#amar ramasar

[after-zeno]

Thrilling!

#Karl Jenkins #music #dance #vitruvian man #david fernandez #Ask Le Cour #Amar Ramasar #chase finlay

[ballet-symphonie]

I’m pretty sure there’s nepotism and other shit going on at New York City Ballet, and I’ve stopped following them:

-there’s children and grandchildren of former dancers who got into the company. Roman Mejia is Paul Mejia’s son, Shelby Mann is the granddaughter of Jacques d’Amboise and the daughter of Charlotte d’Amboise and Terrence Mann (Broadway legends!) it makes me suspicious. I mean, Nilas Martins was in the company too, so I’m not surprised nepotism is still going on with the younger dancers.

-apparently there was/is body shaming? even at SAB I’ve heard rumors of kids having eating disorders. Also not surprising considering that the people who worked with Balanchine wanted a look and it was Balanchine himself who started the “skinny ballerina” trend that quickly spread worldwide. Ashley Bouder spoke up about how the higher ups body shamed her on Instagram live like a year ago, and none/few of the company members commented for support. They just posted it on their story. In general, Balanchine companies/schools tend to have a lot of body shaming, especially with how they treated Kathryn Morgan at Miami CB. CPYB (Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet) has a bunch of horror stories on Instagram account called @/cpybstories if anyone wants to read.

-I don’t know if this is really BS, but they still cast roles based on height/size rather than talent. I was hoping for Tiler Peck to do Diamonds but she got Rubies. Same with Midsummer, she didn’t/doesn’t really get Titania because she’s on the shorter side and from what I’ve heard, NYCB likes their Titanias to be tall. (I’m guessing she probably will never get Titania, just because she lacks emotion in her dancing. Saw her in Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker and she barely acts.)

-the company is still predominantly white. Even PNB is more diverse than them. The BIPOC dancers like Nadon, Mejia, Furlan, Chan etc are only popular just because they fit Eurocentric views of POC (they have lighter skin and straighter hair) plus Nadon is only half South Asian, Mejia is half Peruvian, so they aren’t full blooded POC. The only POC in recent years that didn’t fit those ideals was Amar Ramasar. The kids who appear on stage for Nutcracker, Midsummer, Sleeping Beauty etc are more diverse than the actual company members.

-They didn’t handle Alexandra Waterbury’s case well. Ramasar should’ve been fired and in prison before the pandemic and from the West Side Story revival (that didn’t do well regardless). It also makes me mad that Alexa Malone (soloist) is still dating him and the fact that he’s now a stager too…like he might mess around with the underaged apprentices/corps and the cycle will start again

-Don’t get me started on people like John Clifford and how he wrote public, sexist comments on how he hates crotch shots because of platter tutus. He and a bunch of other older trust people still defend these beliefs to the death.

Hello, there's a lot in here!

Regarding nepotism, the company definitely has a history of hiring both siblings and relatives. I would extend this to ballet in general, many successful dancers today are from dance families, such as Chloe Misseldine, Daniil Simkin, Maia Makhatelli, Vadim Muntigirov, Dmitri Smilevsky, Issac Hernandez etc. But I don't think that inherently means that the dancers benefiting from that knowledge base (knowing what to do, where to train, how to structure their day, exta tips and coaching etc) are undeserving of there spots. I don't think you can watch Meija dance and think he doesn't deserve to be where he is.

On body shaming. Yes, none of this is positive and none of it is news either. There has been a history of toxic body shaming culture at nearly every major ballet school worldwide. Balanchine companies have had a nasty history but so have numerous Russian, European, and Asian schools. It's not a problem exclusive to SAB/NYCB.

Yes, NYCB typecasts. I'm honestly quite a fan of it because I don't think it's realistic or responsible to expect every dancer to do everything well and it results in dancers on stage in roles that they're confident in and suit their strengths- which generally leads to better performances. I don't think there's a single dancer at City Ballet who has done all three leading roles in Jewels, Peck is not an exception. I don't believe it's height/size over talent, but a complementary mix of both. Some roles have been designated by the choreographer for X skills and others have been historically dominated by dancers with X skills. And like you mention, there are lots of other factors affecting casting besides just height, acting, vulnerability, partnership, and logistics, which all play a role.

I'm not sure I agree with you that the dancers you mentioned get attention because they are POC who fit Eurocentric standards. Chan and Nadon rightfully got attention for breaking barriers and becoming the first Asian principals at the company. Both have spoken at length aobut how their cultural background and upbringing has both helped and hindered their path. I'd argue Meija gets far more attention from his father than he does from his race and Furlan (if we're considering him popular which I probably wouldn't) for his technical merit. I also think you aren't looking at NYCB's soloist rank fairly, they have Black, Asian, and Hispanic dancers at this rank. Of course, the company certainly could be more diverse but they have the self-imposed limitation of hiring nearly exclusively out of SAB. You yourself noted that the school is more diverse, this is a result of several of their scholarship and outreach programs that have been implemented in the past decade or so. Those programs are long-term investments, they are building a more diverse company now - but these dancers are still in the school. And for what it's worth, PNB is not a low bar, it is by far the most diverse major company in the US and has made hiring decisions accordingly. Approximately 50% of the company is POC which is awesome- but this realistically isn't possible at NYCB because they're not going to be hiring from outside as frequently.

Of course, if not following NYCB would make you happier, then by all means do it. But if these issues are what's causing you distress, I don't think the solution is to simply follow other companies- many of these problems exist across the industy.

Regarding the Waterbury Case, I don't disagree with you but the law is complicated. I remeber reading the case when it came out and I think the main problem is that the case wasn't able to get to discovery because she didn't have enough facutal evidence. If that had happened, I imagine things would have looked a lot different. While I absolutley believe her, she was trying to fight too many battles at once, some of which weren't directly hers, and she didn't have hard concrete proof for most of it. Everything got muddled and I don't think she had the best council either. I don't have any doubt that there's so much more here that exists only in the memories of the individuals involved. But that doesn't count in front of a court - it's about what you can prove not what happened. And NYCB's liability is limited because she was neither an employee nor a student at the time of firing.

However, while I have no comment about his personal life, I agree with you about Ramasar's line of work. It's unfortunate and incredibly disappointing how the dance world regularly absolves men like Ramasar (he's not alone) and basically gifts them back their careers. I could list a whole troupe of men who've been given second chances they don't deserve. Winning in court is an uphill battle, especially when the prosecution is often not coming from a place of strength. I just hope that the slow but steady changes happening in the industry now will prevent history from repeating itself.

And Clifford....I don't have the energy to start with. There's a reason NYCB hasn't hired him back , he's not consistently teaching or running a company, and he's just running his mouth on IG.

#nycb #ballet #ballet rant #will not be tagging names obv

[winmipodcast]

#TBT A year before filming began on @tinyprettythingsseries, there was another kind of drama happening in the ballet world as a #MeToo scandal rocked NYC Ballet and the School of American Ballet. Alexandra Waterbury was a student at the School when she noticed Chase Finlay staring at her in the studio. At NYC Ballet’s fall 2016 gala, Waterbury formally met Finlay, then a principal #dancer with the company. They dated for a year and a half, until one morning she decided to check her email on his laptop. She saw a photo of another woman’s intimate anatomy pop on to the screen. A shocked Waterbury combed through Finlay’s texts with other male dancers and found images of their partners performing sex acts or stripped naked. There was one of her. She had no idea he had even taken it. (Guardian) That photo-sharing #scandal, along with the retirement of Peter Martins, longtime leader at the NYC Ballet, amid an investigation into reports of physical and emotional abuse (which he denied), helped spark a reassessment of the culture at City Ballet. Some women in the company made it clear to management they would not be comfortable #dancing with the men involved in those text exchanges, but in spring 2019 one of the accused, Amar Ramasar, was back onstage with the company. And a year later he was in the #Broadway revival of West Side Story in the role of Bernardo. A group of #protesters showed up outside the theater for several nights, demanding that he be fired from the show because of the #allegations against him. But he was never fired, and West Side Story was shut out of the Tony Awards the following year. Fast forward to May of this year, Ramasar had his farewell #performance with NYC Ballet, and during the bows he hopped off the #stage and waded through the crowd in search of a hug. His destination was Peter Martins. 🤔 Another dancer in the photo-sharing scandal, Zachary Catazaro, was among the line of people wishing Ramasar well onstage. Throughout, the crowd roared its approval, as if the last few years never happened. (NY Times) (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch-VQ0pOzD7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#tbt #metoo #dancer #scandal #dancing #broadway #protesters #allegations #performance #stage

[dancewithmarynyc]

[landoftheodd]

If you’re a broadway blog and staying silent on very important issues being discussed by the community, what are you doing? Loving broadway should go hand and hand with holding the system accountable.

#dear evan hansen #deh #dear evan hansen meme #broadway memes #broadway meme #broadway #amar ramasar #barret weed #barret wilbert #alexandra waterbury #heathers musical #heathers #the music man #scott rudin #carousel #be more chill memes #be more chill meme #be more chill #bmc #ben platt #ben platt meme

[books0977]

Rebecca Krohn and Amar Ramasar in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, New York City Ballet, October 2017. © Paul Kolnik.

Stravinsky boasts at least one, if not two sexy pas de deuxs, and Krohn didn’t let one down in the first Aria. The striking, arachnidian posturing took on a flirtatious jazz vibe rather than one of vigilant modernism. From the first undulation of her hips, Krohn is sensual but sharp – a woman aware of her own powers, of her own agency. Her partnership with Ramasar adds a warmth to this pas which is so often chiseled to a stiletto point. In an exchange of wit and fire, their bodies flirt mid-tryst for their enjoyment alone and no one else’s.

#photograph #ballet #Rebecca Krohn #Amar Ramasar #Stravinsky Violin Concerto #NYCB #Paul Kolnik

[playbill]

Exclusive: Broadway's New West Side Story Releases Statement Regarding Casting Controversy

#West Side Story #Amar Ramasar #Broadway #Theatre #Playbill News

[galina-ulanova]

Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar in Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (NYCB, 2019)

#ballet #sterling hyltin #amar ramasar #nycb #a midsummer night's dream

[qualitativevacuum]

If you haven't yet, please go sign the petition to remove Amar Ramasar from the West Side Story Broadway cast! You can find a link to the petition on Instagram @ wssprotest

#west side story #amar ramasar #isaac cole powell #ben cook #ben tyler cook #broadway #musicals #wild moose calls

[ratcarney]

remember when we were excited for the revival of a relevant classic on broadway and then they ruined it by hiring a sexual predator and refused to do anything about said predator? that sure fucking sucked didn’t it

#fuck him #fuck this #i was excited about fucking representation #and then they did That. #jo.posts #west side story revival #west side story broadway #amar ramasar

[balletroyale]

Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar in Agon (New York City Ballet) 

#wow #Maria Kowroski #amar ramasar #maria kowroski and amar ramasar #agon #nycb #new york city ballet #George Balanchine #Balanchine #dance #pdd #pas de deux #dancers #dancer #ballet #ballerina #ballet dancer #gifs #my gifs

[lovequinn]

natalie put it best!

#natalie walker #amar ramasar #west side story

[landoftheodd]

Isaac Powell responding to a comment on his Instagram about Amar Ramasar.

#discussion #broadway discussion #broadway discussions #times up #times up broadway #broadway times up #amar ramasar #ballet #Amar Ramasar #Isaac Powel #Isaac Powell #Isaac Cole Powell #Alexandra Waterbury #once on this island #once on this Island broadway #Once On This Island Broadway #ooti #wss #west side story protest #west side story musical #west side story broadway #wss broadway #west side side story revival #wss revival #Alexandra Waterbury case #New York City Ballet #NYCB #carousel #carousel broadway #broadway meme

[hashtagvelvette]

hey, @ everyone who reblogged my hamilton gifset, sign the petititon to remove amar ramasar, who traded and sent sexual images of women without their consent to other men, from his leading role in west side story. the stage is no place for predators.

#kate.txt #amar ramasar #broadway #boobernardo

[deafwestnewsies]

anyways fuck the west side story revival

#I HATE THIS AND I HATE THEM #SHIT BRO #west side story #west side story broadway #west side story revival #amar ramasar #new york city ballet

[galina-ulanova]

Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar in The Man I Love (NYCB, 2013)

#ballet #sterling hyltin #amar ramasar #nycb #the man i love