BalanchineFan

The harassment isn't only in the demand for sex, or a "romantic" relationship or marriage, but in the negative consequences of saying no. Farrell said no and Mejia suffered the retaliation. Dancers should be cast on their dancing ability, not their ability to get out of the AD's way with the ladies. There is both a carrot and a stick to harassment.

I was more interested in the fact that France has no age below which a person cannot be deemed to consent. There is no statutory rape. A 33 year old man (not Polanski) recently had sex with an 11 year old and the French system did NOT, could NOT prosecute. That’s certainly different from the US Also, Some of the subtleties of the Deneuve letter have been lost here. She/they support stopping the Harvey Weinsteins and violent assaults, rapes, criminal activity, etc. The letter may simply be a reaction to women accusing men of misconduct online or other developments that are more common in France. There is such a cultural aspect to how people relate to each other. I hope that going forward the rules of conduct and the consequences are clear and enforceable in ballet and dance companies, in fact eveeywhere. I hope NYCB develops a system of checks and balances and accountability on each person’s behavior. I’ve read that Anne Bass resigned from the board in 2006 because there was no such accountability.

My reasoning is that NYCB dancers and staff, having been through the Martins case, will have a better understanding of abuses of AD power and the consequences. This understanding might be lacking in someone unconnected to the company. With this experience fresh in memory, the interim directors would be unlikely (in my opinion) to commit similar misconduct.

If we’re looking at the fine lines, Balanchine removing Mejia from performances is widely viewed as retaliation for Suzanne Farrell rebuffing Balanchine by marrying Mejia. That fits with the sexual harassment argument.

Thanks! I didn't realize it would do that.

Karin von Aroldingen leading the first movement of Symphony in C.

Deborah Koolish was listed as Peter Martins' assistant. She was dancing when I first saw NYCB in the late 1970's so she would have a lot of knowlege of repertory and programming, along with whatever she learned as an assistant. Is that what you were asking?

1 hour ago, Helene said: I agree that backlash is inevitable. Even with the wage gap in Hollywood, many of the actresses who came forward against Weinstein have had the opportunities to make millions, and some have the means to produce films and theater on their own. Dancers don't have the same opportunities, and I'd expect many to shy away from coming forward and becoming a target. /// I wouldn't think the interim NYCB directors would enact any backlash or retribution, but I wouldn't put it past others, say a visiting choreographer to overlook dancers that he/she knew had made accusations against an AD. A lot of people posting here think the accusations are just sour grapes from bad dancers. If any choreographer or AD in any company in the future shares that view then the people making the accusations wouldn't progress there, not as dancers, choreographers, teachers, coaches, costume designers and all the numerous things dancers do when they stop dancing. Dancers can't know where their careers are going to lead. So many small things could add up to it being a big set back.

There's a great interview with Trisha in Joyce Morgenroth's book, Speaking of Dance: twelve contemporary choreographers on their craft. I used it in a dance history class.

So sorry to hear about this. I did see Karin von Aroldingen dance in person many times. I think the world of her now, but I'm sorry to say I did not appreciate her dancing that much at the time. I never saw her in Who Cares? Union Jack, Davidsbundlertanze or Liebeslieder. This might sound strange, but I think she was like lemon, or vinegar, too much for my adolescent palette, but adding a sharpness that brought more dimension to whatever you were watching... more depth. That was my feeling about Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Kammermusik in any case. When I think of the women dancing during the last Balanchine years they were all so individual and distinct from each other. Karin, Suzanne, Merrill, Kyra Nichols, Maria Calegari, Lourdes Lopez, young Darci. You would never sit in the audience and wonder who was who. I've seen many of the videos of her coaching and teaching. I'm glad she's there dancing on film, too. It's a great loss.

I went to a symposium on the Ballet Masters in the past few years. You're right about Rosemary Dunleavy. Glenn Keenan also works with the corps. Jean-Pierre Frohlich is focused on Jerome Robbins repertory. Craig Hall is focused on Justin Peck's ballets, at least prior to the new quad leadership. Albert Evans also worked with Peck in his day. They've got a bunch of experienced ballet masters, they didn't all come to the event. Now I wish I'd taken better notes.

I was thinking of Suzanne Farrell and Tzigane, or Meditations. I've also been curious to see the full length Don Quixote. If I remember correctly, she has rights to those three. It would be interesting to view Don Q without all the media heat of Balanchine's Farrell obsession. Somehow I assumed that she wasn't letting NYCB perform them after her "break" with Martins, but I have absolutely no proof. After I posted above, I read a bit about the way the Trust works and I'm not sure it's possible for the rights to be denied to NYCB. Can anyone explain how it works? How is the PNB Symphony in C different? I've never seen it. I saw a youtube clip of Paris Opera Ballet performing it and they use very different choreography. I think they also use the original title, Palais de Cristal. The adagio doesn't have the big balance a la seconde and the choppy steps on pointe in the last act aren't there. Overall there are fewer steps per minute.

Since Natalie Portman is married to Benjamin Millepied, who danced and choreographed for NYC, and has been mentioned as being in the running for NYCB AD, I'm going to say that this is on topic. Portman's one and only social media account is on Instagram and it's devoted to supporting people in all fields who have been subjected to sexual harassment, misconduct, expliotation, etc particularly in service workplaces (hotel maids, agricultural workers, etc).

NYCB no longer hires 15 year olds. Dancers now have to be 17 and have a high school diploma to be hired as apprentices. Look at the interview with Unity Phelan.

Imo, the problem with a choreographer AD is that the position automatically competes with Balanchine. The NYCB needs to keep his repertory alive, and you need a choreographer that is somehow part of that aesthetic tradition, taking it further, but not contradicting it or obliterating it. When I imagine the board looking for someone to "shape a company aesthetic and create a native dance style or approach" it worries me that Balanchine would get lost. NYCB already has an aesthetic -Balanchine's- and there are hundreds of very experienced former Balanchine dancers with experience running ballet companies that can teach to that aesthetic. NYCB also has some good choreographers (Peck, Wheeldon, and I'd include the young Lauren Lovette) and good programs like the NY Choreographic Institute in place to nurture more. It might also be helpful at this juncture if they avoided the choreographer-muse dynamic. I loved Kyra Nichols dancing and I'm glad to hear that she's been working in a prominent university. I hope this change in leadership allows NYCB to perform Balanchine ballets that have been missing from the rep due to Martins' bad relations with the various women who own the rights. Or maybe I'm confused about how the Balanchine Trust works. Here's the link to Alastair Macauley's article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/arts/dance/peter-martins-city-ballet-balanchine.html?_r=0

I don't think the next AD needs to be a choreographer, as long as the AD continues to promote good new choreographers. Alastair Mcauley wrote a NYT piece saying it could be a good time to divide up the AD duties. NYCB will be better off without Martins' choreography, for example.

I would think the dancers that might have complained about Balanchine are the ones who left or who gave up ballet. Mostly we're familiar with dancers who stayed and had big careers.

LOL! Yes, we go for the dancing. I think I'd seen Corsaire PPD 100 times before I realized there was a story.

Ah yes, the redemptive power of love. Giselle and the White Swan are still dead. Both caddish princes live on in most versions of the ballets. I like that the Novice in the The Cage lives too, prevails. Women can be powerful and deadly, not just wispy sylphs floating on the wind. Ah! La Sylphide, another woman undone to death by a caddish prince! The Cage just barely starts to balance things out. I don't mean to be callous or disrespectful of other lines of thinking, but, fyi, when I was sexually assaulted while sleeping on a train in college, I got even with the guy before he left the train. I'd rather get even than die and forgive the guy. I guess my opinion comes from a deeply personal place. On a less personal note, art should explore a wide range of behaviors. I don't think anyone should stop performing ballets that people want to see just because the gender roles are problematic. Life is richer and more contradictory than that.

Personally, I much prefer The Cage to Giselle. I think it speaks to womens' power and is a necessary antidote to all the romantic heroines withering away in desperation because some guy did them wrong (Swan Lake and Giselle come to mind).

I was wondering why Olivia is now listed in casting as O. MacKinnon! That explains it.

I was there last night. Mearns as SPF, Jared Angle as the Cavalier, Sterling Hyltin just resplendant as Dewdrop. Spartak Hoxha killed it as Tea, but I'm confident Roman Mejia will do the same. I don't see Isabelle LaFreniere listed anywhere, not even in the Snowflakes or in Waltz of the Flowers. I was surprised they didn't do any curtain calls in front of the curtain, but it makes complete sense. The families aren't there for the adult casts.

There are statistics on domestic abuse that might help this conversation. Of the women who are killed by domestic partners, this says 75% are killed when they try to leave. During a domestic assault court case, I heard testimony that the % is actually higher, in the 90% range. My main point is that speaking out against an abuser can be physically dangerous and fatal. Just something to keep in mind as people are wondering about the cost of speaking out. From http://www.domesticabuseshelter.org/infodomesticviolence.htm DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS One out of every three women will be abused at some point in her life. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, exceeding rapes, muggings and auto accidents combined. A woman is more likely to be killed by a male partner (or former partner) than any other person. About 4,000 women die each year due to domestic violence. Of the total domestic violence homicides, about 75% of the victims were killed as they attempted to leave the relationship or after the relationship had ended.

I know I'm late posting, but according to NYTimes several dancers have said that Martins created a culture where he had affairs with dancers and those dancers then got better roles. That would go against the "preclude a reporting relationship" part of Lincoln Center policy, and justify the investigation of sexual harrassment even if the affairs were consensual. Because NYT said several dancers, and because these were affairs they can't be talking about Darci Kistler getting better roles after marrying Martins. The implication is that he cheated on her, and the women he cheated on her with got better roles. Also, these are not anonymous reports, just people who don't want their names in the newspaper.

I'm not surprised they gave Roman Mejia a contract. He was fabulous in the sab workshop in Martins' Hallelujah Junction... jumps, beats, real pirotechnics. I'd never enjoyed the ballet before. He also danced a lot this Fall.