PRESS 2021

As ‘Nutcracker’ Returns, Companies Rethink Depictions of Asians - The New York Times, November 29, 2021

The changes are the result of a yearslong effort by performers and activists to draw attention to Asian stereotypes in “Nutcracker.” Some renowned groups — including New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London — several years ago made adjustments to the Tea scene, eliminating elements like Fu Manchu-type mustaches for male dancers. The sharp rise in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, as well as a recent focus on the legacy of discrimination in dance, opera and classical music, have brought fresh urgency to the effort. “Folks are finally connecting the dots between the idea that what we put onstage actually has an impact on the people offstage,” said Phil Chan, an arts administrator and former dancer who has led the push to rethink “The Nutcracker.”

Advocacy group wants to see more Asian dancers on the stage, and more Asian choreographers on the program - The Washington Post, May 1, 2021

“At the end of the day, Gina and I are coming to this as lovers of ballet,” Chan says. “We want it to survive and be relevant. Ballet could be a time-capsule experience or be something that is radical and relevant and moves you and makes you feel alive.

“So which is it?,” he says. “Is it a cute historical experiment to just say, ‘Oh, this is how Europeans used to dance,’ or is it something that can mean something today?”

(video) Dancers seek to rid ballet performances of Asian stereotypes - CBS EVENING news, may 19, 2021

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, "Final Bow" is showcasing the work of 31 Asian choreographers. "It's the only way I know how to push back against the ugliness that we're facing right now is to share hopeful things, to share joy, to share art," Chan said.

“Bringing Down the Curtain on Yellowface” - NPR’s 1A with Joshua Johnson, December 12, 2018

Should longheld traditions change with the times? How has the ultra-white ballet world grappled with issues of race?

“BBC News: The Cultural Frontline” - BBC, March 15, 2020

Two dancers on a mission to replace caricature with character. Georgina Pazcoguin and Phil Chan of the campaign group Final Bow for Yellowface tell us why they’re working to eliminate offensive stereotypes of East Asians on our stages.

Pulling Back the Curtain on the Ballet World: New Memoir Shares the good, the bad, the ugly, & the beautiful - Good Morning America, July 26, 2021

Now, with the new memoir that’s pulling back the curtain on the world of elite ballet — Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina takes us backstage like never before.

Georgina Pazcoguin grew up dreaming of becoming a ballerina but never imagining that she’d become a trailblazer: the first Asian American soloist here at the New York City Ballet. Her journey has included some breathtaking leaps but also some dramatic dives, which she details in a new book.

'Caricatured Orientalism' And 'Slanty-Eye Yellowface Makeup:' Life As A Biracial Ballerina (an exclusive excerpt from Swan Dive) - ELLE Magazine, July 27, 2021

I never felt comfortable with this depiction of Asian culture. There I was onstage, a biracial woman with Asian Filipino heritage, improperly representing Chinese culture with an outdated caricature. It never felt right to me. As a young member of the company at that time, I was not in a position to announce, “I’m uncomfortable doing this. This is racist.”

The depiction of the culture was wrong, and so was the culture that permeated City Ballet. I believe had I expressed my feelings, I would have been pushed aside, my role given to another dancer who would be happy to step into the role. Shut up and dance was the sentiment.

“'YELLOWFACE' IN 'THE NUTCRACKER' ISN'T A BENIGN BALLET TRADITION, IT'S RACIST STEREOTYPING” - THE LA TIMES, DECEMBER 11, 2018

Ballet people will argue that all of these elements in “The Nutcracker” are just tradition, that no insult is intended. But in 2018, no one should be able to plead ignorance of stereotyping’s dangers. During my “Nutcracker” research in dozens of backstage conversations, I ran into effervescent young ballet girls, most of them white, who dutifully told me that the Chinese Dance helped them “learn about other cultures.” What I saw them learning was how to flatten anyone of Asian descent into a cartoon

“TONING DOWN ASIAN STEREOTYPES TO MAKE ‘THE NUTCRACKER’ FIT THE TIMES,” - THE NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 13, 2018

It was looking like a caricature and enforcing some negative stereotypes,” said Jonathan Stafford, the leader of City Ballet’s interim artistic team. “We’re kind of in the middle of an evolution right now, a new cultural awareness. While we need to maintain the integrity of the original, we also need to make sure it works for today’s audience,” he added. “We don’t want people walking out offended.

The Approval Matrix - New York Magazine, December 3, 2021

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Green Tea Cricket is highlighted as “highbrow” and “brilliant.”

2021 By Date

More Edinburgh, less Twitter: how to fix the arts in 2022 - The Telegraph, December 30, 2021

In 2021, the Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet both made culturally sensitive tweaks to their productions of The Nutcracker that, far from smacking of knee-jerk wokery or causing any artistic damage, actually enriched them. My advice to ballet companies everywhere is to keep policing their existing, older productions as 2022 unfolds, while also keeping a clear, sane, Twitter-free head about the whole thing. By ensuring that shows, where necessary, subtly and intelligently move with the times, they should be able to keep them relevant and thereby keep them full stop: allowing productions to stagnate, culturally speaking, could make them more vulnerable to being cancelled altogether.

‘The opposite of cancel culture’: Final Bow for Yellowface helps update a Christmas tradition - NextShark, December 25, 2021

The ballet world can be notoriously slow to change, with aficionados often fearing that calls for evolution mean the loss of an art form whose origins can be traced back to 17th century France and Italy. But Chan insists, “‘Multiracial’ includes European history. It includes Shakespeare, Puccini, Mozart, Petipa, Balanchine… It’s just bigger. We get more, because we’re a bigger society.” Final Bow’s approach involves uniting fans behind a common love for the art form. It asks them to consider how ballet can include more people, as well as the extent to which loving ballet means preserving it versus nurturing it into the future as a living, breathing art form. “The opposite of cancel culture,” as Chan calls it.

New character takes racist imagery out of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 'The Nutcracker' - KNKX Seattle, December 23, 2021

(AUDIO) This year marks the debut of a new character in Pacific Northwest Ballet's "The Nutcracker." After a discussion about the racist imagery in a particular scene of the ballet, the company decided to address it by creating the Green Tea Cricket.

BWW Review: PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET'S GEORGE BALANCHINE'S THE NUTCRACKER® at McCaw Hall - Broadway World, December 20, 2021

The production adheres closely to Mr. B's original but has some marvelous added touches such as the charming scene on film during the overture with mice that scurry up to the door of the Stahlbaum's home to go inside. Also, new this year in the second act's Tea variation is a character called Green Tea Cricket who is meant to avoid stereotypes of Chinese culture.

Christmas tradition revived as 'The Nutcracker' returns to McCaw Hall in Seattle - King5 Seattle, December 18, 2021

(VIDEO) “In the original 1954 production, there was just what we would term cultural appropriation and racial stereotyping in a way that didn't sit well with us as an organization and our core values and also the community that we lived in,” Boal explained.

Racisme i ’Nøddeknækkeren’ skal undgås. Men den skal også forstås, som det historiske kunstværk, den er - Information, December 15, 2021

Denmark: Racism in the 'Nutcracker' must be avoided. But it must also be understood as the historical work of art it is.

As The Nutcracker returns to Canadian stages, ballet companies find new balances on COVID-19 and cultural stereotypes - The Golbe and Mail, December 12, 2021

Tchaikovsky’s Christmas tale evolves to suit a changing Canada as child performers and ‘Arabian’ and ‘Chinese’ dances are out, new routines and vaccination safeguards are in.

Big Nazo and new choreography add twists to Festival Ballet's 'Nutcracker' - The Providence Journal, December 10, 2021

“I kept most of it traditional,” he says of his choreography, “but the battle scene with the mice is a little more contemporary, a little more fun.” There also is a new Chinese divertissement, choreographed with assistance from Chu Ling, a company faculty member.

Ballet’s biggest production changes how it depicts Asians - Marketplace, December 10, 2021

Like many arts institutions that rely on in-person performances, ballet companies have had a tough time during the pandemic. Many of them have started dancing again just in time for the annual moneymaker, “The Nutcracker,” which accounts for about half of companies’ annual box office sales. Safety precautions are a big priority at productions this year. But during a pandemic that’s led to an increase in violence against Asian Americans, there’s a strengthening call to change the way Chinese people are depicted in the ballet’s second act.

Stop Asian Hate: why this matters to Scottish Ballet - Scottish Ballet, December 8, 2021

For many Asian people, it can be distressing and humiliating to see their culture, appearance, accents and names used as a punchline. What's more, the media often portrays East and Southeast Asia as a single culture – further erasing their unique identities.

Cracking cultural appropriation: Butler Ballet updates “The Nutcracker” - The Butler Collegian, December 7, 2021

As with any tradition, every new iteration of this show brings not only a wave of nostalgia, but a chance to look back on the past and take a step into the future. This year, Butler ballet is taking a giant leap forward, seizing the opportunity to bring an iconic yet antiquated ballet into the 21st century, updating the production to be far more inclusive and celebratory of diverse cultures. These changes were primarily inspired by a recent talk given at Butler by Phil Chan, one of the co-founders of the organization Final Bow For Yellowface.

Scottish Ballet's changes to The Nutcracker to remove racist stereotypes are not cultural vandalism – The Scotsman, December 7, 2021

When Scottish Ballet, or anyone else, decides to perform The Nutcracker, they are making an active choice to do so. And that also applies to the way they perform it. And so if their performances perpetuate outdated, abhorrent stereotypes – that were perhaps uncontroversial in the 19th century when The Nutcracker was written – they cannot avoid their responsibility for doing so. They are free-thinking individuals, not slaves to the past. So changing the play to remove the offensive scenes is far from an act of cultural vandalism as some apparently claim. Instead, it is a profound appreciation of the work that helps avoid the alternative choice: consigning a wonderful ballet to the dustbin of history.

Scottish Ballet rejects censorship claims over changes to The Nutcracker - The Scotsman, December 6, 2021

Scottish Ballet has dismissed suggestions that it has censored The Nutcracker or taken away from the heritage of the famous ballet by tackling “inappropriate cultural stereotypes” in its new festive production.

The Nutcracker at the Festival Theatre — classic ballet brought bang up to date - The Times, December 4, 2021

Scottish Ballet’s artistic director, Christopher Hampson, doesn’t call the cultural adjustments he has made to this year’s production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker “changes”. He thinks of them more as improvements.

The Nutcracker at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre: A Christmas cracker back with a bang - The National, December 4, 2021

In the case of the problematic Chinese Tea Dance, for instance, Hampson has taken on board the views of dancer and activist Phil Chan (who advised New York City Ballet on its staging of The Nutcracker). In doing so, he has sought to ensure that the representation of Chinese culture – both in costume and in physical gesture – is affirmative, rather than derogatory. Anyone blessed with a sense of decency and proportion will agree with Hampson that these timely (indeed, overdue) innovations are part of the evolution of ballet as an art form.

Scottish Ballet revises The Nutcracker to address racism - BBC, December 4, 2021

For many people, a trip to the theatre to see the ballet The Nutcracker is as traditional as it gets. A magical tale of toys that come to life, dances in the snow and a majestic score by Tchaikovsky. It is to ballet companies, what pantomime is to theatres, and after a period of absence because of the pandemic, it couldn't be more welcome. But The Nutcracker has become increasingly problematic for ballet companies, particularly those, like Scottish Ballet who are keen to stand up against racism in the industry, as well as encouraging diversity in their own organisation.

Providence Nutcracker ballet changing to be 'culturally inclusive' - WJAR, December 3, 2021

The changes have been welcomed by the dancers and Breen Combes believes, they’ll be welcomed by the audience too. “I think over the past year our eyes have really been opened and we’ve all had a moment to step back and to reflect and say we’re going to make a new production and we’re going to do better," said Breen Combes.

The Afternoon Show - BBC, December 2, 2021

Grant Stott tunes into the best of Scottish arts, entertainment and music. (Scottish Ballet spotlight at 1:10:00)

Asian representation: It’s getting better, but still has ages-old challenges - Nikkei View, December 2, 2021

Japanese Americans and the wider Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities are seeing more of ourselves reflected in pop culture these days, but the high arts has a ways to go. It’s important to recognize the ongoing challenges of representation, because they affect our view of ourselves and our community.

Evolving opera: BLO’s ‘The Butterfly Process’ examines stage stereotypes, equity - The Bay State Banner, December 1, 2021

“If opera as an art form is to survive, it’s got to be bigger than the old white donors that are currently paying for it,” says Chan. “This is the opposite of cancel culture. This is how we keep this work alive.”

The Nutcracker is back this holiday season, and it's ditching racist caricatures - KUOD NPR Seattle, November 30, 2021

There's another big change that has nothing to do with Covid: the character of the Chinese Tea dancer, which plays on racist stereotypes about Asian people, won’t be in this year’s production. The version of the Nutcracker the Pacific Northwest Ballet has put on since 2016 was developed by choreographer George Balanchine in 1954. Peter Boal, artistic director for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, said there are some things in that version that don't align with the company's present-day values. The Ballet made some changes to the Chinese Tea dancer character in its 2016 run, but as of this year, he’ll be gone altogether and replaced with a new one: The Cricket. Boal worked with Phil Chan, the founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, as he was developing the character.

“Royal Ballet tweaks ‘Arabian dance’ scene in The Nutcracker to ensure show is inclusive” - Classic FM, November 26, 2021

Sir Peter Wright, now director laureate of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, has made changed to his original choreography, specifically, the Arabian Dance, which takes place in Act II. Instead of a dance involving three female dancers, and one male, the new choreography, which debuted on Tuesday night, is performed with one female dancer and one male.

O’Hare is one of the signatories in the ‘Final Bow for Yellowface’ campaign, whose pledgees ‘commit to eliminating outdated and offensive stereotypes of Asians (Yellowface) on our stages’. On signing the pledge, O’Hare wrote, “On behalf of The Royal Ballet I am delighted to be supporting this campaign to ensure that dance and ballet continue to be a force for diversity, inclusion and equality, with everyone represented respectfully on our stages.”

“Berlin State Ballet bans The Nutcracker over Chinese stereotypes”- The Times, November 26, 2021

The Berlin State Ballet has scrapped Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker from its Christmas repertoire because it features ethnic stereotypes in the Chinese and Oriental dances. It comes after the ballet was rocked this year by accusations of racist discrimination against a black dancer, for which it paid a €16,000 settlement.

Royal Ballet rejigs Nutcracker’s Arabian dance to avoid ‘harem’ overtones - The Times, November 26, 2021

The Royal Ballet has reimagined the “harem” scene in its classic production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker amid concerns that it is offensive. The company said it had altered the Arabian dance from Sir Peter Wright’s 37-year-old production to ensure that it remained “fresh and inclusive ... to a broad audience”.

Royal Ballet goes woke: Dance company drops 'harem scene' in Nutcracker this Christmas 'to make an inclusive environment for performers and audiences' - The Daily Mail, November 24, 2021

The Royal Ballet has changed the 'harem scene' in The Nutcracker for the Christmas show to 'make an inclusive environment for performers and audiences'. A Royal Ballet spokesman said: 'The Royal Ballet regularly looks at the classic repertory to ensure these works remain fresh and as inclusive as possible to a broad audience. The Nutcracker is one of the most well-known ballets and is the perfect introduction for new audiences into this artform. Kevin O'Hare, director of The Royal Ballet, is keen to ensure that the production elements are appropriate within the context of classical ballet. In an ongoing process of discussion with company members and visiting guests, The Royal Ballet strives each season to make an inclusive environment for its performers and audiences.

Royal Ballet reimagines Nutcracker's 'harem scene' amid fears it is out of step with modern audiences - The Telegraph, November 23, 2021

The Arabian dance will now be performed as a duet, to ensure everyone is represented respectfully.

Boston Lyric Opera plans metamorphosis for ‘Madama Butterfly’ - The Boston Globe, November 23, 2021

Canceling “Butterfly” is not and never has been the goal, according to “Butterfly Process” consultant Phil Chan: “We’re figuring out a way to keep this work alive for a multiracial audience.”

Nutcracker dancers work with Chinese dance expert to remove racist stereotypes - The Evening Standard, November 22, 2021

Ballerinas rehearsing for The Nutcracker have been working with a traditional Chinese dance specialist as part of their company’s commitment to tackling racism in ballet. Scottish Ballet has said it is making subtle but significant changes to its upcoming production of the show to help eliminate racist Asian stereotypes. The company’s dancers Alice Kawalek and Kayla-Maree Tarantolo have been working with traditional Chinese fan artist Annie Au as part of this.

Pacific Northwest Ballet presents George Balanchine's The Nutcracker - Queen Anne and Magnolia News, November 17 2021

According to a press release, the music and choreography remain the same, but audiences will notice a new character making its debut on stage in 2021: When Balanchine choreographed The Nutcracker in 1954, he sought to showcase a global array of cultures, some of which can now be viewed as cultural appropriation. With permission from the George Balanchine Trust, PNB has sought to revise the Chinese divertissement: Elements of racial stereotyping were removed prior to PNB’s 2015 premiere and now, working closely with Phil Chan (co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface), PNB will be introducing the Green Tea Cricket in Act II.

Ballet company updates scenes from The Nutcracker to remove cultural stereotypes - The Evening Standard, November 5, 2021

A dance company is making “subtle but important” changes to its upcoming production of The Nutcracker as part of its commitment to tackling racism in ballet. Scottish Ballet said the Chinese and Arabian-inspired scenes in the Land of Sweets will have updated costumes and choreography to “remove elements of caricature” and better represent the culture and traditions which have inspired them.

Ballet bosses drop Arabian and Chinese elements from The Nutcracker because much-loved Christmas favourite 'proliferates racial stereotypes' - The Daily Mail, November 5, 2021

The dance company will remove 'elements of caricature' from Arabian and Chinese sequences in The Nutcracker as part of an overhaul of a production first staged 1972.

We mustn’t tiptoe around ‘racist’ caricatures in The Nutcracker, says Scottish Ballet - The Telegraph, November 5, 2021

Dance company is making 'subtle but important' changes to the Christmas favourite in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Retiring Ruth St. Denis” - Medium, September 29, 2021

“Many artists and scholars before me have reflected on the impact of oreitnalism and the erasure of Asian bodies as a destructive forces to racial equity and justice. I encourage you to engage further with their work which is more realized and detailed than in these excerpts.”

Georgina Pazcoguin: “Ballet isn’t just for European nobility anymore. Ballet is for everyone.” - Tatler Asia, August 10, 2021

“Asian culture portrayed as caricature in art was informed by national political events like the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese internment camps and the Vietnam War,” she says. “When all we see on our screens and stages is flat, one-note depictions of Asian culture, it makes it easier for us to view the people of that culture as less than outside of our theatres. It will take a lot of accountability and acknowledgement that ballet has upheld a very specific white Eurocentric ideal and lens for 400 years. That’s why Phil and I are so passionate about helping push forward a new mindset in our shared corner of the arts world.”

Daily: Hindu leader protests 'culturally insensitive' Tallinn ballet - ERR News, August 3, 2021

In some past performances internationally, "La Bayadère", which, if it goes ahead, will hit the stage in Tallinn next April, child performers have worn blackface; another spokesperson, Phil Chan, of the organization Final Bow for Yellowface, which aims to remove East Asian stereotypes from ballet, says there is nothing to connect "La Bayadère" either to India or to Asia as a whole, as it is simply a western-created facsimile of Indian culture, aimed at homogenous western audiences.

Dancer reveals surprising ‘Black Swan’ world of New York City Ballet in memoir - New York Post, July 31, 2021

“I am a multicultural woman embracing my Asian heritage. When I was growing up [in dance] studios, there was never anyone who really looked like me in the classroom or on the wall. It impacted me more than I thought it did,” [Pazcoguin] said.

“It’s so easy for people to jump to conclusions that this is me trying to do something negative. Yes, there are negative aspects, but I am not trying to do something negative about the ballet world,” she said. “I am trying to shine a light and share my absolute and utter devotion to ballet. And even through all of this, I still love the art form.”

Georgina Pazcoguin Doesn't Dance Around the Dark Side of the Ballet World in 'Swan Dive' - L’Officiel, July 21, 2021

“Yes, how do we push ballet in the future? With the work I do with Final Bow for Yellow Face, we are doing that from a diversity perspective. The book is intersectional to that discussion but it's also, “This is my story. Let me share with you the decisions I have made.” I love this art form so much, but I will say the hard things in order to have the discussion to push it. I don't want our audiences to die out. How are the diverse voices, the young people of New York City, or any place across the globe, going to see outdated stories, outdated characters, and different cultures? How are we expecting that to resonate with them?”

NYCB Ballerinas Share Their Unique Journeys in Two New Books - Pointe Magazine, July 20, 2021

Pazcoguin, who is of Filipino-Italian heritage, also hopes her experiences will inspire young dancers to forge their own unique paths. “The discipline, critique and sacrifice needed to sustain a career in dance do not have to be devoid of self-worth,” she says. “They are not mutually exclusive.”

“The book is about taking space,” she continues. “I hope that younger artists will know they can hold space and have a very successful career even if it doesn’t look like the ballerinas that they see up on the walls. Let me tell you, none of those ballerinas looked like me.”

A ‘Rogue Ballerina’ Gives a Candid Account of Ballet Culture - The New York Times, July 14, 2021

There were many things that were out of Pazcoguin’s control. “I look quite Asian when I have my makeup on,” she said. “I can’t change that. I can’t change my body type, my heritage. I’m never going to be a waif-thin body type. And so that’s where the creation of ‘rogue’ came.” “Sometimes,” she added, “you just need to embrace what makes you different.”

A “Silent Minority” Speaks Up - Opera America, July 14, 2021

Asian characters and settings permeate the operatic canon, but few Asians or Asian Americans have a voice in their presentation. The ideas that opera perpetuates about the Asian community further ingrain biases that exist in many aspects of our culture. “Looking at this repertory, I only see certain narratives about Asian people,” says Phil Chan, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization dedicated to fighting Orientalist stereotypes in the arts. Asian Americans within the opera world hope that social justice that gained traction during the pandemic will shift how Asianness is presented in opera and how Asian people are represented on and offstage."

New Book "Turning Pointe" Examines the Changes Needed to Carry Ballet Into the Future - Pointe Magazine, June 30, 2021

Released in May, Turning Pointe unpacks and examines ballet’s traditions and fragile ecosystem and the implications it has made on gender, race, power and the physical and mental well-being of its dancers. “The Black Iris Project, Final Bow for Yellowface and Ballez. They certainly aren’t the only [organizations who are getting the conversation right], but those are three I mention in the book.”

The 49th Dance On Camera Festival Lineup Announced - Broadway World, June 29, 2021

A precursor to its 50th Anniversary, this year's Dance on Camera Festival celebrates the illustrious films from the festival's history. The archival program will also spotlight BIPOC stories, dancers, and filmmakers that have been featured during the festival's run. As part of the virtual program, Arthur Dong's Forbidden City, U.S.A. will also feature an exclusive moderated conversation between Phil Chan, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface and director, Arthur Dong.

Episode 5: Phil Chan - why dance matters podcast (royal academy of dance), June 16, 2021

Phil Chan is a dancer, arts advocate and activist born in Hong Kong and now based in New York. With Georgina Pazcoguin of New York City Ballet, he co-founded Final Bow For Yellowface in 2017. Provoked by stereotypes of Asian characters and culture in classic ballets – mostly notably in The Nutcracker – their campaign has already had impact in the US and beyond, offering resources for companies striving for change. As the dance world examines its entrenched culture and its historic and current abuses, Phil’s is an eloquent voice leading difficult conversations. He explains what meaningful change looks like – and how we make it happen.

Saying goodbye to yellowface and reflecting on stereotypes in ballet (Part 2) - Par (Chinese language), issue 339/May 2021

In recent years, "Final Bow for Yellowface” in the United States has actively promoted the elimination of racial prejudice in ballet. The initiator, Phil Chan, discusses how to convert the improper cultural appropriation of classical ballet into a diverse and inclusive opportunity for change, and looks forward to building performance opportunities for Asian artists in dance while enriching the innovative energy of contemporary ballet.

Saying goodbye to yellowface and reflecting on stereotypes in ballet (Part 1) - Par (Chinese language), issue 339/May 2021

In recent years, "Final Bow for Yellowface” in the United States has actively promoted the elimination of racial prejudice in ballet. The co-founder, Phil Chan, discusses how to convert the improper cultural appropriation of classical ballet into a diverse and inclusive opportunity for change, and looks forward to building performance opportunities for Asian artists in dance while enriching the innovative energy of contemporary ballet.

The Problematic Oriental - News from the Jerome Robbins Foundation, Vol. 8, No. 1

If orientalism is indeed such an important pillar of classical ballet, what happens when traditional yet culturally inaccurate or caricatured representations of “orientals” comes face-to-face with Asian Americans who are ballet’s students, audience members, subscribers, donors and Board members?

10,000 Dreams: Celebrating the Abundance of AAPI Vision - thINKINGDANCE, May 30, 2021

The festival’s content is powerful because it isn’t tangled up in trying to define Asianness for the white gaze. Rather, dance as a form is challenged to prove itself worthy of what each choreographer of Asian descent has to say through their exploration of the human condition. Each day during AAPI month, a different choreographer’s dream is released. Here is just a sampling of three out of the thirty-one dreams presented.

Dancing Towards the Dream of Asian Representation - The Body, May 28, 2021

Chan says that a “patron saint” for their plan is Choo San Goh, a Singaporean-born choreographer of Chinese descent who died in 1987 from viral colitis at the age of 39, one year after he was diagnosed with AIDS. Chan said that the idea for “10,000 Dreams” follows a plan set out by Goh, who believed in nurturing Asian voices. Following his death, a foundation was created in his name in 1992 to support the creation of new choreography. Funding for the foundation would have come from licensing ballets that Goh created during his lifetime, but because many of those works have not been performed in years, the organization’s funding has dried up. Luckily, the mission to elevate Asian voices lives again through “10,000 Dreams.”

City Lights: The 10,000 Dreams Festival Closes with Choo San Goh’s “Fives” - Washington City Paper, May 28, 2021

An archival recording of that 2016 performance closes out the 10,000 Dreams festival, a virtual celebration of Asian dance creators curated by Final Bow for Yellowface, an advocacy group that pushes for authentic Asian representation in dance and an end to racist stereotyping. As with the 31 other “Dreams” presented online, “Fives” will be available for free, but only for 24 hours.

Episode 229: JESSICA TONG, ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO - conversations on dance, May 20, 2021

This week we are joined by Jessica Tong, Associate Artistic Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. We talk with Jessica about her career, her work ethic, making the unexpected transition to being in front of the studio, what Hubbard Street has been doing in this past year of COVID, and how she got involved in Final Bow For Yellow Face’s “10,000 Dreams: Virtual Choreography Festival.”

Remaking a Problematic ‘Tea’ - New York Times, May 20, 2021

Throughout May, for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, yellowface.org is hosting 10,000 Dreams: Virtual Choreography Festival. Each day, the series features one short digital work by a choreographer of Asian descent. Final Bow has also partnered with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to present “Unboxed,” for which three choreographers have dreamed up their own versions of “Tea.” The first two, by Yin Yue and Edwaard Liang, have been released; the third, by Peter Chu, arrives on Monday.

(video) Dancers seek to rid ballet performances of Asian stereotypes - CBS EVENING news, may 19, 2021

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, "Final Bow" is showcasing the work of 31 Asian choreographers. "It's the only way I know how to push back against the ugliness that we're facing right now is to share hopeful things, to share joy, to share art," Chan said.

Episode 228: FINAL BOW FOR YELLOWFACE’S PHIL CHAN AND GEORGINA PAZCOGUIN - Conversations on Dance, May 13, 2021

This week we welcome back Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin, founders of the Final Bow For Yellowface. We first spoke with Gina in 2017 in episode 52 and with Phil in May of 2020 in episode 186. This dynamic duo shares with us some background on their organization and their advocacy efforts. We chat about what they have been up to over the past year and what they are working towards in the years to come.

Remembering Jacques, the Reopening Struggle, and Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin - The Dance Edit, May 6, 2021

“And then we’ll have our interview with Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin, the co-founders of Final Bow For Yellowface. It felt like the whole dance world turned to Phil and Gina after the Atlanta shootings. They are such powerful advocates for better Asian representation in dance, and they’re such clear leaders in this community. We discussed, first of all, their large-scale plans to celebrate and elevate Asian dance talent, including their 10,000 Dreams virtual choreography festival, which is highlighting a different choreographer of Asian descent every day this month. But they also talked about how they’ve dealt with being looked to for guidance, even as they cope with their own fear and their own grief as Asian Americans. We hope you’ll listen to that, and we hope you’ll go to yellowface.org to find out how you can help them in this work that they’re doing.”

10,000 Dreams Virtual Choreography Festival Spotlights Asian Choreographers Throughout May - Pointe Magazine, May 4, 2021

To help ballet companies better walk the talk, and in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Final Bow for Yellowface is raising visibility of some of the leading Asian choreographers of today through 10,000 Dreams: A Virtual Choreography Festival. Each day in May, a choreographer of Asian descent will be profiled on Yellowface.org and on the group's Instagram page, where viewers can watch a short digital work created by the featured dancemaker. Final Bow has challenged artistic directors who have signed its pledge to view the digital works and commission a choreographer of Asian descent by 2025.

(VIDEO) Group Works to Remove Asian Stereotypes From Ballet - NBC 4 Washington, May 3, 2021

"We love ballet and we don't want to see it become obsolete or irrelevant," Chan said. Dance companies are striving to do better and are finding their footing along the way. "The horizon is so much larger when we include other lenses," Pazcoguin said.

Hubbard Street and 10,000 Dreams challenge stereotypes while centering AAPI choreographers - The Chicago Reader, May 3, 2021

Tong is also partnering with Chan and Pazcoguin to curate 10,000 Dreams, a festival presenting a choreographer of Asian descent every day in May to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. "If we are going to artistic directors saying we're demanding you change and do better, we want to be partners with you to help you get there," says Chan. "We want you to succeed, so we're going to be part of the solution: we're going to suggest 31 Asian choreographers that you might be interested in."

10,000 Dreams: Virtual Choreography Festival Will Highlight Asians in Dance - Broadway World, May 2, 2021

10,000 Dreams: Virtual Choreography Festival will highlight Asians in dance. The festival is being held by Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization dedicated to eliminating offensive Asian stereotypes in dance.

Advocacy group wants to see more Asian dancers on the stage, and more Asian choreographers on the program - The Washington Post, May 1, 2021

“At the end of the day, Gina and I are coming to this as lovers of ballet,” Chan says. “We want it to survive and be relevant. Ballet could be a time-capsule experience or be something that is radical and relevant and moves you and makes you feel alive.

“So which is it?,” he says. “Is it a cute historical experiment to just say, ‘Oh, this is how Europeans used to dance,’ or is it something that can mean something today?”

With the Help of Social Media, the Asian Ballet Community Is Speaking Out Against Anti-Asian Violence - Pointe Magazine, April 1, 2021

Phil Chan, a co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, says that the organization's work on changing portrayals of Asians has always been informed by the understanding that onstage stereotypes translate to offstage perceptions. "If we have terrible representations of us onstage, it means that we can be treated terribly when we leave the studio, leave the theater—and how people see us onstage is how they see us outside, as well," he says. "Those things are a mirror image."

Final Bow for Yellowface Accelerates Plans to Lift Up Asian Dance Talent - Dance Magazine, March 24, 2021

For many in the dance community, last week's shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six Asian women, sparked some deep introspection about the dehumanizing effects of the stereotypes shown on our stages. And Final Bow is harnessing the surge of solidarity that's come about in response.

“Examining the Real-Life Temple Dancers Who Inspired La Bayadère” - Dance Magazine, February 26, 2021

The way in which La Bayadère ignores the history and traditions of the devadasis certainly constitutes orientalism. Fortunately, more and more members of the dance world are doing crucial work in holding ballet accountable for offensive and reductive stereotypes of Asian people. For instance, Georgina Pazcoguin and Phil Chan—the founders of Final Bow for Yellowface—continue to call for the elimination of outdated caricatures of Asian people in dance. Since 2017, many ballet companies in the U.S. have signed their pledge, indicating that the tide is turning.

Black dancer calls out racism in 'elitist' European ballet world - NBC News, February 14, 2020

This month, the Paris Opera published a report detailing steps to improve diversity in dance, but racism in ballet is not limited to Europe, Phil Chan, an arts administrator in New York City, said. "If we don't change, we're gonna be irrelevant dinosaurs," he said.

Paris Opera bans ‘blackface’ after staff pressure to end racism - Classic FM, February 9, 2020

Ban ‘blackface’ and ‘yellowface’. Don’t use the N-word in operas. And allow us to wear tights and pointe shoes that match the colours of our skin. So demanded dancers at the prestigious Paris Opera when they circulated an open letter and petition, signed by hundreds of the company’s dancers, calling for an end to racist practices at the historic institution.

Paris Opera to Act on Racist Stereotypes in Ballet - New York Times, February 8, 2020

“There will be no blackface, or yellowface,” Neef told reporters, but works like “La Bayadère” and “The Nutcracker” would remain, with possible further changes in choreography and costumes.

You Can Now Explore 200 Years of Chinese American History Online - Smithsonian Magazine, January 25, 2021

Another digital exhibit, “My MOCA Story,” offers thoughts on the significance of specific artifacts from museum staff, Chinese American cultural and political leaders, and other community members. Phil Chan, co-founder of the organization Final Bow for Yellowface, discusses the stereotypical Fu Manchu mustache in the context of his work to change depictions of Asian people in ballet

Jerome Robbins Dance Division Sets Date For Sixth Annual Symposium - Broadway World, January 14, 2021

Held on January 29, 2021, this year's Symposium, entitled Dance and Immigration: A Symposium Beyond Boundaries, features the culminating projects from this year's cohort of Dance Research Fellows: Kiri Avelar, Ninotchka Bennahum, Phil Chan, Sergey Konaev, Yusha-Marie Sorzano and Ferne Regis, and Pam Tanowitz.

Beyond blackface: Paris Opera tackles race cliches in repertoire - France24, January 14, 2021

Across the Atlantic, Chinese-American dancer Phil Chan, author of the "Final Bow for Yellowface," is fighting Asian stereotypes in classical ballet. Chan, who rewrote the libretto for Adolphe Adam's ballet, "Le Corsaire," makes no bones about overhauling the classics. "Ballet changes all the time, it is a performing art; it is not like the Mona Lisa or the Statue of David," he said. "Today we have Indian neighbours, black cousins and Chinese colleagues, it's very different. It's not just about putting Europe at the centre of the story and having all the other countries dancing around it."