New Artistic Director of New York City Ballet is Finally Announced a Year Later

NYCB has finally chosen a new artistic director and head of the School of American Ballet after Peter Martin, the former head of New York City Ballet, retired abruptly after he became the center of abuse allegations.  This is a monumental moment in the world of American ballet.

New York City Ballet is considered by many to be the best ballet company in America, founded by two dance icons George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Peter Martin took over as the “ballet master in chief,” and in 1990, he took on the role of a ballet master and the artistic director of the acclaimed company. However, he suddenly retired after allegations of physical and verbal abuse of students and professionals in the company. This has been the worst year in the history of  NYCB: many dancers left the company, male dancers sent nude images of female dancers to each other, and they lost their artistic director. After all of this, the company was left with no artistic director and no head of the School of American Ballet.

SAB is thought of by many to be one of the best ballet schools in America. NYCB only accepts people into the company from the school. They do not take any outside auditions. Peter Martin was the man who decided who got moved up as an apprentice into the company. Students dream of getting into the company, however very few actually secure an apprentice spot. This gave Peter Martin so much power over these students, and he would often use it to his advantage. He would yell at kids in sudden outbursts of rage, and it has been said that he would grab students and pull them wherever he wanted by the back of their neck. Martin would often foster romantic relationships with female company members some of whom he abused. The women, who were often up 40 years younger than him have attested to being afraid of breaking up with him for fear of being fired from the company. One allegation made by a former company member claimed Peter Martin threw her against a cement wall before a show.

After two allegations were made against the dance icon, he abruptly retired at the age of 83. The shaken company had to scramble to put itself back together. They immediately appointed Jonathan Stafford, a 38-year-old former NYCB principal dancer, to run the company on an interim basis. Finally, over a year since Peter Martin left the company, NYCB has appointed  Jonathan Stafford as their official artistic director, and the new head of the School of American Ballet. They have also announced that Wendy Whelan will become City Ballet’s associate artistic director. Whelan and Stafford plan to work as partners in running the company.

This is only the second time that someone new has been appointed as artistic director in the company’s 71 years. Neither of them have been taught directly by George Balanchine since he died back in 1983, when Stafford was only two years old. They both trained at SAB, so they understand the Balanchine technique, and they know what he wanted in his dancers. His specific dance technique involves very fast footwork with a lot of musicality. However, since his death, his technique has remained,  but the dancers performing his works are now more diverse. Many people worry that because the new Artistic Director had no direct contact with Balanchine, he will not be able to properly carry out his legacy.

People are also concerned about Stafford taking over and not allowing Whelan to participate much in running the company. Lauren Wingenroth wrote in Dance Magazine: “The set-up begs the question: If the two leaders will truly be ‘partners,’ why are they not co-artistic directors? Considering the company’s recent scandals — and the troubling historical gender dynamics of the company — the arrangement sits just a bit uncomfortably.” This is very important to note, and Stafford seems very aware of this. They say they plan to work as partners, but as Wingenroth asked, then why are their titles not co-artistic directors? What can Stafford do to make sure Whelan still has a fair say and her opinions still get evenly heard?

However, even though the future of the company is unknown, there is now an artistic director, and they have officially found their new leader. It is an exciting moment in the ballet world. There are still many unanswered questions, but now there is hope for the future of the company.

By Ben Schleifer