More News About Abuse

Another one bites the dust!

This article landed in my inbox on Friday morning and I have to admit- I have been waiting on its arrival.

I have heard that circumstance at the Zuerich Ballet school weren't the best. I have heard through the grapevine how teachers were choosing to treat their students and all of it sounded so very familiar. It sounded like I time traveled back to my years at the State Ballet School in Berlin.

The worst- I am not surprised- AT ALL! Leaders are leading the way they were taught . No analyses, no self development, no healing, no learning, no nothing. Just perpetuating the old way. Now, one could argue that "the old way" has produced a very long lineup of very successful stars. True- it has. And for what prize though? I was in relationships with these "Stars", we played billiard at parties together. These souls were sitting in my living room and I was sitting in theirs. Back then we didn't know what we didn't know. But in todays world or even 10 years ago, information has become so easily accessible, that self-education has no limitations anymore. I can simply not find any justification anymore to why the " lets break them down to build them back up" model is still being practiced.

The problem is that many become teachers for the wrong reasons. Teaching isn't about suiting your own ego. It's about the absence of ego at minimum. It's about making it better for the next generation by digesting and learning from our own past.

I am not pointing fingers at people here, nor do I want to throw anyone under the bus. But I want people to take responsibility for their own actions and realize that by not releasing their own pain.... they just keep passing it on to the next generation. And we do not need more pain and abuse within the arts. We have done that for decades. If people don't want to deal with themselves- FINE- but do not let them teach or lead others.

How many more of these allegations have come to light before massive action is being taken?

This article is translated from German into English for easier reading for this audience.

URL:www.sz.de/1.5596372

Copyright:Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien GmbH / Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH

Source:SZ/Aner

Serious allegations against the elite ballet academy

Jun 2, 2022 2:37 p.m

Those who were taught at the Zurich Dance Academy usually made it onto big stages.?Now the good reputation is about to end.?Abuse of power and assaults are said to have taken place for years.

By Dorion Weickman

Abuse of power and assaults of various kinds are said to have taken place at the renowned Tanz-Akademie Zürich for years.?As the Swiss edition of the weekly newspaper?Die Zeit?reports, citing discussions with former students, humiliation, degradation, body shaming and physical violence were the order of the day.?The incidents took place between 2007 and 2021, apparently several educators are involved.?The attacks are said to have triggered a bundle of reactions among the victims, including depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and eating disorders.?The rector of the Zurich University of the Arts, to which the dance academy belongs, has ordered an administrative investigation.?It should be completed by the end of the year.?Only then do the responsible bodies want to comment.

This means that the good reputation of the Zurich institution is about to end.?Its graduates regularly made the leap onto the international stage, to top companies from the Zurich Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet to the Prague National Ballet.?The Bavarian State Ballet was also one of the customers.?For the time being, however, the two directors, Steffi Scherzer and Oliver Matz, will remain in office.?Trained at the State Ballet School in Berlin during the GDR era, her career path led her to the top of the dance ensemble at the State Opera.?Both Scherzer and Matz were among the figureheads of East German ballet art and were almost idolized by younger generations.?Whether and to what extent the two ex-dancers, as educators, were able to free themselves from the drill of the GDR training methods and the hierarchical leadership culture associated with it,

Budding dancers are still often regarded as mentally and physically malleable material

At least it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that her former training center, the Berlin State Ballet School,?was suspected of being "Me Too" in 2020?.?The directors were dismissed, and the disputed dismissal is still in the legal loop.?It's different in Vienna, where the cadres affiliated with the State Ballet have?been completely reorganized after allegations of abuse of powerbecame.?The fact that the Tanz-Akademie Zürich is now a third prominent venue shows - regardless of the outcome - how much remains to be done when it comes to ballet training.?In many institutions there are still teachers who are not qualified to do so.?Health issues, mental and physical sensitivities are still being neglected.?All too often, aspiring dancers are still seen as mentally and physically malleable material rather than developing their personalities.?Apart from dropping out of studies and long-term consequences, this also means that juniors sometimes lack independence, imagination and creativity when making the transition to work.?The comparison with stage practice, with the requirements of everyday dance and what choreographers expect in terms of cooperation is neglected.

The dance department at the Munich University of Music and Theater took a step in the right direction in 2021 - a side effect of the "Me Too" scandal in which former President Siegfried Mauser was involved.?The people of Munich have decreed a demanding concept to train self-confident and at the same time excellently dancing youngsters.?In November they are holding a symposium to make the change palatable to colleagues from other institutions.?At a press conference, which ironically coincided with the news from Zurich, University President Bernd Redmann found clear words: "Dance training is making a name for itself - through hardness, discipline and a power imbalance between teachers and students that is no longer up to date."?In fact, a comprehensive rethinking is needed - and a needs assessment: How many children are being trained, how many drop out, how many end up taking a job - and how many are left behind??Where is the classical and where is the contemporary dance education??Change has to start with honesty, openness and transparency.?Otherwise the ballet gets stuck in the loop of its past, which began with Louis XIV: as an expression of a feudal discourse on power.?Who can justify that in the 21st century??Otherwise the ballet gets stuck in the loop of its past, which began with Louis XIV: as an expression of a feudal discourse on power.?Who can justify that in the 21st century??Otherwise the ballet gets stuck in the loop of its past, which began with Louis XIV: as an expression of a feudal discourse on power.?Who can justify that in the 21st century?