kaskait

Yes, but the accusations stop at that. There is no follow up investigation. There should be investigations. A non-biased, most importantly, federal group should complete an investigation study. How many minority students on average? Where do they come from? What is their background? Why are the represented more in modern dance and pop culture dancing than ballet? Is this due to disinterest or a perceived racist environment? If there is a racist environment then the schools should be taken to task. How many minority students do they accept? How many actually audition at all? When faced with racist complaints do they investigate? Do they take action. Why didn't Mrs. DePrince go to school authorities regarding the dancers who taunted her child or herself? I don't believe you can make this kind of complaint and then just stand around to let the fur fly expecting someone else to take action. Because a retaliation against her and her talented daughter would have been cause for a court case. It would have created a precedent and the law forcing change in the ballet school environment. Again, Virginia Johnson was a principal dancer. Her concrete accusations could have been investigated? Why weren't they? Did she name names? If you aren't going to sacrifice anything for the cause, then why should anyone change? A Prima naming names and giving up a career could have been an enormous force for change. Not only has she made statements about racism, she has also made strong arguments that the art is classist as well. We have to get past the stage where we yell about something but stop there and hope someone else will do something. There is no incentive to take action. The action has to start with the accuser. The momentum will pick up supporters. Believe me, I believe the public would get behind a dancer standing up for minority rights. In regards to the DTH dancers, there are dancers who fall out of the ranks of professional companies EVERY YEAR! How many of them are accepted into other companies? How many of them leave the art form because they are not hired? Just because you reach a certain professional level does not guarantee that you will stay there or that other companies must accept you because of your past jobs. Again naming names would have gone much further. Than the public could call out the companies to explain their reasons for not hiring these accomplished DTH dancers. Their hiring record could be examined as well as a history of who auditions for them. Someone has to get the ball rolling on this. And since it will never be the industry, it must be the minorities but with firm evidence. Not just someone's mother/daughter said something racist to me or my daughter. It should be "Mrs. Smith/Miss Smith who attended A or B school during the years my daughter was there said that black/native american/hispanic/asian people don't belong in ballet". OR another example, "A or B School denied my daughter entrance to train because her skin was too dark". These accusations can be investigated. Vague accusations can not.

Throwing money at a problem will not solve the deeper cultural issues at work. Truly changing anything requires honesty about behavior, family and culture. Again there has be a non-biased look at why other minorities are in ballet more than the black minority. It isn't just about money. There are plenty of students in training who are not rich. As I've stated before, the numbers of youngsters in training have to be given a boost. But if there is no interest to enter training (unless they are given it free) then who are schools and after training, companies going to accept? This is a problem that is very likely beyond the capacity of the industry to fix. It is a cultural problem. As far as the Dance Theater of Harlem dancers tragedy....we need more information. Who did they audition for? What reasons were given for their non-acceptance? How old were they? Were they strong enough for the particular companies repertoire? If they experienced outright racism, WHY didn't they publicize it? Isn't justice worth more than a career? For every stand against racism, opens doors for the future. Again we are throwing around racism accusations with no further evidence than someone, somewhere did something really racist. We need proof. We need witnesses. The more we allow screams of racism without proof the more it hurts the cause. The more it looks like a lie. And we know it isn't a lie. But we need proof, we need the moral high ground.

A great many are in the Russian schools. You can see them in various classroom clips. That is why I surmise they are into classical form and the ones who still do classical form the best (although I think they dance too slow at times) are in Russia. The SAB auditions for children are also very stringent (unless you are the spawn of the super rich elites) regarding body requirements. This is interesting because once puberty hits, all bets are off. What was once a tall, skinny beanpole of a girl could turn into a small, muscular adult. That is the way hormones work on the body. And judging by the company now, I've seen all different body types some more suited to ballet than others. I've closely watched the corps in videos from Balanchine's time and I'm hard pressed to find a definitive uniformity that everyone accuses him of favoring. The women were just as diverse. I do notice that he favored a very athletic look. Again there are many different factors and it isn't all due to racism. We need numbers, we need data which are not in supply. Making vague, sweeping arguments about someone, somewhere said they want everyone to match is not proof. Also I feel if more minority students actually began study, enough as to not stand out like rare unicorns, there would be more minority dancers in the companies in general. But pushing companies to take minority dancers regardless of skill because they are rare is not going to work. Then you get into the awful situation where one group is guaranteed a career in dance when everyone else are held to different standards. That will not do.

That is a good question. But I think it is related in a way to the question of why there aren't more Russian or Eastern European dancers with NYCB? I think there is only one Ukrainian dancer at NYCB but she never promoted out of the corps. And there is one man from Albania. Also I see there is only one Asian female dancer in the Corps. All of them received the bulk of their formative training at schools other than SAB. Russian dancers are all about the classics. And although I see Balanchine works gaining popularity with stagings in Russia...no one is really clamoring for more. And I think Asian dancers share the same desire of pure classical dancing. NYCB just isn't on their radar. But then again...should it be? Maybe we are biased. To everyone in New York, NYCB is the end all and be all. But it probably isn't. And since they don't tour all that much (a company of happy NY hermit crabs), most people only know them from old ballet videos they see on TV or youtube. I must say the last time I attended a performance at NYCB there were a lot of Asian ballet fans present. I didn't notice a lot of Russian fans. It could be true that our view of NYCB is inflated...greatly. But no one is going to be able to tell me they aren't the best!

That is horrible that she hasn't been given more opportunity to use that presence. Even on little youtube clips where she is only one of a group, people point her out for special mention. How can a company let that kind of charisma go to waste? And for what? Yet another sad eyed, cookie cutter copy of Mezentseva but without her talent? If and when Mariinsky comes back to NY, I'll look out for ballets with Lavrinenko in them.

So an 84% attrition rate in Dance Chance means only about 20 students will try to make a career in dance. If you add SAB to the same rate, only 74 students will try to make a go of a professional career. 20 against 74 is a hard requirement. Plus there are other major schools adding their own into the mix. Even the small number auditioning for companies is still too much for the business. When Courtney Lavine was accepted to ABT, only 2 other dancers were accepted with her. So 3 out of an example size of 94. I hesitate to force companies to give minority dancers priority over their own artistic requirements. The only recourse would be to pump up the applicant numbers from Dance Chance's 125 to compete with SAB's 450. More numbers in the game means more success. Also we have to examine why Asian and Hispanic students are in ballet in greater numbers over Black students. It isn't skin color. A great many Asian and Hispanic minorities have very dark skin.

I couldn't find statistics regarding Dance Theater of Harlem's school size. Sites keep stating professional program as 14 which is can't be right. On Dance Theater's site it states its graduates also go on to careers that are not in ballet. But its hard to get numbers. Perhaps it is more in line with PNB's statistics on their Dance Chance program ( http://www.pnb.org/PNBSchool/Classes/DanceChance/#Facts) There are 42 in the professional program. Only 83 children in the Dance Chance young students division out of the 1500!!!! screened. So perhaps a total of 125. Which is very small when compared to SAB's student total of 450. The numbers don't seem to be present. Not only in the Minority schools but also in the bigger schools. Not all current SAB students will go on to ballet careers. There are many who will try to build a career but not be accepted by any company. The rates of success are brutal in this art form.

I don't think it is an asethetic problem of style or uniformity. I believe it is more a problem of scarcity of minority students. The only group that is making headway are the Asians. Plus we have to keep in account that the artform requires many, many years of training for a career that is almost over before it can begin. Also with little hope of advancement. That alone heads off most curious students. Then you have to add the body requirements that not everybody meets both in style and in stamina. This isn't even taking into account the supply costs and travel costs of the training which doesn't end when a dancer becomes a professional. Toe Shoes are not getting cheaper. If we consider all of this, it is no wonder that Ballet is only small cultural subset with a small number of applicants. Of which minorities are an extremely tiny group among their number. So to accuse companies of not hiring minorities is a bit unfair. Especially when they are few and far between.

I'm sad to say that I don't take NY Times reviews into account anymore. I get better accounts from fan blogs around the internet. The Times didn't even report the stumbles and slips in the opening cast of Les Slyphides that audience members wrote about here. As of now I have tickets to see Lane's Sleeping Beauty and Abrera's Cinderella. I'm thinking about seeing Part in La Bayadere. It depends on when I get tickets for NYCB's Midsummer Night's Dream.

I saw her dance one of the stepsister roles last winter in Mariinsky's Cinderella. She had fantastic stage presence and wonderful form. She impressed me more than Matvienko in the lead. I did a search on the internet and I found small clips of her dancing the Jewels section in Sleeping Beauty and some work in solo roles in Don Quixote and La Bayadere. But really nothing else. Has anyone seen her in larger roles?

That could be the case. But I think it would be nicer for Kent to realize that she doesn't have the strength to dance so many ballets and concentrate on 1 or two she can really give her all. The way it is now, it looks as if she is monopolizing the dance schedule even though she most likely won't be able to dance. If, she is in fact injured. As far as respect goes, it is a pity ABT didn't extend this same amount toward Paloma Herrera by giving her a technically demanding Sleeping Beauty as a last performance with no regard to her own choice. She spoke about this in a Washington Post article stating that she had no choice. http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/these-star-ballerinas-are-retiring--graceful-and-grateful-to-the-last-dance/2015/03/20/62f0ef6a-cf24-11e4-a2a7-9517a3a70506_story.html

You can see a tiny snippet of her dancing Cinderella in Sleeping Beauty at this Guggenheim works & process, mark 1:20:35 https://youtu.be/zyHAdKI3XKc Here is to hoping she won't be partially shelved like Abrera and Lane by ABT.

A tiny snippet of Stella Abrera dancing Giselle at Guggenheim's Works & Process at the 21:14 mark. https://youtu.be/CceZmIZnGAQ It would be lovely to see her dance the whole ballet. Why ABT didn't follow up Abrera's good press from her recent perforrmance in Australia is baffling. They have a PR department, its job is to promote the dancers. What are they there for if they don't do at least that much? The company website certainly isn't getting any attention from them as well.

Exactly, she is far from the Russian ballet ideal. Which makes her career there so interesting. She was cast as the lead in the graduation performance so someone there liked her dancing. And I find it hard to believe it was for publicity because the school doesn't need it. Plus she was liked well enough to be taken into the Bolshoi.. Why she wasn't cast could have been due to plenty of reasons that had nothing to do with her dancing. We'll never get the whole story. In regards to Precious Adams, I really do believe her stories regarding racism. This is a good interview with her about it from 2013 - Moscow Times. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/us-ballerina-faces-discrimination-at-bolshoi-academy/489887.html One of Adams' teachers there claimed that she was much shorter than most Russian dancers. This could be valid. They do like very tall, extremely thin ballet dancers. I couldn't find any documentation on Womack's height. She strikes me as being on the tall side.

I checked Gilda Squire's website. She is listed on Copeland's website as her manager. According to Squire's website she manages PR elements of ABT's gala events since 2012 http://gildasquire.com/about_us

They will probably pull in more foreign guest stars. But I'm not sure if that will work anymore. I've checked the ticket availability for both Vishneva and Semionova's Giselle performances. There are plenty of tickets available for both. The same with the guest star performances for Romeo and Juliet. The only R&J that is truly sold out is Julie Kent's last performance. The loss of audience is not good at all. How many seasons can ABT afford this? They recently moved their Nutcracker performances to California. Would they pull the entire company out of NY and just base themselves in DC?

The Affirmative Action argument is affirmed by fans on this board (unconditional support for her lousy technique) and by McKenzie himself on the 60 minutes episode. Everyone has to feel sorry for Copeland, she had it rough. Let me tell you, in the performing arts EVERYONE has it rough. Especially if they don't come from families with money. The arts attract broken people by the truck loads. Some are extremely talented and many are mediocre. What determines who makes it is, for the most part, pure chance. But mostly it is talent OR savvy glad-handing. Copeland has chosen the latter because obviously she doesn't have the technique to wow people with her dancing. Everyone is caught up in her being the first black principal with ABT. That is all they see, the actual dancing is secondary. It would be good for more black principals. I've even stated that I would support Courtney Lavine's direct promotion straight to principal. She has the talent to back it all up and she has perfect classical technique. A blind person can see it. Yet we never hear about her. Its always Copeland acting as if she is the only black dancer in recent dance history to get anywhere. Which is false.

Coaching is one thing but lacking basic technique is quite another. The basics should have been down cold. Boyleston should already have refined epaulement. Seo should have had her stamina and footwork down cold. Copeland shares the same faults as the prior two dancers. Plus she has an overbuilt body and very bad hyper-extension. Coaching is not going to fix these faults. Coaching is for refining the choreography not retrain the dancers. Retraining and getting rid of bad habits is strictly up to the dancer. All these dancers are around or over 30, if they don't have what is required now, they will never have it. Their strength is fading. Simple biology.

Considering the scandalous interview with the ABT rep stating that they make more money with guest stars, I can only deduce that they don't care about the hometown dancers or their dancing skills. If they lack the necessary refinements that other dancers have at other companies, it only gives them the excuse to hire more guest/foreign dancers. There also has to be a Free Trade/H1B visa aspect to this mess as well. The guest dancers probably cost less than the American dancers. Even the supposed "stars". All the more incentive to let company dancers wither on the vine or substitute rotten fruit.

The Giselle variation hops on pointe by Ferri. No problems. Granted she isn't as magical as Kirkland was in the variation but she didn't fall off pointe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEsRl0EwKog I've seen Ferri dance, at her prime, at ABT... she never displayed the problems that I see in Copeland. To compare them is ludicrous. Part, I've only seen in clips. She is a beautiful dancer. There are clips of her gliding around in the Nutcracker variation that Copeland just lumbers though.

Not at the level that Copeland wants to dance at. Another example of a contemporary soloist at the Royal Ballet. Note - she is a minority, being Asian, Yahui Choe. https://youtu.be/wj_4DcvIdkM Again, she is even more advanced. Full range of motion in the leg from front attitude to full arabesque, all while hopping on pointe. More examples...look on youtube for the variation. There are a plethora of dancers, all at different levels, from child to professional doing the same variation and hopping on pointe with no problems. I don't know why people are making these insane concessions for Copeland. She clearly doesn't deserve them.

Helene please explain the weak ankle that is harrowing to look at in the 60 minute video. According to Copeland's own words it is a common difficulty in her variation. I've never seen other dancers struggle with such a step. Here random video of a dancer from the internet performing a variation on Florentine. Look at the ankles, strong and straight underneath her. Plus she hopped into full arabesque. http://www.media4artists.com/video/index.php?video=6 Copeland by contrast barely made it into attitude. There is no reason why Copeland should be having a problem with a basic step. Especially when everyone else can do it and it is expected that they do it without mishap. I'm not going to condone hyper-extension. It is a gross deformity and it is exceedingly dangerous to the dancer. Either schools and companies should help dancers overcome this problem, if possible, or tell them they must leave ballet to protect their health. ETA: The video is of Washington Ballet dancer Ayano Kimura.

She mentioned it specifically to waylay complaints about her lack of technique. And the 60 minute video clearly shows all the things I've disliked in her dancing and written here on this forum. Her arms were messy as she rushes to find the next pose. As long as she hits that pose everything else in between (the actual dancing) is a mess. And of course she made that face, that grimace plus licking her lips as she begun to fall off pointe during those hops in SB. And 60 minutes was merciful, they cut just as her ankle collapsed underneath her. You can see it, she is not on full pointe but hopping almost on the side of her foot. And the fact that she pushed herself into performing on an injury was not fair to her audience as well as to herself. I and others have pointed out her hyper-extended legs over and over. And considering her past injury (broken tibia bones), that was a direct result of her hyper-extension.

Besides pointing out my typo, why do YOU think she should be promoted? Please, spin that sloppy dancing and weak feet into a paradigm of classical dance. Copeland can't compete and she is leveling the playing field with an affirmative action, pity story. There are already black dancers in many companies, including her own (Courtney Lavine) who can dance rings around her. And we already have a reason why she can't hop on pointe, falls off point and has stiff feet. She started late training and was prematurely put on pointe after only 3 months of training. It is no wonder her legs are an awful, hyper-extended mess. She is heading for another injury for that alone.

The recent 60 minute interview just confirmed why I don't want to waste money on any performances featuring Copeland. The fact that she pointed out that she can't hop on pointe and allowed 60 minutes to film the sloppy dancing is so brazen I can't even begin to fathom it. It is as if she is rubbing it in the faces of everyone who knows anything about ballet. It is as if she is saying I don't have to be able to do the steps, but I can be a principle dancer anyway.