An Investigation into the Lack of Female Leadership in American Classical Ballet Companies

The concert dance world is clearly a female-populated industry, as evidenced by the many more women dancing compared to men. While women have progressed in leadership in modern dance, women’s opportunities in classical ballet administration and leadership have lagged behind. In ballet companies today the positions of power such as Artistic Director, Executive Director, Choreographer and other upper-management positions are held prominently by men, even when girls outnumber boys and men outnumber women in virtually every ballet school. This begs the question, if there are so many women present in the ballet community, why are women not finding themselves in these prestigious roles with the men? What do female arts administrators desire in their career? Is it that more women don’t desire such roles, or that they are not encouraged in such capacities? What about classical ballet has kept such a strong gender/power divide? What are the barriers for women in breaking this boundary? My research investigates the gender and power divide present in classical ballet organizations. The research begins with a literature review on the primary topic of feminism in the workforce including gendered careers, wage gaps, the glass ceiling effect and women in management. Additionally, the research delves into feminist ideology inherent in society and in the culture of classical ballet. The literature provides insights into the topic while shedding light on the limited research available on women in leadership in the field of classical ballet. By using the mixed methodology approach for my remaining research I was able to used qualitative and quantitative data to analyze the gender and power divide, focusing on men and women who hold positions of Artistic Director, Executive/Managing Director and Board Chair in classical ballet companies with a budget of $1 million or higher, a total selection of 54 organizations. My qualitative research demonstrates an in-depth analysis of the leadership makeup of American ballet companies with budgets of $1million or higher through data from Dance USA’s National Company Roster. The results show that men dominate the role of Artistic Director and Board Chair in all budget groups. In fact, the higher the budget and larger the organization the less likely there is to be a woman in charge. Interestingly the results show that women have many more opportunities in the role of Executive Director, where women dominate in the country’s largest and most prominent organizations. It is clear that it is the position of Artistic Director that sees the most shocking gender divide, with only 15 females in the position out of the 54 selected. In order to explore the specific role of Artistic Director more deeply I used my second phase of research to study and interview key current female Artistic Directors in the field including Celia Fushille, Stoner Winslett and Victoria Morgan plus compiled additional research from interviews with Lourdes Lopez. All four female leaders above demonstrated strong interpersonal qualities that allowed them to succeed in their leadership positions specifically in times of crisis, which is known as the “glass cliff.” These women shed light on the leadership gap begins at the very beginning of a ballet career and at the very beginning of ballet. From the start of a student’s training, men and women are treated differently and the act of becoming a leader requires stepping outside of the norm. Classical ballet as a whole has a lack of self-reflection and norms are passed from generation to generation unchallenged. The implication of this gender imbalance to the field of arts administration, specifically in classical ballet, is increasingly important. Ballet is already known for lacking in other forms of diversity, specifically racial and a continuation of the gender in power imbalance will only stunt the growth and evolution of the industry as a whole. My conclusions center around the idea of reframing the way ballet’s ideals are viewed and helping females in the field discover their leadership qualities and skills beyond classical ballet performance through programs such as ABT Women’s Movement and Artistic LeadHERship. It is important to continue the conversation about female artistic leadership and continue finding opportunities for women in the field and feel confident and comfortable in expressing their leadership goals.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201