Petso Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 I follow Boston Ballet on instagram since a while. One of the last posts has been about the beginnings of nutcracker rehearsals. A user asked the question, how BB is dealing with the racism in the ballet, she is curious to see - in a polite way I would say. Next day the question was deleted. The user tried it again the next days. Again just deleted. I think I remember that someone asked the same question Kathryn Morgan (I think on her YouTube channel). It wasn´t deletet but never answered (even she seems to read an answer questions in general). Is it really such a big deal in the year 2019 for companies to face that!?! To talk about it? To say "yes there were done mistakes in the past but we will change that"? I can´t understand that. I won´t understand that. It brings the dancers in very uncomfortable positions. I just watched a documentary about dancers growing up at the Paris Opera. They talk EXACTLY about that. That it´s wrong, that they have still to dance sexist and racist roles (one of them for example a male dancer from asia, who explains the "ideal ballet couple" is still white, young, goood looking...). So they can leave or they can go on with a shrug - knowing they know better inside. This kind of elimination of this topic in 2019 really bothers me at the moment. Arts are so powerful. And free - especially in the way of seeing the world and show it. So they should be able to make a change - aren´t they? Link to comment
Balletwannabe Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 They're not going to answer a question like that on Instagram. Instagram is for snapshot photos for marketing. Is there a specific scene in BB's Nutcracker that the user finds offensive? They would be better off sending an email with their concerns. Link to comment
canbelto Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 4 hours ago, Petso said: I follow Boston Ballet on instagram since a while. One of the last posts has been about the beginnings of nutcracker rehearsals. A user asked the question, how BB is dealing with the racism in the ballet, she is curious to see - in a polite way I would say. Next day the question was deleted. The user tried it again the next days. Again just deleted. I think I remember that someone asked the same question Kathryn Morgan (I think on her YouTube channel). It wasn´t deletet but never answered (even she seems to read an answer questions in general). Is it really such a big deal in the year 2019 for companies to face that!?! To talk about it? To say "yes there were done mistakes in the past but we will change that"? I can´t understand that. I won´t understand that. It brings the dancers in very uncomfortable positions. I just watched a documentary about dancers growing up at the Paris Opera. They talk EXACTLY about that. That it´s wrong, that they have still to dance sexist and racist roles (one of them for example a male dancer from asia, who explains the "ideal ballet couple" is still white, young, goood looking...). So they can leave or they can go on with a shrug - knowing they know better inside. This kind of elimination of this topic in 2019 really bothers me at the moment. Arts are so powerful. And free - especially in the way of seeing the world and show it. So they should be able to make a change - aren´t they? A ballet company's instagram is usually run by the dancers or the marketing team. They're not going to answer questions like that on instagram, which is essentially a self promotion for the company. If you write to the company you'd be surprised -- many of them write back. Also how general was your question? It's kind of hard to answer "How are you dealing with racism in ballet?" in a brief social media answer. Link to comment
Petso Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 Okay, maybe instagram isn´t the perfect way to ask questions like this - but just deleting it isn´t the perfect way of answering either in my opinion. 1 hour ago, Balletwannabe said: They're not going to answer a question like that on Instagram. Instagram is for snapshot photos for marketing. Is there a specific scene in BB's Nutcracker that the user finds offensive? They would be better off sending an email with their concerns. I think we all know that nutcracker is a ballet where step into racist stereotypes is done very easily. So she asked how they deal with it. 26 minutes ago, canbelto said: A ballet company's instagram is usually run by the dancers or the marketing team. They're not going to answer questions like that on instagram, which is essentially a self promotion for the company. If you write to the company you'd be surprised -- many of them write back. Also how general was your question? It's kind of hard to answer "How are you dealing with racism in ballet?" in a brief social media answer. It wasn´t my question, but I was curious to see how they would react. As I already wrote: just deleting it is not a very soveraign way in my eyes. They could hav wrote something like you: "Write us an email. "("Because we just answer important questions here like: Who is the one in the green leotard.... ") Link to comment
Balletwannabe Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Petso said: Okay, maybe instagram isn´t the perfect way to ask questions like this - but just deleting it isn´t the perfect way of answering either in my opinion. I think we all know that nutcracker is a ballet where step into racist stereotypes is done very easily. So she asked how they deal with it. It wasn´t my question, but I was curious to see how they would react. As I already wrote: just deleting it is not a very soveraign way in my eyes. They could hav wrote something like you: "Write us an email. "("Because we just answer important questions here like: Who is the one in the green leotard.... ") Admiring dancers in a dance company, is kind of the whole point of a company Instagram account. Edited October 4, 2019 by Balletwannabe Link to comment
Petso Posted October 4, 2019 Author Share Posted October 4, 2019 44 minutes ago, Balletwannabe said: Admiring dancers in a dance company, is kind of the whole point of a company Instagram account. 😉 Maybe... I thought it´s about their work too, about the ballets they are showing - in their own way. Link to comment
Balletwannabe Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Just now, Petso said: 😉 Maybe... I thought it´s about their work too, about the ballets they are showing - in their own way. Absolutely- the ballets & the dancers who perform them. Link to comment
kylara7 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 (edited) On the positive side of this issue, organizations like Final Bow For Yellowface and the companies that work with them are changing their approaches to motifs in ballet that have not aged well, with support and input by art and ballet historians and cultural experts. Linked below is recent example posted on Ballet West's social media. I really like their phrasing of "moving from caricature to character". Seems like a well thought-out and much needed effort. Edited October 26, 2019 by kylara7 Fixed typo Link to comment
its the mom Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 (edited) On 10/4/2019 at 4:41 AM, Petso said: I follow Boston Ballet on instagram since a while. One of the last posts has been about the beginnings of nutcracker rehearsals. A user asked the question, how BB is dealing with the racism in the ballet, she is curious to see - in a polite way I would say. Next day the question was deleted. The user tried it again the next days. Again just deleted. I think I remember that someone asked the same question Kathryn Morgan (I think on her YouTube channel). It wasn´t deletet but never answered (even she seems to read an answer questions in general). Is it really such a big deal in the year 2019 for companies to face that!?! To talk about it? To say "yes there were done mistakes in the past but we will change that"? I can´t understand that. I won´t understand that. It brings the dancers in very uncomfortable positions. I just watched a documentary about dancers growing up at the Paris Opera. They talk EXACTLY about that. That it´s wrong, that they have still to dance sexist and racist roles (one of them for example a male dancer from asia, who explains the "ideal ballet couple" is still white, young, goood looking...). So they can leave or they can go on with a shrug - knowing they know better inside. This kind of elimination of this topic in 2019 really bothers me at the moment. Arts are so powerful. And free - especially in the way of seeing the world and show it. So they should be able to make a change - aren´t they? I just checked and the questions are there. They just did not reply. And I doubt they would on Instagram, as others have indicated. Additionally, the person who asked the question follows nobody and has no followers. Take what you will from that. Edited October 26, 2019 by its the mom Link to comment
sandik Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 On 10/26/2019 at 11:09 AM, kylara7 said: On the positive side of this issue, organizations like Final Bow For Yellowface and the companies that work with them are changing their approaches to motifs in ballet that have not aged well, with support and input by art and ballet historians and cultural experts. Linked below is recent example posted on Ballet West's social media. I really like their phrasing of "moving from caricature to character". Seems like a well thought-out and much needed effort. Thanks so much for the embedded video -- I hadn't seen it before. Link to comment
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