Said Mikko Nissinen, artistic director of Boston Ballet, quoted in "As ‘Nutcracker’ Returns, Companies Rethink Depictions of Asians/Ballet companies are reworking the holiday classic partly in response to a wave of anti-Asian hate that has intensified during the pandemic" (NYT).
Dancers and choreographers of Asian descent say the revisions to “Nutcracker” are long overdue. Ma Cong, resident choreographer of Tulsa Ballet, said he was confused when he first saw “Nutcracker” productions featuring exaggerated makeup and stereotypical costumes. Ma, who grew up in China, recalled thinking, “That is not Chinese.”
For reference, here's the Chinese dance — "Tea" — as it was performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 2018:
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57 comments:
Where is the evidence of the "wave of anti-Asian hate?" What, specifically, indicates that it has intensified? Before accusing a society of disgraceful behavior, one must have more than anecdotes or generally-approved emotions.
Um. Any acknowledgement that the vast majority of harassment and unprovoked attacks on Asian Americans has been at the hands of African Americans....?
https://news.yahoo.com/four-black-girls-charged-anti-155106351.html
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/Dirty-secret-of-black-on-Asian-violence-is-out-3265760.php
Or is that an "inconvenient truth"....?
China, of course, never stereotypes Westerners.
Next stop: The Mikado ...
There is nothing Asian about the Nutcracker and that includes the brief Asian parts. All of it is Russian, every Christmas.
The CCP tried to destroy the US with the Wuhan virus and they are now attacking our satellites in space and the libs are worried about The Nutcracker? Okay!
I don't know of any anti-Asian hate except from blacks who would not be fans of the Nutcracker.
Ah! The "Asian Hate" hoax caused by Trump naming COVID the Chinese Virus.
Trump was so clever that he got Black men to assault Asian women because the virus came from Wuhan.
What an insult to reality- on so many levels.
There is not an epidemic of anti-Asian hate. There is an amazingly little response to China sending out a virus that killed millions over the past two years, shut down entire societies, slowed economies to a crawl, and allowed China to step into the vacuums they created. And let's be frank about another thing here. While it is true there has been a rise in attacks on Asians in this country, it has been less than the attacks which continue on Jews. And interestingly- both ethnic groups are being attacked mostly by Black Americans. Why is that? Why have Black Americans suddenly felt released to show their animus toward Asians and Jews, to be freed up to beat these people in the streets- with no ramifications? So much of this takes place in the Northeast, where the Boston Ballet is located. You would think they'd shine a light on who's doing the hate. But I digress.
That there are not mile-long boycotts over anything Chinese around the world stuns me. You say you are for diversity, equity, inclusion- yet you pander to the single largest culprit of totalitarian actions in our world. Not only did they poison the world with this virus, they run actual literal concentration camps for Muslims. Today. Right now. In front of your face. And your reaction is to bow to them?
They also took over free Hong Kong and even now, have a pending bogus election coming in Hong Kong this December. People looking to start a boycott of this bogus election have been 'removed'. Yet still you bow to China.
The Nutcracker is timeless. If that offends you, but concentration camps, disappearing protestors, and killing millions by sending your military-grade virus around the world does not, I suggest that no one go to your ballet. No one attend. And let you do your Dance for Xi by yourself.
I'm disgusted with the lot of you.
<"We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion."diversity, equity and inclusion."
Sure. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
It's a little girl's dream. It's not supposed to be realistic.
"We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion"
While the Chinese ramp up anti-American propaganda, as discussed in a previous thread, this is how the American ruling class responds. The domestic imposition of progressive rule is also an international act of submission.
Leftists want the US to be like China so badly you can just see it oozing out of them like puss.
We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Of course you do. That's all there is lately.
That’s the way of the future.
If this isn't already Peak DEI, it's going to be a very bumpy road going forward.
In the not too distant future, our orchestras and virtuosos will be 100% Chinese. We corpulent, comfy Americans don’t have the discipline anymore. And when that happens, I’m guessing suddenly “diversity and inclusion” won’t be such a big priority anymore.
We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. That’s the way of the future.
Looking at everything through the lens of selective diversity, equity and inclusion is way of the present.
As ‘Nutcracker’ Returns, Companies Rethink Depictions of Asians/Ballet companies are reworking the holiday classic partly in response to a wave of anti-Asian hate that has intensified during the pandemic" (NYT)
Aside from the obvious virtue signal, you see what the NYT's headline is trying to do: Invoke a amorphous definition of "hate" that can easily be conflated with violence or its incitement, but at the same time exonerate its favored subject of any such animus by saying they are now acting "in response" to the "hate" rather than having been a previous purveyor or cause.
No, the ignominy of implying such tenuous root causes is reserved exclusively for enemies of the NYT.
Artists should be at the forefront against this madness, but then all art is political, and there are those whose will to power transcends their art.
To paraphrase William Shatner: "Get a life, will you people? It's just a ballet."
I'm sure that Turandot, Madame Butterfly, and La Boheme are not long for this world.
I'll worry about "insults to Chinese culture" when the Chinese start worrying about their insults to Western & other cultures.
There is probably no group of human beings on the planet more secure in their sense of innate superiority to the rest of humanity than the Han Chinese. For them, it's not seen as a comforting cultural prejudice. They see it as just the way things obviously are and if you weren't so culturally & intellectually benighted, you'd see their obvious superiority, too.
"in response to a wave of anti-Asian hate that has intensified during the pandemic"
I was unaware The Nutcracker had such a devout following among homeless African American men.
Who knew the Sharptons of the world that propagate the urban anti-Asian hatred and the young urban commandos that perpetrate the physical attacks on Asians were ballet patrons? Now that we know that, appropriate modifications to the Tea dance should cut the anti-Asian assaults in half, at least in the urban areas. Now, if we could just figure out a way to counter the anti-Asian hatred in the rural Amish and Mormon communities who are not ballet aficionados.....
The overlap in the Venn diagram of people who see live ballet and people who assault Asians on the street is exactly one person, and Mark Wahlberg has already been rehabilitated.
Anti-Asian hate is almost exclusively blacks beating up Asians.
Rich, white people who attend the ballet are distinctly NOT the problem...
The world has gone crazy.
Btw, I always wanted to be a pro basketball player making $40M/year.
Where's my 'equity'?
What was Tchaikovsky's intention? Was he mocking other cultures, or was this a 19th-century composer's way of being inclusive in the best way he knew how? It seems relevant to ask whether those parts of the piece were included in good faith.
And certainly, if someone is citing the fake "wave of anti-Asian hate," it's fair to ask whether they're operating in good faith too.
It’s not a documentary. It’s a little girl’s dream on Christmas.
I see that they are blaming black on Asian crime on white supremacists now.
Wokeness is why we can ‘t have good things. Because the costumes are inauthentic, they are racist. If they were authentic it would be cultural appropriation and racist.
Boston Ballet has been shit for some time. Heavy on their feet they all are. There's more talent at a preschool recital...
I'm not Jebidiah Atkinson
Ma Cong, resident choreographer of Tulsa Ballet, said he was confused when he first saw “Nutcracker” productions featuring exaggerated makeup and stereotypical costumes. Ma, who grew up in China, recalled thinking, “That is not Chinese.”
Ma Cong is a moronic imbecile. As marybeth comments, the “Nutcracker” is about a young girl’s dream. A young European girl. A young European girl from a well to do family. Ma needs to be replaced with someone of European descent, preferably a female from a well to do family.
Anti-Asian hate is real. It manifests itself in universities like Stanford and UW-Madison dropping standardized tests like the SAT or the ACT in an effort to cut back on the number of students of Asian descent matriculated on their elite campuses. Fix that and then worry about “The Nutcracker.”
"I just want to make sure there’s absolutely nothing that could ever be considered as insulting to Chinese culture."
insulting American culture? That is wonderful. But insulting Chinese culture? That is verboten.
"We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. That’s the way of the future."
Being racist pigs who treat "approved" cultures one way, and the rest differently?
That's the way of the past. So sad they're intent on making it the "way of the future", too.
But, racists pigs have to be racist pigs
marybeth said...
It's a little girl's dream. It's not supposed to be realistic.
Ceciliahere said...
It’s not a documentary. It’s a little girl’s dream on Christmas.
Thread winners.
Except the reality is that what the people doing this most want to do is destroy little girl's dreams.
True to my Hibernian roots, I propose that future Nutcracker productions drop the Chinese dance and substitute "the Irish Dance," which is somewhat similar to "Riverdance," but the dancers are drunk and it all climaxes with a gigantic brawl. Would that be less offensive, or more?
Every early morning when I walk the dog, I see NYTimes delivered to many houses. Invariably it is within a blue plastic bag. Why is the NYTimes contributing to plastic pollution like that?
Miko Nissinen seems to have lost track of Sisu, it seems to me.
So why are most of the attacks on Asians perpetrated by African Americans? Has anyone asked them? Are these perpetrators homeless? Drug addicts? Mentally ill? Muggers? Why the trend? We’ve become too reflexive in assigning blame and the why of it. No one wants to do the discovery work, just speculate on it until it matches their worldview. Let’s be open to truth, and press for it in our daily lives. If we don’t challenge people, media especially, they will keep up their shenanigans — ie the claim that these attacks are a response to the Covid origin and changing behavior and choreography accordingly.
I just want to make sure there’s absolutely nothing that could ever be considered as insulting to Chinese culture.
Replace "Chinese" with any (and every) other identity group & is obvious that this is a fool's errand. There will always be people who feel insulted.
Anti-Asian hate? Asian-Americans (1/2 Americans)? People of Asia (color blocs)? Russians, too? The bigot, you say.
Diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment), inequity, and exclusion (DIE). One step forward, twos steps backward. #HateLovesAbortion
Slavery is real. Diversity is real. Pathogenic progress is real. One-child/selective-child is unprecedented. Labor and environmental arbitrage is real and profitable.
Nice. I love how you people get wood for doubling down and cheering on your primal fear of Blacks and Asians. My brother and I were discussing this phenomenon yesterday how White Privilege exists on a spectrum and those of you at the bottom of the hierarchy bitterly cling to hate and jealousy in a desperate hail Mary to enjoy the position and power of your betters by way of belonging to their ethnic group that has abandoned your type long ago.
Math is Hard.
I seriously doubt that the demographic committing hate crimes against Asians is the same demographic that attends ballet. The circles on that Venn diagram not only don't overlap, the edges probably don't even touch.
Someone help me with the logic here, how exactly is removing racist Asian stereotypes from the Nutcracker going to reduce the number of black people beating up Asians?
"We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion."
The Chinese could give a rat's ass about such things. Oh sure they'll use leftist guilt about it to score points, but they have a rather monolithic view of their own culture. The Han likes culture produced by the Han.
"We look at everything through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion."
It's a lot easier than coming up with a new ballet that people will pay to see.
In all the times I've been to a Nutcracker performance, and it's a lot of them, I've never once thought of China or any other country that is themed during the performance, except perhaps to be grateful to be living in a peaceful country where ballet is appreciated. When are we going to stop listening to the opinions of imbeciles, as if they matter?
MY wife's a big fan of the Boston Ballet, but she says she's not going near the place because of its stupid mask policy.
In years past she's brought along a bunch of her friends from her exercise class to see "Nutcracker". It's an annual "event" for them.
Not this year.
This new bit of stupidity will keep her/them away for a long time.
(btw: a few months back the BB mailed out a flier showing a lithe Asian ballerina doing a jeté.
She was wearing a frickin' mask. Bizarre and grotesque to say the least.
What wave of anti-Asian hate?
I'll temper my Asian hate wave until I see if these promised foutune cookies work out, if the cookies are to be believed I'm a snappy dresser, sparkling personality, and should be due for a large financial windfall this month.
I can see where they might want to change the costume designs to reflect modern sensibilities but the reasons given are more likely to enhance than to diminish ill will. This isn't exactly blackface...I understand that ballet companies were first formed to give aristocrats access to young,lithe women in a central, easily accessible storage area. Ballet in its original intent was thus as corrupt and exploitative as minstrel shows. Modern strip clubs and the artistry of the lap dance are the democratic application of ballet and have obviated its need. It is long since past time we banned this art form which is more classist than classical. The Birth of a Nation and The Nutcracker Suite have no place in a democratic, inclusive society.
It’s a little girl’s dream on Christmas.
That explains why the guy does most of the work.
'I love how you people get wood for doubling down and cheering on your primal fear of Blacks and Asians.'
Nobody is afraid of either, but I would be kind of nervous if I was a white mathlete competing against a Beijing team : )
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
― Jesse Jackson
Ding, ding, ding! Howard posted yet another insulting "you people" comment.
Honest to God, every time you start to type that phrase, you ought to sit back and think about whether you really want to come across as a total asshole. Because, every time, you do. And because you then move people to just disregard your other, non-assholic comments because you've shown that you're a total asshole (and, BTW/FWIW, I know quite well that I intentionally split that infinitive).
--gpm
They have lost their minds.
Mikokko Missennen might choose to spend his or her time on the totalitarian oppression of Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong, and others by the chi-com, rather than throwing a hissy fit about ballet. And on the topic of cultural appropriation, not to mention copyright violations, who is worse than the Chinese?
Clam up, fascist mouthpiece.
Howard, if you had even one testicle, you would sign your real name.
"True to my Hibernian roots, I propose that future Nutcracker productions drop the Chinese dance and substitute "the Irish Dance," which is somewhat similar to "Riverdance," but the dancers are drunk and it all climaxes with a gigantic brawl. Would that be less offensive, or more?"
As a fellow person of Hibernian roots, I think it would be awesome.
Wait til they find out about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6RRfReH2t8
Did you all watch the video? When you can dance like that, what you're wearing is irrelevant.
I looked through images of "Nutcracker ballet China tea" and the variety of costumes is interesting. I also found a video of the National Ballet of China doing the Tea Dance. I'm not sure what to make of their costumes. (The Coffee one, just before the part I linked to is worth watching.)
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