David Marchese

This is sort of like maybe a slightly larger philosophical question that connects to a debate that's been around for a long time in the ballet world, but sort of on the idea that choreographers might have in mind a certain way for their dancers to look that they feel best brings to life their choreographic ideas. You know, obviously we know that race shouldn't be a criteria for that, but...

there are criteria for that, whether, you know, it's height or muscularity or whatever it is. So how do you think about the question of when is it okay to be exclusive in pursuit of one's aesthetic ideals?

there are criteria for that, whether, you know, it's height or muscularity or whatever it is. So how do you think about the question of when is it okay to be exclusive in pursuit of one's aesthetic ideals?

I apologize for moving the conversation in the direction I'm about to move it so early, but it's impossible for me to listen to what you're saying without thinking of the wider political and social context in which you're saying it. You know, you're talking about things like the benefits of diversity and representation at a time when, certainly in Washington, the whole...

I apologize for moving the conversation in the direction I'm about to move it so early, but it's impossible for me to listen to what you're saying without thinking of the wider political and social context in which you're saying it. You know, you're talking about things like the benefits of diversity and representation at a time when, certainly in Washington, the whole...

notion of something like DEI is being seen as something that is actively to be ramped down. Has your thinking about the work that you want to do changed as a result of the world we're now living in?

notion of something like DEI is being seen as something that is actively to be ramped down. Has your thinking about the work that you want to do changed as a result of the world we're now living in?

And do you feel a sense of embattlement or at all discouraged from, you know, the fact that, you know, things like institutions that explicitly say they are supporting DEI, like risk losing funding or, you know, federal funding for the arts in general seems under attack?

And do you feel a sense of embattlement or at all discouraged from, you know, the fact that, you know, things like institutions that explicitly say they are supporting DEI, like risk losing funding or, you know, federal funding for the arts in general seems under attack?

And I think it's fair to say that there's a certain type of historical or cultural nostalgia that suffuses ballet, certainly in the popular imagination. And that's why companies will program Swan Lake, Giselle, or The Nutcracker over and over again, because those are the performances that will sell tickets. How might the balance be adjusted so that...

And I think it's fair to say that there's a certain type of historical or cultural nostalgia that suffuses ballet, certainly in the popular imagination. And that's why companies will program Swan Lake, Giselle, or The Nutcracker over and over again, because those are the performances that will sell tickets. How might the balance be adjusted so that...

Ballet might start to look more different in the future than it currently does, even maybe at the cost in the short term of people not buying quite as many tickets as they did.

Ballet might start to look more different in the future than it currently does, even maybe at the cost in the short term of people not buying quite as many tickets as they did.

And do you feel like the ABT has been taking risks in the way that you'd like them to see? And here I'm thinking of, you know, there was a couple years ago, there was an op-ed by Gabe Stoneshare, I think is his name. Do you know the op-ed I'm talking about?

And do you feel like the ABT has been taking risks in the way that you'd like them to see? And here I'm thinking of, you know, there was a couple years ago, there was an op-ed by Gabe Stoneshare, I think is his name. Do you know the op-ed I'm talking about?

Right, where he was a dancer at the ABT and said, yes, there were performances of color, but they were getting cast in comic roles or sinister roles. It wasn't exactly colorblind casting. Right. Was that your experience there, or do you feel like there's still kind of like a gap in that regard?

Right, where he was a dancer at the ABT and said, yes, there were performances of color, but they were getting cast in comic roles or sinister roles. It wasn't exactly colorblind casting. Right. Was that your experience there, or do you feel like there's still kind of like a gap in that regard?

To ask for different roles.

To ask for different roles.

I want to go back to your specific story. You know, you grew up in rough circumstances. There was a lot of, you know, you sort of alluded to this earlier, there's a lot of instability in various ways. And then the lifeline for you was finding ballet, which in so many ways is like the exact opposite of instability. You know, it's about... Discipline and rigor and repetition and structure.