Yin and Yang at the Ballet
Female executive directors supporting male artistic directors: new roles for women in dance
‘Ballet,’ George Balanchine famously often said, ‘is woman’
He was referring to the ballerina, that quintessence of loveliness. But the ballerina needs a ballet company⎯and, by extension, an artistic director⎯to realise her art, and, in this regard, ballet is all too often man
In the world of elite ballet, female artistic directors are few and far-between. The reasons for this are multifarious and complex, and, in the view of dance critic Deborah Jones, bound up in historical bias against women. Men have generally occupied positions of leadership and ‘choose people like them,’ she says. Moreover, women’s leadership qualities⎯such as empathy and pragmatism⎯have been undervalued: ‘Qualities like these can be powerful and effective, but they tend to be downgraded if they’re associated with women’
Classical ballet is inherently hierarchical, a distant trace of its courtly origins. Traditional ballets represent a strict gender division of delicate princesses and strong princes, and these are the works that continue to resonate with audiences and fill theatres. Female dancers have tended to be reined in by an internalised view of themselves as instruments of the form, reflecting someone else’s vision of perfection
Jones points out that, what’s more, they have to contend with ‘societal issues’. For example, they are still likely to be the primary caregiver within their families. ‘Male ADs often attend every performance and see the dancers all the time,’ she says, but this is more difficult to do for a woman with a baby
It’s another story in the contemporary world, long the domain of progressive and experimental values in dance. Artists such as Lucy Guerin and Stephanie Lake in Australia are examples of creative powerhouses leading their own troupes. And while ballet may be slow to evolve, Jones lists the growing number of female ADs now heading up major classical companies around the world, such as Monica Mason (Royal Ballet), Tamara Rojo (English National Ballet), Aurélie Dupont (Paris Opéra Ballet), Karen Kain (National Ballet of Canada) and Patricia Barker (Royal New Zealand Ballet). Locally, Alice Top has recently been appointed Residential Choreographer at the Australian Ballet, a high-profile role. Women are increasingly judged on their own merits as charismatic figures who can build audiences. ‘Changes are reasonably visible,’ Jones says, ‘which is all terrific
It’s also noteworthy that women are making their presence felt in diverse, if unseen, ways in the ballet industry in the areas of marketing, communications, teaching and senior management. In Australia, the artistic directors of the majors are all men, but their executive directors are all women: David MacAllister and Libby Christie at the Australian Ballet; Rafael Bonachela and Anne Dunn at Sydney Dance Company; Li Cunxin and Dilshani Weerasinghe at the Queensland Ballet; and Aurélien Scanella and Jess Machin at the WA Ballet. These executive dyads form the nexus of art and business that drives a ballet company, which means the four EDs are well placed to shape the future of dance from within. Dilshani Weerasinghe and Jess Machin made time to speak with me about the consequential roles they perform
Their backgrounds are dissimilar, but Weerasinghe and Machin are equally steeped in arts practice. Weerasinghe was an aspiring opera singer when she joined the development team at the Royal Opera House and gradually ‘the onstage disappeared and the offstage became more exciting,’ she says. She remained for eight years developing key skills in development and fund-raising and learning the ‘privilege of making things happen, of supporting artforms and witnessing how artforms change lives’
Weerasinghe returned to Australia to work at the Sydney Opera House and from there she moved to the Powerhouse in Brisbane. In this last role, she missed the ‘magic’ of collaboration and when Queensland Ballet appointed her as development director almost seven years ago, ‘I was on cloud nine’
Machin ‘comes from the grassroots.’ She started in community arts and has been a professional actor. She has founded three independent theatre companies and produced major arts festivals. She spent five years with the Australia Day Council of NSW. She led the Regional Arts Australia Summit – Arts and Edges in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 2014 and, as head of Country Arts WA Vote Arts campaign, she was responsible for injecting an investment of $24 million into the arts in the region
Her experience across various sectors means ‘I know what it’s like to be an emerging artist, to work in the regions or a small-medium outfit. I bring all that knowledge with me.’ When she joined the ballet world she was ‘curious’ as she had never considered dance before, but she was impressed by the desire of the Board to enrich lives through dance. ‘That motivates me,’ she says, ‘transforming lives’
As Machin had never before been a co-leader, she signed a kind of a ‘pre-nup’ with Aurélien Scanalla that ‘laid out the non-negotiables, what we wanted.’ She sees her alignment with him as being founded on trust and honesty. ‘We say it even if it’s hard,’ she says. ‘It has enabled us to grow together.’ They have become friends: ‘the longest we’ve gone is two days without speaking’
For Weerasinge ‘there have been no heated exchanges but many discussions’ with Li Cunxin. Trust is central to their partnership as well. ‘There has to be transparency,’ she says, ‘no games.’ She sees them as having ‘an invisible arm around each other.’ Li is one such AD who attends nightly performances, leaving Weerasinghe to manage ‘the family juggle.’ She joins him if they’re working on something in particular, ‘otherwise he takes the pressure, which is good.’
Weerashinghe ‘would never choose a creator’, but she enables Li’s vision by ‘unlocking artistic decisions.’ She sees herself as someone who works best with ‘big dreams’ but first she has to ‘believe in the dream-maker and the purpose.’ Li is someone she can respect, an artist who is ‘relentless in pursuing his dream’
Machin reveals that Scanella is likewise a visionary and ‘part of the ED role is to be an interpreter, you understand where they want to go. She has a voice in creative direction and is particularly proud of steering him towards collaborating with Aboriginal artists, such as Darwin-based Larrakia choreographer Gary Lang of Gary Lang’s NT Dance. Their collaboration resulted in a culturally vibrant work Milnjuya Milky Way – River of Stars featuring Indigenous opera singer Deborah Cheetham, a traditional song man and a didgeridoo player, as well as Indigenous dancers and dancers from both companies. But the decision-making ultimately belongs to Scanella. ‘I position strategically and find the resources; the creatives make the work,’ she says
Both the QB and the WAB operate in vast states and Machin and Weerasinghe face challenges in delivering programs to widely dispersed regional populations. ‘The WAB regional program used to be a helicopter approach⎯fly-in, fly-out,’ says Machin. ‘We’ve turned that into a partnership model that entails co-designing projects. For example, we’re undertaking a three-year program in the Pilbara and Goldfields to engage communities in the region. This initiative will assist in the employment of artists and administrators around our state, and it broadens the engagement of company dancers with their regional counterparts’
For Weerasinghe, urgent questions surround the issue of engaging with regional communities. ‘We have to ask with the regional work that we do how appropriate it was and what was its relevance for communities. QB has to be for all Queenslanders, but what do they want from us?’ She admits the arts sector can be ‘bad at measuring impact, we don’t know the outcomes of our endeavours.’ Her desire is for the company to fulfil a transformative role, but funding constraints limit its power to do so. She points out that Queensland has 20 per cent of the country’s population, but receives just under nine per cent of federal arts funding through the MPA. As EDs, she and Machin have a part to play in ‘broadcasting the funding disparity’
Machin agrees. ‘The MPA Framework has locked QB and WAB into receiving the least funding of the majors. As our costs of delivering community programs is huge, we require substantial philanthropy efforts’ in order to make up the shortfall. In her view, there is a ‘policy vacuum nationally, the arts are drip-fed funding’ and a ‘proper ecology snapshot’ is overdue. ‘The real issue is for the whole arts community to grow the pie,’ she says. ‘We should be asking where the commonalities are sector-wide’ that will encourage equity and innovation. She laments that politicians are not passionate about the arts. ‘I’ll have to go into politics!’ she laughs
Both companies are in a good place with their respective audiences. ‘We have immense loyalty for our annual Quarry program,’ says Machin, which is a mixed bill of contemporary works that forms part of the Perth Festival. ‘It keeps the dancers interested and provides them with an offering that attracts other artists to the company.’ This year’s bill, In Synch, featured a collaboration with Co3 and choreographer Garry Stewart named Reincarnation that blended classical and contemporary dance in an exploration of resurrection and renewal. While she believes that ‘evolving views demand that ballet is brave’, there is also a place for The Nutcracker, ‘which is a feel-good, full ballerina experience’
‘Our audiences are strong,’ says Weerasinghe, ‘and they trust our experimentation.’ This gives QB dancers and creatives more opportunities to perform and develop artistically. What’s more, ‘our corporate partners are intrigued by us, we can help them deliver their key objectives, such as community engagement.’ The company is not only an artistic enterprise but also a social actor. The Queensland government is interested in how QB can assist in regional areas⎯for example, by lifting the aspirations of juvenile offenders. And social entrepreneurs are interested in how QB could assist the ageing population through its Dance for Parkinson’s classes and its research into dance and neurological health. The company ‘offers value more than what you see on stage,’ she says
But Weerasinghe believes no organisation can act alone. ‘We should both lead and follow. We in the arts don’t do enough to understand and then respond in terms of curation. We know about ticket sales, that story ballets sell, that mixed bills are more difficult. We should enquire of our audiences why they find them more challenging, what they would like to see’
When I spoke with both EDs, I was struck by their expressive articulacy, their energy and conviction. They’re both devoted to their colleagues. Machin, a single mother, has introduced a more flexible working environment at WAB and a mental health policy. ‘I have focused on the human side of things,’ she says. Weerasinghe also wants part of her legacy to be company wellbeing: ‘We want to see shiny eyes all around us, people who are engaged and happy and who want to be here’
As to nurturing the next generation and advancing the artform, Machin believes ‘gender diversity is important’ but over and above correcting an imbalance, the individual qualities each female leader brings are significant drivers. While ‘positive impact takes time’, she sees change as inevitable: ‘We can shine a light and then things can change. What are the barriers to women ADs? Children? Long hours? A gender bias in appointments? Men go for it, and that’s what we’ve got to change’
For Weerasinghe, the key to ongoing growth and success is ‘defining what success looks like’ and this ability is not unique to one gender. She honed her special skills in the ROH days when she began to tell investors powerful stories of art and transformation. ‘When I believe in the vision, everything else comes together,’ she says. Ultimately, there’s a force at play that transcends gender: ‘Love and passion drive success’
Published in Limelight magazine, April 2019
