ENB - article in The Times

[Aruna S]

I've always been a fan of Tamara Rojo, both as a dancer and as someone who has done a lot of good for ENB. However I feel that in the current circumstances, a proper external investigation is called for, in everybody's interests. Perhaps especially in Ms Rojo's interest. Sweeping things under the carpet and pretending that everything in the garden is lovely is doing nobody any favours.

[aileen]

I'm not going to comment further on this thread or any other thread.

[MellissaHuntsley]

fo·rum

ˈfôrəm/

noun

1. 1. 

   a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.

    

[LinMM]

Aileen have tried to send you a message ( friendly one) but your page isn't accepting them perhaps your message inbox is full??

[LinMM]

And Mellissa Huntsley I think we all know what the word Forum means Thankyou very much!!

[Anna C]

29 minutes ago, MellissaHuntsley said:

fo·rum

ˈfôrəm/

noun

1. 1. 

   a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.

    

 

....as long as members abide by the rules of the forum in question, to which they agree when they join. 

[Timmie]

I wish I hadn't read this thread .

I just like watching ballet.

[Timmie]

2 hours ago, LinMM said:

And Mellissa Huntsley I think we all know what the word Forum means Thankyou very much!!

 

Definitely worth a big LOL 

[tabitha]

Tamara was a great dancer, but that doesn’t make her a great manager. I wonder what training she has had, if any, for her current role. I would expect any AD or CEO in these circumstances to commission an external investigator to do a full governance review at the company.

 

[bangorballetboy]

41 minutes ago, tabitha said:

I would expect any AD or CEO in these circumstances to commission an external investigator to do a full governance review at the company.

 

 

I would expect that to be within the remit of the board of trustees, if they have any concerns in that regard.

[Ian Macmillan]

Pardon my exasperation, but is there anyone who has anything at all new and substantiated, that could be put here under a full name, such that we might end this dispiriting round of allegation, innuendo, wishful thinking, and waffle, however heartfelt?  There is no 'solution' to whatever situation now existing at ENB that is going to emerge here.  

[li tai po]

Aileen asks what outcome the ‘whistleblowers’ are seeking.

 

The primary desire of victims of abuse is to be listened to and to be believed.  I doubt they have any aims beyond this.

 

I was very saddened when I read the account on the Ballet Position website.  I found the description of public humiliation in the studio particularly distressing.  This is not acceptable in the 21^st century.  The daily unpredictability of screaming or silent treatment also speaks volumes.

 

The website makes it clear that they have spoken to twelve dancers past and present, as well as support staff, and had sight of relevant documents.  These are not just opinions sent from the cowardice of anonymity, as Lizbie1 would have us believe.  I am sure that present dancers would step forward and speak openly to an independent investigation.

 

There is clearly a problem within ENB, which needs to be resolved.  If the Trustees sweep it under the carpet, it will break out again.  They need to allow a proper independent investigation to take place, in which employees past and present are able to speak freely of their concerns.  The Trustees must then take action to set up proper controls within the organisation to protect their staff and decide whether the existing management is capable of working within such controls or whether the organisation should move a new solution.

 

Human resources are intended to bring out the best work ethic of the employees and therefore make a move to a better working environment.  The Trustees should ensure that human resources provide a safe environment for employees to express their concerns, without fear of retribution.  Staff of any organisation have the right to be safe at work.

 

Today the Government and the Charity Commission called Oxfam to account, because they were apparently failing to deal with abuse within the organisation.  It is time to call the Trustees of ENB to account in the same way.

[grey]

19 hours ago, Erica said:

The only fact in these libels is that Tamara and Isaac are togethre, the rest are opinions sent from the cowardice of anonymity and, therefore, whoever publishes them without verifying the opinion of those denounced is doing tendentious and sensationalist journalism or pursuing shameful spurious goals.

 

3 hours ago, li tai po said:

These are not just opinions sent from the cowardice of anonymity, as Lizbie1 would have us believe.  I am sure that present dancers would step forward and speak openly to an independent investigation. way.

 

I believe you've confused Lizbie1 with Erica.

 

[Lizbie1]

2 hours ago, grey said:

 

 

I believe you've confused Lizbie1 with Erica.

 

 

Thank you

 

I think the views I've expressed so far have been quite otherwise!

Edited February 13, 2018 by Lizbie1

[li tai po]

Lisbie1, my fulsome apologies.  I should have referred to Erica.  

[Lizbie1]

No problem

[GailR]

12 hours ago, tabitha said:

Tamara was a great dancer, but that doesn’t make her a great manager. I wonder what training she has had, if any, for her current role. I would expect any AD or CEO in these circumstances to commission an external investigator to do a full governance review at the company.

 

I don’t want to enter this debate, but I seem to remember that Tamara took a sabbatical from the RB to shadow an AD in Canada, possibly Karen Kain.

[Ian Macmillan]

She did indeed, for some months as I recall, and it was with Karen Kain.

[Odyssey]

I have followed this thread from the initial report through the many contributions now on its ninth page. There has been hardly anything that can be described as news for sometime and I  share the view that it has been raked over to the point where there is nothing more to say. Would that the thread could be closed until anything that is real news emerges. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by Odyssey

[Guest]

On 2/12/2018 at 09:47, Erica said:

The only fact in these libels is that Tamara and Isaac are togethre, the rest are opinions sent from the cowardice of anonymity 

 

I believe that both The Times and the blogger would have taken the precaution of 'triangulating' the evidence before them - on other words, making sure that what they were reporting was coming from a variety of sources and that there was some supporting written evidence as well.

 

I think that il tai po has summarised the position admirably. It would be good if the ENB Board were to read this thread.

 

 

[Jan McNulty]

Coming from Liverpool I have no faith whatsoever in newspapers from that group verify anything.

[Pas de Quatre]

I believe Tamara Rojo shadowing Karen Kain was part of the Clore Leadership Programme.

[Sharon]

4 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Coming from Liverpool I have no faith whatsoever in newspapers from that group verify anything.

Obviously I would agree with that also Jan, usually,  but I have been told,  by two popular ex dancers,  of the problems within the company mostly due to the Rojo/Hernandez relationship.

[capybara]

 This interview has just been posted on Facebook: 

https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/tamara-rojo-on-the-english-national-ballet-and-how-isaac-hernandez-makes-her-feel-lucky-a3776631.html

[MAX]

“I highly recommend it.”

 

Am I the only one to find this a bit grotesque and ridiculous  ?   Come on we really do not care about Mrs Rojo's personal life.

 

What I am more concerned about is the following :

 

“People had left, yes, but we felt it was explicable because a lot of change had been going on. We didn’t feel it was unnatural, that there was anything to be concerned about.” 

 

Not concerned about so many departures ?  In french we call that " faire l'autruche " (turn a blind eye)....  

Edited February 28, 2018 by MAX

[Sharon]

I thought the same. After so many of us stated that it wasn't her relationship with Hernandez that was the problem, I don't care who or how old her boyfriend is, it was the condition for the dancers that concerned me. But the interview was eager to speak this relationship in that particular way and speak of Hernandez's ballet competition wins - even though it wasn't Prix, Varna or YAGP. The basic complaints were not addressed in this interview. Well played Miss Rojo.

[MAB]

As well as the two page spread in the Evening Standard I'm told there is a summary of Rojo's interview on page 9 of the Telegraph today.  Seems to me like an exercise in damage limitation. and saying any unrest is entirely due to her relationship with Hernandez strikes me as a diversion tactic,   She is of course a personal friend of the Standard's editor, George Osborne. a fact she has never concealed.

 

Rojo claims she was taken aback by the criticism of her.  It seems an apology won't be forthcoming.

[Sharon]

Yes Mab I agree - as I said before, well played Miss Rojo......

[Guest]

Some important thoughts from the ES article about...empathy. 'And I’ve always believed that the more rounded you are...the more empathy you’ll have...'

Edited March 1, 2018 by Darlex

[Guest]

But not as well-played as Rojo might have hoped, I feel, not least because both The Times and The Daily Telegraph have repeated the accusations levelled against her management of the ENB dancers.

 

It is difficult to understand (ref. the Standard interview) why she feels bemused by the criticisms and (ref. the Telegraph as well) why she didn't feel that there was anything to be concerned about when so many dancers were leaving. By all accounts, including references on this forum, messages were writ loud and clear in a dancers' survey over a year ago, but not acted upon. Yet Rojo speaks about empathy..........

 

I agree with MAX. Noone has criticised her relationship with Hernandez per se. That has become a bit of a smoke-screen.

 

I just hope that whatever is wrong will be sorted now, that the dancers will be happy and that the company will thrive.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Guest

[Anna C]

I found the point about dancing while injured very interesting.  A mention of having invested in better facilities and flooring, followed by "well I danced on with a burst appendix".  

 

Personally, I read into that "I ignored injury, so why can't everyone else" which in 2018 is NOT the sort of message dancers and students should be given.  

[MAB]

1 hour ago, Anna C said:

I found the point about dancing while injured very interesting.  A mention of having invested in better facilities and flooring, followed by "well I danced on with a burst appendix".  

 

Personally, I read into that "I ignored injury, so why can't everyone else" which in 2018 is NOT the sort of message dancers and students should be given.  

 

Exactly.  What she is describing is personal choice.  There are injuries sustained on stage that totally prevent a dancer from continuing and others where the dancer can decide to carry on in spite of what must be excruciating pain.  What is reported to have happened at ENB is dancers having that choice taken away from them.

[alison]

1 hour ago, Anna C said:

I found the point about dancing while injured very interesting.  A mention of having invested in better facilities and flooring, followed by "well I danced on with a burst appendix".  

 

Personally, I read into that "I ignored injury, so why can't everyone else" which in 2018 is NOT the sort of message dancers and students should be given.  

 

Just to quibble here, but the burst appendix part preceded the better facilities part by quite a way, which may change the angle of the story.  Plus, of course, a burst appendix is not an injury in the dance sense of the term: she said it felt like stomach ache, and the company doctor was obviously consulted.  If I recall correctly - and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - the performance in question was Michael Corder's Cinderella at the Coliseum and she was dancing one of the Season Fairies, so there might not have been that much left to do unless it happened before her solo.  I'd be more concerned about the sprain, but there are sprains and sprains, and as MAB said, it was her personal choice (her first performance with the Royal Ballet - and took place immediately before the summer holidays, allowing recovery time if needed), and a lot of dancers do dance on injuries rather than miss out on role chances, which may be fine if it's their choice, although it can of course lead to long-term problems, and is not to be recommended.  From the sprain, she goes on to admit that she's always been demanding on herself, "But not on others, she says."

 

The wording of the bit about new flooring is a bit strange, though, as it rather implies that the dancers were just dancing on ordinary boards before that!  I've danced in both main studios at ENB on numerous occasions, and would certainly have said they were already sprung, although of course I'm no expert    Possibly the new ones are simply better sprung.