But she's currently attending college.

    And Yuan Yuan Tan butted heads with her father who wanted her to study medicine. But she says her mother was always supportive because she saw her passion.

  9. I'm not implying that all the dancers and students in the City Ballet nexus are affluent.

    But the racial makeup just seems odd when compared to say, The Royal Ballet or San Francisco Ballet. After all, City Ballet is a major company and New York is a major international city in a heavily populated and diverse metropolitan area.

    Conspiracy is too strong a word. And I know that the chief task of an arts organization like NYCB is to get the best programs and dancers on the stage regardless of race.

    What I don't understand is why more of the dancers don't happen to be Asian. They are amongst the best everywhere else.

  10. I know that City Ballet's primary source of hires is their feeder school. If SAB has few Asians or Asian Americans at the school, why is that the case?

    In many companies in North America and Europe, people of Asian descent seem to be slightly overrepresented when compared to the population at large. Why is that not the case in NYCB?

    In Ian Spencer Bell's Ballet Review article about women of color at SAB, dancers Paloma Lorenzo and Nikkia Parish made statements that made the post-Balanchine powers that be at City Ballet and SAB sound like a reactionary cabal that was practically hostile to women that didn't look like Wendy Whelan.

    Is there a possible culture there wherein the Balanchine disciples who run the place think that way?

    I know what the stereotypes are about black women and SOME non-white Latinas. Too muscular or fleshy. Can't control their power. Flat feet.

    But East Asian women? Even if you go by what are admittedly offensive and hoary stereotypes, they still are the very definition of the ethereal, female ballet dancer.

  11. When you look at the rosters of companies like NBC, SFB, PNB, ABT, companies across Western Europe and even many companies in America's heartland, you see men and women of East Asian heritage, many in prominent roles.

    But City Ballet still looks like a 1950's coed New England prep school.

    Considering the appreciation for, study of and a history of mastery of the high Western arts (classical music and dance) amongst people of the East Asian diaspora, it's next to impossible to believe there isn't a motivated and talented pool of people who meet the qualification standards for acceptance into the City Ballet arts organization.

    This lack of Asian representation I find as puzzling as if there were no people of East Asian descent studying at Ivy League schools. The mere idea is preposterous.

  12. But, the question is, what does everyone think they should do?

    They should promote from within. If none of the lower-ranked dancers are good enough to some day be principals, then what are they doing in the company? Aren't dancers hired for their potential to grow as artists?

    Surely McKenzie doesn't expect all his principals to be international superstars.

  13. McKenzie seem like nice guy, or at least as nice as any AD can be. But ABT is mired in mediocrity. Is there any company in the world outside Russia that is more determined than ABT to perform the same damn classical ballets over and over? And on those rare occasions that the monotony is broken up by a new piece, it's usually a substandard work. Even Ratmansky has had fewer hits than misses.

    They need new leadership. I say one of the retired POB stars like Laurent Hiliare or Nicholas LeRiche should be recruited as AD. I've seen videos of both these guys coaching and they seem to be naturals at developing young dancers. And both have got to be smarting at having been passed over for the position of POB AD.

    I'm sure there are qualified women from POB who'd be great as well, yet I've never seen any of them coach. .

  14. Well, the whole post wasn't meant as a joke. I was attempting to be puckish and feign outrage at ballet's supposed "sexism, " when I mentioned the male dancer assisting the female dancer during the adagio.

    But honestly, other that the point work in this Swan Lake adagio, I truly don't know how to appreciate most of the ballerina's movements.

    Yes she's certainly strong, and limber, but to my untrained eye, she looks like she's doing stretching exercises that many very fit non-ballerinas could manage.

    I honestly would like to know what I'm missing.

  15. Are the opening sections of classical pas de deux in which the ballerina is supported by her male partner, very difficult for the ballerinas to perform?

    I ask because when I've observed these movements - with my admittedly untrained eye - I've been l somewhat underwhelmed. I know that world-class female ballet dancers are incredibly graceful, strong and flexible. But so are many people who practice yoga and other physical activities at high levels. Other than the wondrousness of Viengsay Valdes-type balances, I'm at a loss as to what is so special in adagios.

    I realize these sections are meant to display the female dancer's grace, line and balance. But isn't such a display redundant considering all the abilities she has already shown in allegro?

    Also, the fact that a ballerina needs a male partner to show off is a bit sexist, is it not?

    Do male dancers need women to show all aspects of their virtuosity?

  16. Thanks to everyone for your responses. I realize that on the list of really important things, the dearth of active, black, female classical dancers is pretty low.

    And it's not as if my wee one doesn't love ballet dancers who happen to be white or Asian. It's just that we can't resist checking the head shots at major company sites hoping to find young, black, women who were obviously bitten by the ballet bug at my youngster's age.

    Our little one knows about Raven Wilkinson, Lauren Anderson, Tai Jimenez and Victoria Johnson. But their careers can seem like ancient history to children and adults alike.

    We also were aware of Kimberly Braylock at San Francisco Ballet, Christina Spigner at Miami City Ballet, Misty Copeland and Courtney Lavine at American Ballet Theater, Erica Lynette Edwards and Dara Holmes at Joffrey and Katlyn Addison and Whitney Huell at Ballet West. But somehow, we missed the fact that Miss Boisson had been hired at NYC Ballet.

    Baby steps! Yea!

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