Why no women choreographers? They’re not good enough

On her AJ blog Critical Distance, Laura Collins-Hughes confronts the sexism that never says die, here.

Her starting point is an essay by Charlotte Higgins at the Guardian, here. Higgins asked Alstair Spalding, artistic director of London contemporary-dance center Sadler’s Wells, why there were no female choreographers among the “raft of commissions” he’s just announced for the coming season. He responded:

 It is something to do with women not being as assertive in that field. It’s not that I don’t want to commission them.

If he only could, he’d be behind women a 1,000 percent. Alas, there’s the regrettable problem of their not being up to scratch, and quality is his watchword, he says, regardless of color, sex, sexual orientation or creed.

Collins-Hughes’ essay is terrific, if theoretical. She doesn’t name any women choreographers she thinks could if given a chance step up at Sadler’s Wells.

Here’s a few, just for starters.

Susan Marshall, BeBe Miller, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker,
Pina Bausch
(at Sadler’s Wells last year), Trisha Brown,
Twyla Tharp, Zoe Scofield and Donna Uchizono.