The Negative Influence Of Women In Ballet

Women cover the stage of every ballet production and grace the audience with their artistry. However, where can the women be found outside the theater? Men can be found in charge of all the tier ballet companies across the United States like American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Houston Ballet. Choreographic works from men like Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, and Alexei Ratmansky are constantly being used and restaged by major companies as well. Despite George Balanchine’s famous words, “The principle of classical ballet is woman,” men have taken over many of the ranks. The lack of female choreographers in ballet is shocking and needs to be addressed, in order to create equal opportunities for men and women

who want to choreograph. Emery LeCrone said, “Choreography shouldn’t be a gender issue. It should be a talent issue. There are great women’s voices yet to be heard.” Awareness of this issue within the ballet world will help increase the number of women choreographers that are actively working with ballet companies. In addition to awareness, a change in curriculum that includes choreography would be beneficial in order to educate both genders on how to pursue a career outside of the stage.
It is shocking to realize how little of a presence female choreographers have in the dance world, despite how dependent ballet is on women.

Without women in ballet there would be no corps de ballet to fill the stage and intrigue audiences because of their perfect lines and timing of every movement. Neither ballet nor modern companies have been helpful in supporting new female choreographers or giving them any exposure at all. In 2012, it had been 13 years since the Royal Ballet had a women choreograph a main stage work. At San Francisco Ballet, as of 2012, they had not performed a work by a woman in 5 years. A resident choreographer at Smuin Ballet researched what all the major companies were performing in an upcoming season, and it turned out that less than 10 percent of the choreographers were women. Yet there are still male choreographers who refuse acknowledge the lack of female choreographers in the dance

world.
It is made clear through research that the ratio of female choreographers to male is not equal; to not acknowledge this imbalance would be wrong. However Brian Books, a featured modern choreographer has another opinion on the lack of female choreographers. In his response to being asked if men outnumber women in modern dance he responded with “I absolutely, 100 percent disagree with the statement that there are more male choreographers than female. Who is saying this and why? If you collected all the programs from all the dance performances in America for one year, I am certain that the female names listed under ‘choreography by’ would outnumber the male names at least 10 to 1.” Sadly, this is untrue based upon all previous research that says differently. Major ballet companies are notorious for only performing works choreographed by males. This is simply because but they are used to the tradition of the classical ballets and it happens that all classical ballets like Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Giselle are choreographed by men.
Sexism in dance stems from how girls are brought up in class and in rehearsals.

In an 1994 interview with women choreographers, “Anna Laerkesen, a former dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet who went on to choreograph for the company, attributes it to girls’ upbringing, which stresses “the reproductive side more than the creative side”: “the emphasis on how you look and what your body can do has had a suppressing effect. It was in the air that you had to be a good girl, and being a good girl meant performing, not creating. Girls have just as much a creative side as boys, but it is not developed” (Meglin and Brooks 4). Boys from the start of their training are more encouraged because of the significantly smaller amount of boys that are involved in ballet. Choreographer Emery LeCrone believes, “Ballet’s women have a regimented route to success, whereas the male ballet dancer is celebrated as a rarity,” (Fuhrer). Therefore, teachers are more apt to support boys in every way they can. In ways to inspire more girls to get involved in choreography, Lang suggested, “We need to add creative courses to the ballet curriculum, so we can develop young artists who think creatively instead of just seeing their bodies as tools,” she says. A ballet dancer is not going to lose her turnout if she plays around in a composition class for an hour. But that class will help her establish an open mindset, so she’s not inhibited and afraid.”Amy Seiwert, a modern choreographer, believes “If we get

young girls more comfortable with actively making choices, instead of just teaching them how to point their feet on count three—that will only increase their value as performing artists. They’ll learn how to take charge of their artistic development,” (Fuhrer). Incorporating choreography into a dancer’s training would be incredibly beneficial to the dancer. The dancer, given the proper tools, would have the ability to create and still improve their dancing simultaneously. Also, as a dancer, there is a possibility of getting injured at any moment and choreography is way to still create movement without harming your body.
A panel that took place 2010 called “The Glass Slipper Ceiling” consisted of the only four women in charge of second tier ballet companies at the time. “Speakers included Stoner Winslett (founding artistic director of Richmond Ballet) , Victoria Morgan (CEO and artistic director of Cincinnati Ballet), Celia Fushille (artistic director of Smuin Ballet), Dorothy Gunther Pugh (founder and artistic director of Ballet Memphis), Anna Kisselgoff (former dance critic of the New York Times), and Andrea Snyder (executive director of Dance/USA)” (Meglin and Brooks 2). The women were asked how they dealt with working in a field where men have a strong presence and where their opinions are not as valued as men. They all admitted to have experienced exclusion during conferences and professional meetings when they first stepped into a leadership role. It is disgraceful that in a world that without women ballet would not exist, but women still experience sexism and prejudice towards them.
Female artistic directors face the same issues that female choreographers face. They both struggle to break the borders as a female in a business dominated by men. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is a contemporary choreographer who has had experience with dealing with similar but also different issues as her job description is differs from an artistic director. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has created a multitude of works for The Washington Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, and many other dance companies in her career. However when beginning her career as a choreographer she experienced the difficulties of transitioning from being a dancer all her life to a choreographer. As a classical ballet dancer, initially she was not trained in choreography; she realized along with other women that she lacked the tools to succeed. Ochoa acknowledged that men who are interested in pursuing choreography have a much higher chance of being successful from the start, because of the lack of choreographic training that girls receive. When making her transition from a ballet dancer to a choreographer, she realized how much harder it is for a contemporary choreographer to be noticed by ballet companies and the same for a classical choreographer. It took her many years to finally be noticed and to be validated by companies that appreciated her work. Ochoa is among many other contemporary choreographers who have struggled with the repercussions of becoming a female choreography in a dance world filled with men dominating the stage.
If major ballet companies around the world began actively incorporating female choreographers into their shows every season a trend would start. Many women artistic directors of companies like Cincinnati Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Miami City Ballet have outspoken on this issue and have done their job as women in charge. Just recently in April, Dayton Ballet, a small ballet company in Ohio run by Karen Russo Burke, created a performance called “the Female Factor” where every piece in the program was choreographed by a woman. The show included works from Gina Patterson, Jessica Lang, Susanne Payne, and Karen Russo Burke. Their works spanned from neoclassical, contemporary ballet to modern dance. This show is an example of how other ballet companies can incorporate more female’s works into their repertoire. In order to create more jobs for female choreographers, companies have to actively add diversity to their play bill. If that continues alongside encouraging young boys and girls to explore and create choreography I believe that will make a large difference in the ballet world.