Women are obviously at the forefront of the art form. Hence the famous quote from the founder of the New York City Ballet. George Balanchine himself always made the ballerina the star, and the men were placed there just to serve her. Also, most 'normal' people (aka non ballet dancers) visualize a ballerina as a woman in a tutu with her pointe shoes, not a male in tights. Let's also take note here, that there really isn't a name for a male ballet dancer in the English language. There is only the word 'ballerina,' and it is meant for the fairer sex.
However, being that ballet is centered around the ballerina, how come there aren't a lot of females in leadership positions? Where are the female directors and female choreographers? The ballet world is mainly run by males. This issue is also more pronounced in the ballet world than in other forms of dance. Ballet is stuck in the past, and we need to push it forward into the 21st Century.
The discussion of gender is obviously a hot button issue nowadays. I already discussed the issue of gender within the ballet world with an earlier post about English National Ballet's first gender fluid ballerina. This was a discussion about gender fluidity. This current post is different. In this post, I would like to focus specifically on females and their leadership roles within the art form, or lack there of. The #MeToo movement brought the discussion of gender into our homes and also into our theaters. Now the ballet world needs to hold the mirror up to nature and needs to address their issues head on. And one of the biggest issues, is the lack of female choreographers.
Who knows how we got here. Especially because back in the early days of ballet, there were influential females running the ballet world. For example, Catherine de Medici (wife of King Henry II of France) is credited with bringing ballet from Italy to France. If it wasn't for her influence and her generous patronage, King Henry XVI (The Sun King) would never have discovered the art form and it may have never developed into what it is today.
Catherine de Medici
There were also multiple influential female choreographers in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. And that is saying a lot because women just earned their most basic civil rights in America in the 1920s. However, women were taken more seriously as choreographers then, than they are now in the 21st Century.
Interesting right?
In the 1920s there was Bronislava Nijinska, who was a famous female choreographer with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Nijinska amongst the other greats from that era, like Balanchine, helped create the new movement that formed the neoclassical movement within the art form.
Bronislava Nijinska
In Michael Cooper's article for The New York Times "Breaking the Glass Slipper: Where are the Female Choreographers?", he mentions other influential female choreographers like Ninette de Valois (pictured left) from the 1930s, and Agnes de Mille (pictured below) from the 1940s. Both created influential works that still exist today, especially Agnes de Mille. Her work Rodeo for American Ballet Theater is a pivotal work that is still performed by the company she created it on, and other companies throughout the world. 
Since the 1940s, there has been an overflow of male choreographers and barely any female choreographers following in the footsteps of their female predecessors. The hot new choreographers in the ballet world right now are Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmanksy, and Christopher Wheeldon. There are females trying to burst into the business but these three males have a stronghold and they are controlling the scene. Don't get me wrong, they all equally deserve the praise and attention because their choreography has proven to be fantastic and game-changing, but they have a monopoly that is preventing other females from earning the commissions. How do we fix that? Well there are three female choreographers that have made their mark, and I believe their new success is worth analyzing, to see if we can learn from them.
- Crystal Pite: Crystal danced with Ballet Frankfurt while William Forsythe was the director, so obviously he must have been a big influence on her and her choreography. She made her first ballet in 2002 and created her most popular ballet Emergence for the National Ballet of Canada in 2009. This award winning ballet is so popular, that it has been danced by many other major ballet companies.
Pacific Northwest Ballet performing Crystal Pite's Emergence
- Annabelle Lopez Ochoa: Annabelle has created works for 50 different major dance companies all over the world. Her most notable work is probably her first full-length ballet Streetcar that was both critically acclaimed and won awards as well. She is debatably, the most sought after female choreographer in the ballet world right now.
Scottish Ballet performs Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Streetcar
- Lauren Lovette: Lauren is worth mentioning because at the young age of 26 and all the while dancing full time as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, she has already choreographed two major works at NYCB along with other notable works for schools and festivals. She is just starting out, but she is a force to reckon with.
Lauren Lovette discusses being a choreographer
What all three of these women have in common, is that they were given a platform to explore their creativity. They were given a chance. They were nurtured by other choreographers. Also, some male choreographers actually used their male privilege to push their female protégés forward. We need to learn from this and we need to give more chances to other female choreographers.
And you know what? Some companies are actually listening. Several companies (hopefully it was for reasons other than good press) are starting their own choreographic initiatives that focus exclusively on female choreographers.
American Ballet Theater announced in May that they plan to create The ABT Women's Movement which will support at least three new female choreographers each season. This grew out of an initiative that they already had which had already supported works by Lauren Lovette and other female choreographers. Even though this initiative is still in its early stages, it is promising. Especially since American Ballet Theater housed the famous Agnes de Mille, they needs to step it up and fill the void that she left behind with fresh new female talent.
New York City Ballet is another company that started a female choreographer initiative after being panned in the press when their 2015 fall season featured five new choreographers that were all white and male. Since that wake up call, they developed a new initiative through their Choreographic Institute and The School of American Ballet. They are starting them young and nurturing the talent while the young women are still at the school, and still developing themselves as dancers and creative beings.
It's a start but there is so much more to go. At least the dialogue has started. We also need to stop making excuses as for why there aren't many female choreographers. An article published in The New York Times by Gia Kourlas asked many leaders within the dance world both male and female why there is an absence of female choreographers and the answers were just one excuse after another. We need to stop pushing the blame onto others and take responsibility for our mistakes and push forward.
Diversity of voices is key in any art form. Diversity of backgrounds and opinions can push any work of art to the next level. The female perspective is also important and should be valued in the ballet world. Because females are at the forefront of the art form they need to take charge of the narrative. It should be "ballet is woman" instead of "ballet is man's version of woman" as Pam Tonawitz (a female choreographer) has been quoted.
Everybody can lend a helping hand to fix this issue. We can look to role models from the past like Catherine de Medici, Bronislava Nijinska, Ninette de Valois, and Agnes de Mille. We can look at the female choreographers from the 21st Century like Lauren Lovette, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Crystal Pite and follow their example. Male Choreographers like Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky can use their influence to nurture future talent. Directors of companies can take a chance on a female choreographers and dancers can treat them with the respect they deserve.
All in all, I am happy the discussion has started. It means the change is starting. The most important thing is to keep the art form alive and to fill those seats with patrons every night. The art form needs to adapts to 21st Century audiences or it will die out when it's audience dies out. A way they can do that, is by incorporating diverse voices and diverse experiences on the stages every night, especially in New York. Everything on the New York stage needs to reflect the diversity of that great city. And right now, we are falling short.
