Abi Stafford on anxiety, losing performance opportunities

[Syzygy]

Abi Stafford wrote an essay for Dance Magazine to give some insight into her anxiety disorder—as well her thoughts on how companies could help dancers deal the the stresses of the job. Her concrete solutions feel a bit like a brainstorm draft ("Artistic management could send out anonymous surveys to assess what areas need improvement. Companies could hold talk-back sessions with dancers to open up the lines of communication about what's working and what's not."), but still, I found this to be a quick, interesting read for someone wondering how losing a performance opportunity might feel for an NYCB principal. 

 

 

[ECat]

@Syzygy Thank you os much for sharing this.  What a wonderfully honest essay she has written.  Hopefully her openness will inspire others to talk more about this prevalent issue.  Just this morning I was listening to an older podcast episode of The Wonderful Dance and Ballet Podcast about this very topic.  The episode is from 9/22/2019.  Definitely worth a listen.

[Dale]

A very heartfelt essay. One thing that has happened in this quarantine time is that while companies aren't performing, there's been a lot of change. From the BLM movement that challenged leadership to take diversity and talented Black dancers seriously, to talk about what it means to be in dancing shape and now also mental health. I hope companies step up to provide support in this area. 

[Syzygy]

1 hour ago, Dale said:

From the BLM movement that challenged leadership to take diversity and talented Black dancers seriously, to talk about what it means to be in dancing shape and now also mental health. I hope companies step up to provide support in this area. 

Beautifully said. 

[pherank]

The key points for me -

"There needs to be more mental health support within dance companies. Psychological services should be made available to all dancers and artistic staff—including ballet masters."

"Overall, everyone needs to listen more."

Yep.

Athletics and the performing arts are very much cultures of the ready and willing. When people say, "the show must go on!" it is a call for participants to step up, and if one happens to be a person that has any sort of difficulty showing up and performing at a professional level (whether physically, emotionally or psychologically), then one is going to struggle. And require assistance (and so one becomes "a handful"). Anyone who can just be there when needed, and make it all happen on cue is going to have a decided advantage. If nothing else, the dancer gets to be called a company workhorse. Being reliable goes a long ways in such industries. An oil painter can get away with unreliability to a much greater extent than a stage performer since the work process happens mostly out of the public eye and doesn't depend upon set schedules to the same degree. So anything that can be done to enhance a dancer's confidence and enthusiasm for the job is going to improve their reliability - and that should benefit the entire company.

Edited October 13, 2020 by pherank

[abatt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/03/arts/dance/abi-jonathan-stafford-city-ballet.html

Article about Abi Stafford's family feud and her demands from the company to compensate her for emotional distress.   I found the portion discussing Ratmansky's decisions regarding her casting during her final season particularly interesting, because he was always a supporter.  He gave her important roles in Russian Seasons and Namouna.

Edited May 3, 2022 by abatt

[JuliaJ]

Some thoughts.

This article does not shine a positive light on Abi at all, in my opinion. It sounds like she just couldn't accept that her performance abilities were declining. Other principal dancers got more roles because all of them were (or still are) better dancers overall. From my view, her weight was never the issue. Some particularly cringey points:

• Telling the NYT that she got mad at Jonathan for announcing his engagement on her birthday -- really? 
• Telling the NYT that she was bitter when her younger siblings decided to pursue ballet because it was HER thing!
• Asking for $200,000 in compensation because Ratmansky held her to a high standard in his work, and her feelings were hurt
• This passage (emphasis added): "In an interview she said that she had grown frustrated after she asked Ms. Whelan to learn new roles, and was told she was not right for them. “The one thing that she said to me was that was really disturbing or upsetting was, she said, ‘We’re trying to do what’s right by the ballets.’” Ms. Lillo said she retorted, “What about the dancers?”" Disturbing or upsetting? This just sounds delusional. New York City Ballet is a ballet company obligated to put on performances of the highest quality. Of course it's about the ballets! All dancers should be treated with dignity and respect but at the end of the day, nobody is "entitled" to be casted when they aren't suited to the roles. 

Overall, yikes. This might be worse than the time Ashley Bouder complained to the NYT that Peter Martins gave Sterling Hyltin opening night of Sleeping Beauty instead of her. It shows poor judgement to talk to the press about certain internal or family disputes and not realize how incredibly petty the grievances sound to the outside world. 

All of this gives me even more appreciation for class-act dancers like Reichlen and Hyltin who are able to retire with grace while still in their primes. (Not that I want to see Hyltin go!!!!)

Edited May 3, 2022 by JuliaJ

[ASL]

Seriously? You have no idea what I went through. I understand you have your own opinions, but please have some compassion.  Thank you.

[nanushka]

I agree with many of your points, @JuliaJ. I too was especially struck by the "really disturbing or upsetting" claim, and by the additional $200,000 ask.

Even as a non-dancer, I'm well aware that a female dancer's strength and technique are crucial to making partnering happen successfully. It's not all about a man lifting a woman's inert body, however light or heavy that body may be. Knowing that, I don't see why Ratmansky's message ("There is a lot of partnering in the piece and it should look effortless. The men were struggling.") should be read as "body shaming." It was a (presumably) factual statement about the challenges other dancers were having in partnering her.

Edited May 3, 2022 by nanushka

[Balletwannabe]

ASL this is a discussion board so there is going to be criticism.  I know what it's like to go through trauma, and my advice to you is to stop coming to this website to read what people are saying about you.  Take care of yourself.  You're right, no one knows what you've been through, and no one will ever understand, no matter how many times you try and defend yourself.  You owe no one an explanation.

[Drew]

For those who saw Restless Creature, there is some irony in the role Whelan (inevitably) now finds herself playing.

There is no way to adjudicate the ending of dancers' careers for fans reading about it--and maybe not even for those insiders who are watching it close up. There are too many variables.

For myself, I have no idea what happened between Abby Stafford and her brother or what shape she was in for her final season as a dancer.  I saw her dance some warm, lovely performances at various points earlier in her career -- one or two others that I criticized for sure and on this website. What is certain is that under the best of circumstances it is very hard to come to the end of one's ballet career. And I do believe that between the pandemic and the change in company leadership as she was approaching retirement Stafford was facing less than the best circumstances.  (Adding a fraught family relationship to the mix can't have helped....)

Wishing her huge success as a lawyer!

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Drew

[Drew]

Quick postscript to my last post to say that there is another discussion of this under NYCB...

[BalanchineFan]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:07 AM, Drew said:

Quick postscript to my last post to say that there is another discussion of this under NYCB...

I think that discussion was moved to this location. 

The whole retirement grievance thing reminds me of a Lincoln Kirstein quote that I found when I had first joined a dance company. I'm not sure what book it was, but it must have been a collection of his writing, or a history of NYCB. I was struggling, unexpectedly and deeply, and what he said put my situation into a very helpful context:

"entering a professional dance company is a crisis in any career, equal in its severity to the moment when a dancer feels he or she must retire. Both are the ultimate facing and stretching of responsibility and personal possibility."

Lincoln Kirstein

I think these dynamics get played out again and again in a large company. Every dancer faces it, deals with it, each in their different ways. There are films about retirement (Jack Nicholson and Robert DeNiro come to mind) and dance documentaries; Merrill Ashley and Wendy Whelan docmented their retirements. It's a crisis even when the dancer/management relationship starts out fairly harmonious.