TWSB Nutcracker 2023!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread with great fascination, giving thanks that I have 3 boys.

Hey there are boy dancers! I am also interested and love going to dance performances. Our family loves the Nutcracker but we can't dance.

How would you like it if someone said thank god I have 3 girls over a post about the football team?

Your comment was unnecessary and rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washington Ballet is a pillar of the community and their productions should reflect that. They've made efforts with their company members and there is no reason there shouldn't be better inclusion reflected in the student cast.

There is no reason the Party Girls or Butterflies or any prized roles shouldn't be at least 50% dancers of color. If they don't have these numbers, they need to recruit them.

Right. like from where? this is the world of ballet. And the assignments go to the *ability level* of the student. If a student can't handle Party Girls or more advanced roles it's because *some aren't ready* for it. YOu do know some ballet students level out? It's an *anatomical gift*. you either have it and advance, or you don't, and you exit for modern dance or find another activity. Not everyone (actually few) advances through all levels and go on to summer programs or dance with comopanies.

Party girl ranges from level 1A to level 4, this is not about kids who "can't handle" the role. There is space for dancers of color in the ballet world if it's made and that is what I expect of Washington Ballet. It means addressing what we're used to seeing when we think of a ballerina. I don't know who is on the artistic team that is in charge of casting, but perhaps that needs a shake up or a frank conversation needs to be had that when they envision a party girl or these roles that are front and center, are they first thinking of a white dancer? If the answer is yes, then you get what is happening which is mostly white children in these roles, mostly white children cast in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle, with one or two dancers of color thrown in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember school is not company. The company is quite diverse, they have worked hard to make it that way.

The school is voluntary sign up, and no mid level ballet school is going to go recruiting students (except for PTP - and I don’t know the demographic breakdown of PTP) - promoting the SE campus is probably the most you should expect.

They have the numbers in the school, even NW is pretty diverse. If no POC kids are auditioning, maybe it's because they're not being seen in the better roles?

Or maybe because they don’t want to make the commitment to Nutcracker? So many families opt out of Nutcracker because it requires such a huge time commitment — this is all families. You start with fewer families of color in general, then you take away all of those families who opt out of Nutcracker then you’re left with way fewer families compared to white families. It’s a numbers game. I disagree with PP about 50% of dancers in “major” student roles needing to be dancers of color. How do you define that exactly? Are you talking about just Black dancers? Or Black and brown dancers? And if brown, which groups — south Asian, too? And what about kids who are mixed race, but don’t present as Black and/Brown? Do they count? Or just kids who are visibly of color? You can see the slippery slope here….

Doing nothing about it is not the answer.

Please tell us exactly what you would do (instead of criticizing)

Look at who is behind the scenes in the audition room, how many people of color are decision makers? It should be at least half. I think Julie made great gains and was a progressive thinker, but maybe they need to find a black Artistic Director. And then do what Hollywood claims to do. Make a clear goal of what you want the cast to look like in an ideal world and look for that during the auditions. I guarantee they'll find what they're looking for, there are plenty of talented black and brown dancers do are being overlooked at both the NW and SE school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Washington Ballet is a pillar of the community and their productions should reflect that. They've made efforts with their company members and there is no reason there shouldn't be better inclusion reflected in the student cast.

There is no reason the Party Girls or Butterflies or any prized roles shouldn't be at least 50% dancers of color. If they don't have these numbers, they need to recruit them.

Right. like from where? this is the world of ballet. And the assignments go to the *ability level* of the student. If a student can't handle Party Girls or more advanced roles it's because *some aren't ready* for it. YOu do know some ballet students level out? It's an *anatomical gift*. you either have it and advance, or you don't, and you exit for modern dance or find another activity. Not everyone (actually few) advances through all levels and go on to summer programs or dance with comopanies.

Party girl ranges from level 1A to level 4, this is not about kids who "can't handle" the role. There is space for dancers of color in the ballet world if it's made and that is what I expect of Washington Ballet. It means addressing what we're used to seeing when we think of a ballerina. I don't know who is on the artistic team that is in charge of casting, but perhaps that needs a shake up or a frank conversation needs to be had that when they envision a party girl or these roles that are front and center, are they first thinking of a white dancer? If the answer is yes, then you get what is happening which is mostly white children in these roles, mostly white children cast in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle, with one or two dancers of color thrown in.

I remember an African American student dancer in Sleeping Beauty in one of the younger groups. She had the best smile.

[Anonymous]

The shows have always felt very diverse to me, but I'm just one person. Maybe Damien Johnson will help with seeing some of these student roles through a more diverse lens?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of any plans to switch it up from Septime's Nutcracker? I love it but anyone else surprised that Julie never did her own version? It's so DC-centric I can't imagine it ever changing, but I'm curious!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread with great fascination, giving thanks that I have 3 boys.

Hey there are boy dancers! I am also interested and love going to dance performances. Our family loves the Nutcracker but we can't dance.

How would you like it if someone said thank god I have 3 girls over a post about the football team?


Your comment was unnecessary and rude.

I actually LOL'ed at her post!

[Anonymous]

Isn't this an overblown response to a few students getting assigned the wrong role?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread with great fascination, giving thanks that I have 3 boys.

Hey there are boy dancers! I am also interested and love going to dance performances. Our family loves the Nutcracker but we can't dance.

How would you like it if someone said thank god I have 3 girls over a post about the football team?

Your comment was unnecessary and rude.

I would laugh and agree that they have a good point. But then, some people have more of a sense of humor than you apparently do, and don’t look to be offended by every comment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know of any plans to switch it up from Septime's Nutcracker? I love it but anyone else surprised that Julie never did her own version? It's so DC-centric I can't imagine it ever changing, but I'm curious!

Don’t bet on it.TWB paid millions for costume and choreography and Septime gets a cut still. No money or reason to change it. Plus why? Septime is a visionary. Look at his work with Homg Kong ballet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread with great fascination, giving thanks that I have 3 boys.

Hey there are boy dancers! I am also interested and love going to dance performances. Our family loves the Nutcracker but we can't dance.

How would you like it if someone said thank god I have 3 girls over a post about the football team?

Your comment was unnecessary and rude.

I would laugh and agree that they have a good point. But then, some people have more of a sense of humor than you apparently do, and don’t look to be offended by every comment

You know name calling and putting people down just because I have a different take is exactly what would expect from dancer moms.
My one comment does not indicate a lack of humor. I wasn't offended just pointing out that boys also dance. Everyone is welcome to comment and your opinion isn't better or worse than mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading this thread with great fascination, giving thanks that I have 3 boys.

Hey there are boy dancers! I am also interested and love going to dance performances. Our family loves the Nutcracker but we can't dance.

How would you like it if someone said thank god I have 3 girls over a post about the football team?

Your comment was unnecessary and rude.

Interestingly, none of the boy dancer parents seem to be posting here. I don't know what kind of roles they get but maybe everyone is just happy with them year after year, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anything about ballet but this thread is so interesting!

What is it about being a flower page that is so bad? What roles are good and bad?

There aren't many flower pages in each cast. It seems like there's very little dancing and it seems to mostly cast students of color.

Good roles after a 'certain age' = Party Girls, Soldiers, Bunny, Clowns, Little Butterflies, Frontier Girls

Is it typically students of color? Has this been confirmed or is this just speculation??

In my DD’s cast last year, one of the pages was Black, but the others were white. I think there were 4 total if I’m not mistaken. Two on either side of the stage behind the mushrooms.

Given the paucity of black ballet dancers in general, the question isn't "what percentage of bad parts go to black dancers" but rather "what percentage of black dancers get bad parts"
If there are only a handful of black girls, and they are consistently getting flower page type parts, it doesn't matter than some white girls *also* get those parts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know of any plans to switch it up from Septime's Nutcracker? I love it but anyone else surprised that Julie never did her own version? It's so DC-centric I can't imagine it ever changing, but I'm curious!

I would love if they changed it. I really don’t like Septime’s version.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know of any plans to switch it up from Septime's Nutcracker? I love it but anyone else surprised that Julie never did her own version? It's so DC-centric I can't imagine it ever changing, but I'm curious!

I would love if they changed it. I really don’t like Septime’s version.

I'm so tired of it. 20 years of the same show, I don't think I'm alone.