BalanchineFan

6 hours ago, cinnamonswirl said:

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is determined solely on the facts alleged in the complaint. This is one reason why a carefully drafted complaint is important. If you omit something from the complaint, even if it's true and it was accidentally omitted, the court cannot consider it.

The court will consider each claim separately. For example, it could dismiss the claims as to NYCB for assault and IIED, but leave the NIED claim intact.

(BTW I am not familiar with NY law. However I would be surprised if NY was very different on these issues from the majoritian view that is taught in law schools and tested on the multi-state on bar exams.)

Would someone explain what IIED and NIED are? I’ve read the complaint but I’m not a lawyer or a law student. 

2 hours ago, Balletwannabe said:

No one said change was impossible.  I said time off doesn't change ones character.  You have to actually want to change, and so far none of these men have admitted any wrong doing whatsoever.  Even if they did change- there are consequences to actions.  No female dancer should be forced to accept them into their trust again.  I don't believe suspending them goes far enough.  I don't believe for a second that every NYCB dancer is ok with them returning.  Not to mention none of the dancers who initially supported them have shown (public) support after the details came out.  

Thanks. I misunderstood, but I think I get your point now. 

6 hours ago, manhattangal said:

You are correct. Doing the time and punishment will not change that.

 

First Marcelo (ABT) and now Amar. Two of my all-time favorite male dancers gone, for whatever sordid reasons. It has NOT been a good year for my ballet companies.

Do you really think that all people are incapable of change and growth? That once a person has comitted a crime there is no hope of rehabilitation, unless they have some named disease to rehab? I ask this separate from considerations of employment or dance careers. 

I think change is possible. What it takes is introspection, acknowledgement of one’s faults and misdeeds (or crimes), atonement, a real willingness to change and good old fashioned work. If someone came to me and apologized (ok, not Chase Finlay, he’s got a Looooooong way to go) acknowledged the pain they’d caused, and willingly submitted to punishment... well, I’m not sure that would do it, but add some time in there and who knows? I have seen people make remarkable turnarounds in their lives. 

Saying change is impossible because a person doesn’t have a named disease just seems inaccurate. Sinners repent, alcoholics work their recovery, people can grow up and take responsibility. They have to do it humbly, without a thought to receiving anything in return.

Of course, people can also change for the worse. 

1 hour ago, KayDenmark said:

 I also agree with OnPointe that it is questionable that Miss Waterbury says she requires acute care when she seems to be living an active, well-rounded life. 

This also struck me, and it seems like it would be material to any case, whether civil or criminal. With reference to the text messages, she could argue that they "popped up" on the computer while she was using it and she couldn't avoid them. This seems unlikely with emails.  Even if alerts have been activated, usually only the subject line is visible - you have to open the email to see text and pictures.

Texts pop-up on Apple computers. All the owner has to have done is entered their password to open the computer. I have a Mac (Apple) computer. It can be quite annoying. There is a way to turn it off, but people don’t always take the time. It’s clear Finlay has an apple phone because elsewhere in the complaint he sends a “live” photo, which is another Apple feature: 2 seconds of video connected to a photo.

You can require acute care for months and still hold down a job and go to school. One needn’t be comitted to a mental institution to get good talk therapy. Someone who’s experienced sexual betrayal/assault might have sleep disorders, panic attacks and/or issues with intimacy and trust.

And I agree with everyone saying no means no. 

From Good Therapy. Org

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES RESULTING FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT

After sexual assault, survivors may feel their bodies are not really their own. Survivors often report feelings such as shame, terror, and guilt. Many blame themselves for the assault. 

Due to the trauma and negative emotions linked to sexual abuse, survivors may be at risk for mental health conditions. Survivors of sexual abuse may develop:

• Depression: The loss of bodily autonomy is often difficult to cope with. It can create feelings of hopelessness or despair. It may also reduce one’s sense of self-worth. Depressive feelings may be mild and fleeting, or they can be intense and long-lasting.
• Anxiety: The loss of bodily autonomy can also cause severe anxiety. Survivors may fear the attack could happen again. Some may experience panic attacks. Others may develop agoraphobia and become afraid to leave their homes. In some cases, a survivor may develop a chronic fear of the type of person who harmed them. Someone who was raped by a tall, fair-haired man with blue eyes may instinctively dislike, mistrust, or fear all men who match that description.
• Posttraumatic stress (PTSD): Someone who survived sexual assault may experience intense memories of the abuse. In some cases, flashbacks may be so disruptive they cause a survivor to lose track of surroundings. A person may also develop a related condition called complex posttraumatic stress (C-PTSD). C-PTSD yields a chronic fear of abandonment in addition to symptoms of traditional PTSD. Some people with C-PTSD also experience personality disruptions.
• Personality disruptions: Sexual abuse can sometimes result in personality disruptions such as borderline personality. The behavior linked with personality disruptions could actually be an adaption to abuse. For instance, a characteristic of borderline personality is a fear of abandonment. That fear might not be adaptive in adulthood. Yet avoiding abandonment might have protected someone from sexual abuse as a child.
• Attachment issues: Survivors may find it challenging to form healthy attachments with others. This is especially true among children who have been abused. Adults who were abused as children may have insecure attachment patterns. They could struggle with intimacy or be too eager to form close attachments.
• Addiction: Research suggests abuse survivors are 26 times more likely to use drugs. Drugs and alcohol can help numb the pain of abuse. Yet substance abuse often leads to the development of different concerns.

The timeline interests me. According to the complaint Finlay started sharing the images early Sept 2017.

Ms Waterbury discovered them on or about May 15, 2018. 

Ramasar’s comment “I love you.   Send me the texts/videos!” was dated May 21, 2018, after Ms Waterbury had discovered the email/text thread. 

It’s not what you would expect. (I’m actually trying not to think about this case at all, but I find it so disturbing.)

On 8/31/2018 at 7:32 PM, cobweb said:

Trying to recall who were last year’s apprentices. Is this the whole batch of them, or was there anyone not continuing on?

I believe Roman Mejia became an apprentice at the same time as this crew. He danced in the SAB workshop with India Bradley, Nieve Corrigan, and the others, but he became a corps member last fall. I can't think of anyone from that group that didn't get into the company, but I'll look at my SAB workshop program again.

19 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Vipa, it was an event with dancers from the company. I know I mentioned this same thing last year when Martins was fired, and some of you, including you I believe, disagreed with me. For me, I found it troubling, and it changed the way I saw Peter Martins. 

Ah yes, I remember. As a former dancer, I remember treasuring such moments with a director/teacher, so it is really hard for me to see something nefarious. Even as a married woman with a husband in the same company, such gestures were accepted with the positive intent that were meant. Perhaps this something of what Paglia was getting at. When you are in a performing artist context there are norms that must seem odd to others. From Peter Martins behavior, at those events, I would have no reason to believe he was anything other that an encouraging teacher.

The lower quote is from vipa. I can't multi -quote very well.

I'm not great with clips either, but in this clip from Kurt Froman's instagram, Peter Martins is rehearsing Calcium Light Night with Heather Watts and Daniel Duell. I found the way he moves Duell around ... aggressive, and I often saw him doing something similar in rehearsals. Judge for yourself. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRiy6_gqeh/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

12 hours ago, valsetriste said:

What? This is really splitting hairs. "Dancer" is her profession. As someone who has been "19" as well as 20, I can't think of a discernible difference between the two.

If she's 19, a news site can go with the headline, "Teen ballerina sexually....[whatever]" and people click on it to see if she's 14. If they don't read the article they might imagine NYCB is sending out teen hookers. Look at the differences in reporting from the various news outlets. Some are incredibly salacious, others less so.

14 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Google always seems to know what I'm interested in, and just half an hour ago served up a 6-month-old article by Camille Paglia from Hollywood Reporter. It gets back to the question, discussed up-thread, of whether the physical nature of ballet somehow means standards should be different from the regular workplace (paraphrasing what I remember from that discussion). Paglia writes:

"The performing arts may be inherently susceptible to sexual tensions and trespasses. During the months of preparation for stage or movie productions, day and night blur, as individuals must melt into an ensemble, a foster family that will disperse as quickly as it cohered. Like athletes, performers are body-focused, keyed to the fine-tuning of muscle reflexes and sensory awareness. But unlike athletes, performers must explore and channel emotions of explosive intensity. To impose rigid sex codes devised for the genteel bourgeois office on the dynamic performing arts will inevitably limit rapport, spontaneity, improvisation and perhaps creativity itself."

I guess the question is, can one have a less rigid sex code, and still avoid abuses or harassment? Are they inevitably linked? How are they different? 

I had a twenty year career as a performer, and I don't agree with anything Camille Paglia writes. That said, there are a lot of people today using Tindr and Grindr for hookups, a lot of people have casual sex... both performers and non-performers. There are less rigid standards for proper behavior in all sorts of communities. Taking sexually explicit pictures (much less circulating them) without consent is not OK in any of them.

I know Merson claims that ALL the men on the text/email chain knew the pictures were taken without consent, but my views are also shaped by the fact that he offers no proof for that claim. I live in a world where you can easily come in on an email or text chain that's 20-50 entries long.  Take a look at this topic, for instance. Maybe you don't scroll up and read what was at the top before you comment. Who knows what each of the men knew. We certainly don't.

All I've read so far, and I emphasize SO FAR, implicates Chase Finlay.

Of course I could also be in denial. I do like to see the good in people.

Several posters see some complicity in a donor being involved. I don't understand why. NYCB has pages and pages of donors listed in each program. Is NYCB responsible for all of their behavior? Is NYCB supposed to return money if someone makes a drunken speech, or throws a party where alcohol is served?

 

7 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

It's true, but he may have significant assets (at least compared to your average person who works in the arts). He was promoted to principal 6 years ago, I believe, so depending on how he's spent his salary, he may have some considerable savings. Also, I seem to recall from a video -- I believe it was the AOL series rather than a NYCB-produced video -- that Finlay appears to be from an affluent family in Connecticut, so he may have some family money, as well, if any of it has been gifted to him.

Also, based on the address given in the complaint, Finlay lives in a co-op building in an expensive neighborhood. One website lists the average cost of an apartment in that building as $1,456 per square foot. He could be subletting, but if he owns the apartment, that's another asset. But I don't know if real estate is something that would be up for grabs in a civil suit. 

But I agree that NYCB is probably of more interest in terms of money, though it's also probably the greater reach in terms of actually proving they were responsible. 

I wouldn't make any assumptions on Finlay's financial resources. His address might also be a rent stabilized apartment.  There are still many in that neighborhood. I've lived in them.  When you look up the average cost of an apartment online they often deal only with new rentals and purchases, not apartments where the lease was set years ago. In addition, a single market rate apartment could bring up the average for a building of rent stabilized units.

Merson included NYCB in the complaint because they have the deep pockets. It's a standard legal manoeuver. NYCB would certainly have settled if the board and their lawyers felt that the "hostile environment" and "condoning this behavior" charges would stand up in court.

On 9/6/2018 at 9:47 AM, wonderwall said:

I don't think this necessarily makes them culpable, but I thought this was interesting. And it makes me like Stafford--I wonder if it was during this interim period? They just say "program director," but before his interim position, he was at SAB, so not sure how much contact he and Finlay would have had then. 

Indeed. one of the program directors, Jon Stafford. frequently asked Mr. Finlay about his partying and alcohol use because he smelled like alcoholic beverages and yet, NEW YORK CITY BALLET, INC. buried its head in the sand without investigating Mr. Finlay's conduct.

Before Stafford became an interim director he was a ballet master at NYCB. Stafford would have lead rehearsals and perhaps taught company class, with near daily contact with Chase Finlay, depending on which ballets they were rehearsing.

3 minutes ago, Rick said:

Yes, but most probably high level nonetheless. According to paragraph 27 of the complaint, the donor routinely gave speeches while drunk.

That makes the donor sound young and foolish, in my opinion, rather than high level and monied. Most of the big wigs I’ve seen at the ballet know how to comport themselves in public without anyone rushing to take away their microphone. 

37 minutes ago, bcash said:

I saw him on Lincoln Center grounds a few weeks ago, presumably taking a noon-time break from rehearsals. Hesitated going up to say hello and good work. With 4T and Symphony in C, he finally seems to be getting tested and groomed for bigger roles.  His brother, btw, is a Martha Graham dancer.

Though, Woodward would seem too big a partner, physically speaking, for S. V-V.

I realize Sebastian V-V is not a big guy, but Indiana Woodward is tiny. I would think they’d make a perfect pairing. 

Several posters were asking what the NYCB board has done and said to protect their dancers (from harassment, intimidation, mistreatment, etc). They’ve done two things that I can see:

1. They had a “listening tour” to hear what dancers wanted from the company and from the incoming AD. Dancers were able to speak to them both in person and to give statements anonymously.  I posted a link upthread to a Dancemagazine article about this.

2. The board then published a list of qualities for the new AD which include creating an improved working atmosphere, free from threats and intimidation. (I’m paraphrasing, since I don’t have access to the job description at the moment).

I thought those were both positive steps. 

Modeling is a different industry which places attractive young women (and men) in its own situations that are historically rife with mistreatment. Still the article may be useful. How the modeling industry is responding to #MeToo

https://nyti.ms/2MQrFEU?smid=nytcore-ios-share 

 

I see a lot of people who seem to agree with sappho. My personal view is different. I don’t mean to offend or argue and I certainly don’t speak for everyone. 

as I said before; I love the dancers and I love the repertory. I’ve got loads of tickets for the season and I’m still looking forward to it. The women in the company (are there 50 of them?) have been working hard. Some have new roles. How devastating it would be to work and work for your chosen profession, scandal erupts, you wonder if your ex-bf shared your naked pics and then to top it all off no one comes to see you dance anymore.  I don’t see going to NYCB as not supporting Alexandra Waterbury. She’s amazing. I hope she prevails and I hope she pursues criminal charges if she wants to. It sounds like she has a strong case against Chase Finlay. I’ll be interested in the outcome. In the meantime I’m going to the ballet.  I write about the male dancers’ artistry because that’s what I know and the rest (their punishment, the merits of any legal claims) is not for me to decide. I trust that the system will deliver justice. I hope Ms. Waterbury has every success, but I don’t see how my abstaining from viewing NYCBallet would help her. If it’s a financial settlement she wants, then NYCB will need money. If she wants the culture changed then they’ll need to continue as an institution to work on that, too. 

I’m interested to hear other points of view. I haven’t considered a boycott. Not for a second. It’s not like they’re president of the USA.

 

I have to look at my tickets and the casting again. I’m going so often I may already have tickets to see it!

On 8/31/2018 at 1:32 PM, nysusan said:

So happy to hear about this! Now I want to see Farrell here coaching her roles.

Great idea! I’d love to see Farrell coaching. Imagine her working with Sara Mearns! Bring back Tzigane!! 

I may try for tickets to Indiana Woodward’s debut in Symphony in C. She should be lovely in that Third movt. 

12 hours ago, cobweb said:

The more I follow the discussion here (being newer to the NYCB scene than many of you), it sounds like Lourdes Lopez is obviously a top choice. But the delay has me puzzled. If they were going to hire someone like Lopez, it seems like they would have done so by now. Apparently the Board didn't have any notion of a succession plan, which as others have noted, given Martins' age, seems irresponsible. (McKenzie is younger, but let us hope that the situation is more planful over at ABT.) Even assuming there was no plan, the length of time it's taken to get things moving along in a serious way seems surprising. Does that mean that the obvious, most qualified candidates signalled they were not interested, leading the Board to plan on a longer, more comprehensive search? Just baffled about the delay.

I don't see a delay. The board has said months ago that they were going to take their time with this decision, IIRC. They only just recently released the job description. Since they're set to start interviewing candidates this fall, how could any candidate have turned them down already? I could also see it taking a board several meetings to come up with the "wish list" of AD skills they developed, plus there was their "listening tour." This article explains more of their process:

https://www.dancemagazine.com/nycb-starts-search-for-new-leader-2571677091.html

14 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Heartbreaking. 

He was the reason I came to NYC as a young dancer and studied at the Taylor school. 

I think he's the last modern great to go (unless I'm forgetting someone).

I came to NYC hoping to get into his company, too. I studied at the Taylor school... I guess it was in the mid to late 1980's and maybe early 90's. (Time is not my strong suit)

It's sad, but not surprising. He put a lot of thought into it and set his company up to continue without him. A real passing of the torch.

One of the major modern dance figures of our lifetime.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnGxxYEnpwr/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/obituaries/paul-taylor-dead.html?action=click&contentCollection=arts&contentPlacement=1&module=package&pgtype=sectionfront&region=rank&rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&version=highlights

 

I studied with Rose Anne as well. I wasn't a writer then, but a dancer. She knew my love of Balanchine and arranged for me to learn the Bransle Gay from Agon. I reconstructed it from Labanotation, which I had studied with her. She coached me and I danced it on demi-pointe during an informal performance for the full dance department my senior year at SLC. She was such a committed teacher, dance historian and writer. I wish I'd been able to see her before she passed. RIP Rose Anne.

Sorry to post this. Peter Frame, once a principal dancer at NYCB, and the director of weight training for SAB committed suicide. He was affiliated with NYCB/SAB for over 40 years.

https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/08/30/man-jumps-to-his-death-from-building-on-75th-street

5 hours ago, Olga said:

I respectfully disagree about the company appearing dysfunctional. On the contrary, what stands out to me is how well they are doing. They have come through the Martins difficulty with great spirit, and dancing beautifully. I feel there is a strong internal positive dynamic at that company. Sure, they must haver their rivalries but they are lifting each up. And oh, what a deep bench! Granted, there are some issues among the male soloists and principals but the corps is rip roaring. I expect Joseph Gordon to move into principal rank soon, and some promotions to the soloist ranks. Dysfunctional is when you can’t function through difficulties. They are doing much more than just functioning. I think a lot of theevents this year are related to the political climate and the increased exposure broight about by social media. A couple of divorces? Come on. It’s a ballet company.   Here’s a controversial statment: the Balanchine/Farrell relationship was dysfunctional. 

I respecfully agree with Olga. I don't see any dysfunction. It's possible that if we knew all the details we'd see the current suspensions as evidence of good functioning management. If the details never come out that may also be evidence of good management. I'm sure the suspended dancers have the support/advice of their union.

What I know is that I love this company. I love the rep, I love the dancers, I want to see them perform all the time (money notwithstanding) because the artistic work is so strong. Any time you have a that many young, healthy people working together you're going to have marriages and divorces. They haven't taken a vow of celibacy. Roughly 50% of American marriages end in divorce, why would NYCB be different?

As for the past, Baryshnikov and Kirkland's affair certainly blew up and that didn't seem to hurt ticket sales. And I agree, the Balanchine/Farrell situation (I won't call it a relationship because of the power imbalance) was dysfunctional (aside from the ballets), and I'm sure that it is not the only time that sort of thing has occurred in or out of ballet. Many people write about morale at NYCB being low in the 60's as Balanchine focused on Farrell (a contingent of older ballerinas including Pat Wilde, Violette Verdy and Maria Tallchief left the company at that time. Allegra Kent and Merrill Ashley also mention it in their memoirs). In an video interview after the fact Maria Tallchief says, "George lost his mind" over Farrell. To balance it out, Tallchief writes in her autobiography that she could also understand why (in a way) given Farrell's talent and willing temperament. "George wanted to teach someone younger, more malleable." My main point is that this pales in comparison, morale is good.

At the Bolshoi, wasn't a director injured (permanently disfigured or blinded) when someone threw acid in his face due to a casting dispute? THAT is dysfunction. Criminal dysfunction. Members of the church abusing children and covering it up for decades (if not centuries)? Dysfunction! 

This is just life.

2 minutes ago, vipa said:

Isn't social media one thing and a text or email sent person to person something else? How could a workplace even insist on seeing my private emails or texts?

 

 

 

The workplace didn't insist. The emails and/or texts were sent to them by a third party.

 

to respond to FPF,

Aftra/SAG has their code of conduct posted online. It primarily pertains to sexual harassment, at least as far as I could find, but I've also read about drug and/or alcohol use being included in codes. Often a code will specify what an employee can and cannot post online. The company may reserve the right to make announcements about casting, for instance. I noted that SAG/Aftra mentions that the infraction may occur outside the traditional workplace; anywhere the employee represents the company. Anyway, SAG/AFTRA is not the union for NYCB. This is just an example.  

• Non-Traditional Worksites
• The employer’s obligation to maintain a harassment free work environment is not limited to a traditional worksite, whether it be an office, a booth or a set. The obligation extends to other locations where an employee is required to be in the course of the employee’s employment. That might include, for example, a meeting, audition, wrap party, or networking event.

There was a brouhaha last year about codes of conduct, or contractual requirements, for football cheerleaders. Many are prohibited from fraternizing with players. Some teams forbid the cheerleaders from posing in lingerie online or in print. Given what they wear to games I found that one laughable. Swimsuits were fine. One girl was fired for her lipstick color. A code of conduct could contain anything management wants that the employees will agree to (though there might be laws involved).