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PeggyTulle

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Posts posted by PeggyTulle

    Genderfluid dancer in PNB Professional Division classes

    in Pacific Northwest Ballet

    Posted

    I have read the rules. I was looking for examples because the rules are vague and I've asked in the past with zero response (the same general word is used as a verb and noun in the same sentence). This situation seems unique, but also very relevant.

    So here's my opinion: I think inclusivity is great and should be welcomed, especially in ballet in 2021. My opinion is that Edwards and PNB should be given grace and time, as a genderfluid dancer in ballet is something out of the norm but definitely past its due. My opinion is that stating it's a mockery does a huge disservice to Edwards' beautiful dancing, their sexuality, and audiences everywhere. My opinion is that feeling uncomfortable with change or non-cisgender male bodies is OK and leaning into this should be encouraged. These are my opinions.  

    Genderfluid dancer in PNB Professional Division classes

    in Pacific Northwest Ballet

    Posted

    18 hours ago, On Pointe said:

    The genius of institutional racism is that the participants are not necessarily aware that they are participating.  One could say that they can't see the forest for the trees,  except that they are the trees.  It is my opinion that PNB does not actually want to be inclusive of Black dancers.  But they want to look like they are.  They have this in common with much of corporate America.  So they take on an apprentice who is visibly Black but well nigh uncastable. Edwards looks feminine when he's dancing solo in the studio,  but PNB risks making a mockery of their company if he's onstage in a female role  next to actual women.  They definitely are mocking and insulting the talented young Black women who have put their hearts and souls into ballet study to no avail.

    America has an institutional fear and hatred of Black men.  With his hair in a bun,  with earrings and eye makeup,  Edwards is less of a threat.  That's why he's getting so much support.  He doesn't scare the whitefolks.  White women are "safe" around him.  

    To many people in the ballet audience,  the ballerina is the epitome of female beauty and grace.  In effect,  PNB is showing that they apparently can't find an actual darkskinned woman that fits this ideal,  but they think that the audience will accept a darkskinned man in a tutu.  It's ludicrous.

    From what I've seen on Instagram, Edwards is a very fine dancer who seems poised and technically able to perform traditionally male and female roles (along with non-gender-specific ones). And they are black.  If Boal and PNB have hired them, they've been given respect and an opportunity to prove oneself. Give them time to be casted and perform. 

    Genderfluid dancer in PNB Professional Division classes

    in Pacific Northwest Ballet

    Posted

    20 hours ago, tutu said:

    Ashton Edwards has announced that they’ll be joining PNB in November as an apprentice, with the intention of performing both “female” and “male” roles.  https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQXA_XEAO28/?utm_medium=copy_link

     

    PNB has also announced the same on their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ3vHARgijN/?utm_medium=copy_link

    Congrats to Ashton!!! So happy for them!

    San Francisco Ballet and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    in San Francisco Ballet

    Posted

    14 hours ago, pherank said:

    There was an "anonymous" group of people calling for her resignation. They just refer to themselves as SFBallet_2021 now. They had/have connections to SFB staff, but wanted to remain anonymous, which is certainly problematic. SFBallet_2021 were of the opinion that Tweeddale must go, but it does feel like she is being scapegoated (given that her time with the company has been short - 1 full season, a partial season, and then pandemic closure and the need to keep the company afloat without funds from performances). I don't have the details though, aside from this IG posting regarding Tweeddale's alleged behavior: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDPZlUABQN/

     

    Requesting anonymity seems like a safety measure and probably a good one. It's pretty standard with unions and issues that disproportionately affect BIPOC and/or minority staff.

    It's not clear to me what happened in the past with Kelly and leadership, but the company does not seem to embrace or amplify black and indigenous voices. This isn't solely an SFB issue, though. It's reflective of ballet as a whole. Would be meaningful if SFB took the lead here and made some serious changes: focused on internal practices, hiring, retainment, and choreographers. Should things like this wait on the backburner for a new AD? Seems tone deaf to me. 

    SFB 2021 Miscellaneous

    in San Francisco Ballet

    Posted

    Kimberly Olivier confirmed on IG yesterday that she decided not to sign her contract for the coming year. She doesn't know what she'll be doing yet, but she wants to grow. 

    https://instagram.com/stories/mulattaballerina/2578834737128836142?utm_medium=share_sheet

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJ--OYAWgo/?utm_medium=copy_link

    Kimberly also posted a story of Jahna's final bow. 

    https://instagram.com/stories/mulattaballerina/2578854125945112185?utm_medium=share_sheet

    San Francisco Ballet and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    in San Francisco Ballet

    Posted

    On 4/18/2021 at 7:52 PM, cubanmiamiboy said:

    It is not a secret than certain chains of hospitals, like the one I work now, don't hire new grads. There are others than do...but not that many. Usually a nurse starts in a nursing home or home health setting to eventually jump to a hospital. With a couple of years on one's back, at least management can guess the nurse has been at least in one code blue.

    All this, of course, if you depend only on your resume...and you don't have someone who gets you in-( as it was my case many years ago).

    In other words, and to link this with the ballet discussion. I hope that, if a quota starts in SF ballet, that they somehow can pair said quota with real talent. Otherwise the whole thing will be a sad travesty.

    Many nurses that I know both here on the West Coast and East Coast went from nursing school directly to hospital settings. Perhaps it's different depending on where you're located?

    Liam Scarlett dead at 35

    in Ballet Obituaries and Memorials

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, canbelto said:

    Just an observation: this seems to have become yet another culture war. People are railing about "cancel culture" and "political correctness" without knowing anything about the reasons Scarlett was dismissed from so many companies. 

    Your observation gets at the gut of how I was feeling. All of these in-support-of comments scare me so much. 

    Liam Scarlett dead at 35

    in Ballet Obituaries and Memorials

    Posted

    Reading through a bunch of IG tributes and such to Scarlett, I'm stunned by the "cancel culture" and "he was a great person" comments. While there were no criminal charges or illegal acts with students (not sure if the final decision was all students or just those under 18), it seems pretty clear that he did some things that weren't ethical or moral and that companies decided he was too much of a legal liability to work with again. Diving into the things on IG, I'm especially struck by how there's a lot of blame being put on the dance companies for Scarlett's choices. He behavior was all their fault, it was all a part of the culture, if you don't change the culture, he can't be expected to change, even if these allegations are true, he's too great of an artist to ignore his talents and his choreography should still be gracing our stages... For anyone in the dance community who may need to come forward with allegations, I think they're going to be thinking twice in light of all of this. The dance community does not seem to take alleged assault or consent very seriously. There are also some concerning comments from those in the "know" in the dance world about Scarlett's past transgressions. For instance on Ratmansky's post, Ezra Hurwitz replied to someone, saying: 

    @alexe84 i dont have sufficient energy to educate you in the greater context of a centuries old culture that produces and profits off creative young choreograpgic minds and asks them to produce unprecedented and evocative work via intimate and physical connections with fellow artists and peers, all while isolating them from their contemporaries. using salacious buzz words like "rape culture" illustrates that you 1) dont know the details of liam's circumstances and 2) lack any perspective on the complex issues the ballet world faces and the casualties on every side that will continue to fall as the dance world struggles to survive in the 21rst century.
    @alexe84 when ur a 25 year old phenom celebrated for ur emotionally visceral creativity and sent around the world to live in hotel rooms alone for months at a time, and asked to create uninhibited physical poetry with artists your own age - and raised, defined by and reinforced in every way by an insular yet increasingly toxic world - u tell mr how ur meant to survive when that world banishes u for consensual relationships they profited from
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