FEMALE CHOREOGRAPHERS IS THERE A PROBLEM?

[FLOSS]

Should we be as worried as some of the media seem to be about the lack of female choreographers invited to make ballets for the bigger companies? The BBC seemed to be concerned on the PM programme today.However in reality the item could have been interpreted as little more than an attempt to give ENB'S efforts in that area a bit of context so that it appeared to be a story rather than a puff.

 

Now I know that of the many choreographers who have worked in the art over the centuries there are few whose works are still in the repertory.There have been female choreographers who have created masterpieces Nijinska is the most obvious example but she is not alone.Other female choreographers who have made great works include Martha Graham whose works were incredibly effective on some dancers and Twyla Tharpe whose best works are outstanding but whose works are extremely variable in their effectiveness.Then there is Andre Howard who was not exactly been well served by the Royal Ballet's revival of La Fete Etrange and who,because the bulk of her works have been lost,it is impossible to evaluate.

 

Do forum members believe that female choreographers have grounds for complaint because they do not receive encouragement when starting out and don't receive commissions once they are established or is it a more general problem which applies to a wide range of people who don't fit the stereotype of what a choreographer looks like ?

Edited August 25, 2015 by FLOSS

[zxDaveM]

Probably so. Cathy Marston was seemingly only allowed into ROH with her company from Berne (in the Linbury), whose performances I liked a lot. Kristen McNally should be given more chances. In the more contemporary world, Crystal Pite's work was among the most striking I have seen over the last couple of years, and yet other male choreographers got main stage commissions at ROH. They must get her on board soon I hope.

The ENB's women only bill could be interesting, if they are good works, rather than tokenistic. I'd prefer to see a bill constructed of 3-4 already successful works showcasing what women choreographers have done perhaps, or a mix of success and new. There again, if they don't get a chance to produce it, then it has no chance of being a success in the first place.

[John Mallinson]

Two duplicates of this thread removed.

[trog]

The BRB has Twyla Tharp's "In The Upper Room" (which I detest) and Jessica Lang's "Lyric Pieces" (which I love) which I think the company commissioned. It was commissioned for the 2012 Birmingham International Dance Festival. They have also performed some short pieces choreographed by the dancers (both genders).

[Ian Macmillan]

I have lamented the RB's reluctance/refusal to commission anything from Cathy Marston ever since the end of her Artist in Residence years back in the days of ROH2 under Deborah Bull.  Indeed, I even recall overhearing Ross Stretton say words on the lines of "Some interesting things there" to Monica Mason as they left the Clore or Linbury after one of her earliest shows - but that led nowhere, and I've long since accepted that the RB door is closed.  I'm sure that any statistical survey would conclude that there is a 'problem' regarding female choreographers, and Observer critic and writer Luke Jennings has written at length on the subject more than once:

 

In 2013:  http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/28/women-choreographers-glass-ceiling

 

In 2015:  https://thirdcast.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/female-choreographers-further-thoughts/

 

There may well have been other articles that I can't find right now.

[FLOSS]

Given the number of girls who are recorded as receiving choreographic awards while at the Royal Ballet School it is strange that few of them seem to continue with choreography.Perhaps one of the problems for them is that as far as the nineteenth century ballets are concerned the female members of the corps have far more to do than their male counterparts, and great deal to learn during their first two seasons.Tiredness and lack of time could well be factors in their lack of development as choreographers.Then there is the question of what support and opportunities young,would be,choreographers are given today? At one time Leslie Edwards and David Drew were involved in encouraging choreographic enterprise with Sunday evening performances.I have no idea whether such activities are possible today.

 

Then of course there is talent and talent.Some have facility and the ability to reproduce the currently fashionable style of movement or a sort of sub Balanchine style and then there is the choreographer who even from a really early stage has their own voice and ideas which remain clear even when he or she is experimenting with other people's choreographic clothes.

 

I agree that the choice of choreographers commissioned to make works for the main stage, can sometimes,be something of a mystery.The problem is that we would probably all pick a different choreographer and work as the one that should not be there.If a company is committed to raising the profile of female choreographers it needs, it seems to me, to take a two pronged approach.It needs to programme a mixed bill of successful pieces and then commission a new work from one or two of the best female choreographers currently working .As far as new choreographers are concerned it needs to provide support and advice for those making new works.

 

I do sometimes wonder whether,as with much else, there is a sink or swim attitude towards young choreographers whether they are male or female.As both Ashton and MacMillan benefited from the advice of others at the outset of their careers not to make advice and support available to those who want it at a similar stage is a mistake. Of course Ashton was lucky in his early adviser as Marie Rambert a very cultured and knowledgeable woman who had a Midas touch when it came to identifying and developing young choreographers. MacMillan was lucky to have Cranko in his early career.The point is that neither was above seeking support and assistance and they both did so later on in their careers. Ashton listened to Fedorovich's advice on Symphonic Variations and in at least one later ballet checked that the mime sequences were comprehensible, while MacMillan used a dramaturg in at least two of his ballets.

 

It will be interesting to see what comes of this initiative and whether the Royal Ballet takes some action in response.They could mount an all female choreographer programme next season of a Nijinska ballet,La Fete Etrange and either something by de Valois or an established work by Marston or Pita followed in the next season by a new commission. Somehow I don't see it happening. I just can't see a new Marriott work or a new MacGregor work being sacrificed to the cause of female choreographers.Can you?

Edited August 26, 2015 by FLOSS

[Jan McNulty]

Of course, BRB has also commissioned 2 short works from company member Ruth Brill, the second of which was, after its premiere at Symphony Hall, seen on Midscale South this year.

 

But that doesn't mean that female choreographers get an equal crack at the whip.

[barton22]

In the more contemporary world, Crystal Pite's work was among the most striking I have seen over the last couple of years, and yet other male choreographers got main stage commissions at ROH. They must get her on board soon I hope.

I am pretty sure that Pite will end up working with the Royal Ballet before long.  I agree with you on the quality of her work; it is so rare nowadays for choreographers to come up with something original and not just look like they are channeling McGregor.

[alison]

Didn't we have a thread on a similar subject, possibly in response to one of Luke Jennings' pieces?  I can't find it now, though.

 

I'm sure that the relative amounts of time that male and female dancers have on their hands must be a factor in all this. 

[Sim]

I am re-posting ToThePointe's interview with Charlotte Edmonds from June of this year. Charlotte is the first young choreographer in the RB's new initiative, and I think it is a positive step that Kevin O'Hare invited a woman to occupy this position first.

 

Charlotte has some interesting things to say about the female choreographer question.

 

http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/9833-tothepointe-meets-charlotte-edmonds/