Lyon Opera Ballet open letter (partial) apology

[Syzygy]

A little European dance shenanigan in the news today…

The organizers of a letter in support of Yorgos Loukos, former AD of the Lyon Opera Ballet, publicly apologized (partially) in a New York Times piece for including signatures of people who did not agree to sign.  

In the original letter published by the French paper Libération, a number of dance professionals threatened to pull their work from the company’s rep unless Loukos, who was fired over the handling of dancer’s return from maternity leave, was given his job back — but it sounds like some of the signatures (Benjamin Millepied, William Forsythe, and Didier Dechamps of the National Theater of Dance in Paris, Brigitte Lefèvre of the Festival of Dance in Cannes) were added without permission .

I guess it all boils down to the miscommunication or sloppiness of Maguy Marin (French choreographer) and Ariane Mnouchkine (a theater director) who organized the letter?…which is embarrassing. 

Here’s the NYT piece and here’s the letter.

[pherank]

'“I was asked to sign, but declined, because the letter spoke to internal matters of the theater of which I have no direct experience or knowledge, and I do not agree with the coercive tactics,” Mr. Forsythe said in an email.

“We’re all sad for Yorgos,” Mr. Millepied said in a telephone interview, but he said he had never put his name to the letter. “I don’t know enough to,” he said.

Didier Deschamps, the director of France’s National Theater of Dance in Paris, said in a telephone interview that he had wanted to show his support for Mr. Loukos, but had asked for the threat of withdrawing work to be removed. Brigitte Lefèvre, the director of the Festival of Dance in Cannes, France also said through a spokeswoman that she had not signed the letter.'

 It does seem that the instigators behind the letter were pushing ahead with their agenda regardless of who stood in their way (or didn't just go along with the scheme).
What could go wrong?
 

Edited February 21, 2020 by pherank

[Syzygy]

1 hour ago, pherank said:

It does seem that the instigators behind the letter were pushing ahead with their agenda regardless of who stood in their way (or didn't just go along with the scheme).
What could go wrong?
 

Ha! Exactly, what could go wrong? Very strange...

[canbelto]

I'm stunned that someone thought in this day and age that it would work.

[Syzygy]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:17 PM, canbelto said:

I'm stunned that someone thought in this day and age that it would work.

As am I!

Maybe you saw it, but Laura Cappelle wrote an op-ed in response for Dance Magazine called "The Letter to Lyon Opera Ballet Shows How Much Further We Have to Go to Support #MeToo Victims."

[sandik]

I hadn't seen the response, so many thanks for the link.  I was listening today to a report about a member of the French national government who is resigning his position after having been outed in an extra-marital relationship -- the general consensus was that this was highly unusual for the French, who generally do not delve into the private lives of public people.  It seems that things are shifting.

 

Quote

Not only is it fairly obvious that Marion had a legal case, but the French courts sided with her—twice. In 2017, Loukos was handed a suspended six-month prison sentence for "workplace discrimination" and "harassment." The appeal judgement, in December, only found him guilty of discrimination, and sentenced him to a fine and damages.

Until that final court decision two months ago, Loukos had suffered no consequences. By all accounts, he wasn't professionally affected; while Marion found herself unemployed, he was able to continue in his prestigious position for six years.

Even after the #MeToo movement, there is deep suspicion in France of any sanctions imposed outside the (notoriously slow) justice system, and officials have dragged their feet about several publicized cases involving powerful men at the helm of artistic institutions.

 

[silvermash]

14 hours ago, sandik said:

I hadn't seen the response, so many thanks for the link.  I was listening today to a report about a member of the French national government who is resigning his position after having been outed in an extra-marital relationship -- the general consensus was that this was highly unusual for the French, who generally do not delve into the private lives of public people.  It seems that things are shifting.

 

 

Well it not quite the story. It's Macron's candidate for the election of Mayor of Paris and videos of him masturbating were shown on a website and later on twitter. He withdrew  his candidacy.

[sandik]

8 hours ago, silvermash said:

Well it not quite the story. It's Macron's candidate for the election of Mayor of Paris and videos of him masturbating were shown on a website and later on twitter. He withdrew  his candidacy.

I think we may be talking about two separate people. 

[silvermash]

Really? I don't see who you are talking about then. People from this government are more resigning because of conflicts of interest...

[sandik]

I was thinking about Francois Hollande, and the unexpected objections to his relationship with Julie Gayet, but that was several years ago.  Not really that germane to the topic here.