Thursday, 14 May, 2009| Comments | Make A Comment | Share on Facebook
Press the full-screen button on the bottom right for the full HD(s) effect!
Most regular people hate to repeat themselves. It's pointless, it's irritating and it just proves that the person you were speaking too wasn't paying any attention and is therefore completely ignorant and undeserving of any respect.
Just six months after the Artistic Director of Dance East, Assis Carriero, put her foot ever so firmly in her mouth with her ridiculous comments about female dance makers we have not one, not even two but three colossal idiots being quoted in the press uttering the same prehistoric drivel that women can't cope in the dance world, "just because".
Hiding in the shadows, under a soggy cardboard box mired in the London sewage, we have Arts Council England, trying very hard, and failing miserably, to be diplomatic. We'll get to them later.
Alistair Spalding, chief bottle washer at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, gets the tomfoolery underway when responding to the Guardian newspaper asking why there are so few female dance makers being offered commissions by him and his theatre
His response to that question is highlighted in the video above. The video is in HD so press the full screen button for maximum effect and feel free to embed wherever you choose, the cost is on us!
Article19 has made a video response to this latest nonsense because we already have an editorial about just how stupid the comments made by Assis Carriero were last year. Also, it's nice to share.
Although female dance makers lack the assertiveness to be taken seriously by Mr Spalding any idiot with a YouTube account and a dodgy video camera can still enter the theatre's online competition, the name of which escapes us.
ACE, in a communications debacle reminiscent of the Nixon era, tried very hard to craft a response that won't instantly cause your demise at the end of the first sentence. They failed miserably.
No surprise that Janet Archer, the Head of National Dance Strategy for ACE, had nothing of substance to say at all. In fact she didn't really say anything. ACE's press flacks wrote something, Ms Archer edited it and they released it as a statement.
Welcome to ACE in the 21st century and their response to Mr Spalding's comments.
"We acknowledge that women face challenges in dance, partly born out of the fact that there are more women than men working in the dance profession. That inevitably leads, for some, to a loss of confidence and at times a lack of visibility.Arts Council England is working very hard to promote equality of opportunity in order to support all artists to make the highest quality work. This summer, we will publish a major Dance Mapping study which highlights current achievements across dance and signals new opportunities for the development of the field.
Alistair Spalding says he must programme the best - and we would add that's because the best is what audiences deserve. Arts Council England is committed to working with all talented choreographers to deliver that."
A "Dance Mapping" study? Only an intellectually bankrupt organisation could come up with such a ridiculous thing and what does that have to do with Mr Spalding's sexist comments?
Where do we go from here? Hard to say but France is looking more attractive by the day!
Mr Spalding could not be reached for comment. He is apparently out of the country and the staff at Sadler's Wells, at the time of writing, have no idea where he is. If you see Mr Spalding the please let them know he's safe and well. Perhaps we should fit him with a GPS locator?
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