PRESS 2024

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.

(Video) Asian American ballet dancers making a more inclusive Nutcracker - NBC Nightly News, December 22, 2022

Many depictions of Chinese culture in “The Nutcracker” felt wrong to Asian American dancers Georgina Pazcoguin and Phil Chan. NBC News’ Vicky Nguyen spoke with them about starting a movement to set a more inclusive stage.

“'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.”

2024 By Date

STAGING CLASSICAL WORKS FOR TODAY’S AUDIENCES - CI to Eye Podcast, April 17, 2024

What do we do when “the classics”—those canonical treasures that embody the rich traditions of our genres—start to feel outdated for today’s audiences, or even at odds with our missions? In today’s episode, we take a close look at celebrated works from the classical Western canon that include harmful portrayals of non-Western cultures, and hear how one artist is taking action to prune and preserve the art he loves.

'10,000 Dreams' at Northrop seeks to celebrate Asian choreography and end stereotypes - Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 8, 2024

"Essentially, this came out of looking at ballet companies and asking whose voices were getting heard," Chan said. "We were really seeing a lot of ballet companies working with primarily white choreographers. We saw all these Orientalist depictions with kimonos and turbans onstage from companies who didn't hire Asian creatives at all." In 2017, Chan and Pazcoguin formed an organization that began to reach out to ballet companies and ask them to commit to eliminating offensive stereotypes of Asians in their productions. More recently, the organization has further asked companies to commit to commissioning an Asian choreographer by 2025. "A lot of companies responded very positively to that. So what we're seeing is the fruits of one's labor from this work," Chan said.

Indiana University Livestreams Star on the Rise: La Bayadère … Reimagined! - Dance Magazine, March 29, 2024

“With the flip in the storyline, the beauty of the dance remains and the questionable plot dissolves,” says IU senior Ruth Connelly. Fellow senior Aram Hengen adds that the school’s learning environment is the perfect place for this change to begin:­ “It’s a lab, basically.” Both are excited to see ripple effects­ beyond their campus.

The Jacobs School of Music starts a new chapter with ‘Star on the Rise: La Bayadère... Reimagined!’ - Indiana Daily Student, March 29, 2024

Phil Chan — co-founder of “Final Bow for Yellowface,” an organization dedicated to removing Asian stereotypes from classic ballets — had the idea to adapt “La Bayadère” to remove these problematic stereotypes six years ago. In 2020 after a lecture given at the Jacobs School of Music, Chan used “La Bayadère” as an example of a problematic ballet which could be adapted to remove the stereotypes while saving the dances. Chan said Sarah Wroth, professor of music in the ballet department, approached him and expressed interest in the production. 

“Star on the Rise” - WFIU, March 28

Striving to replace caricature with character, stagers Phil Chan and Doug Fullington have taken a classical ballet out of its original setting—a mystical, yet mischaracterized India—and placed it in a quintessentially American setting: a Hollywood Western movie set during the dream factory’s Golden Age.

‘Star on the Rise: La Bayadère ... Reimagined!’ replaces caricature with character - News at IU, March 25, 2024

Leaders at the Jacobs School invited Chan, author of “Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact,” and Doug Fullington, a dance historian and musicologist, to stage a reimagined production of “La Bayadère” at IU. With Chan and Fullington at the helm, they created a dazzling reimagining of the classic ballet within the context of the golden age of Hollywood, rather than India.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like ‘Bayadère’? Send In the Cowboys - NY Times, March 23, 2024

A new production of the ballet sets it in 1930s Hollywood instead of a mythic India, eliminating Orientalist clichés while embracing American ones.

How NOT to cancel 'La Bayadere' - Dance Australia, March 23, 2024

As ballet expands beyond its origins as a strictly Eurocentric art form, folks on both sides of the footlights are experiencing some growing pains. I’m the co-founder of an organisation called Final Bow for Yellowface, that has successfully gotten companies to eschew yellowface on our stages. A big part of my work as a director and choreographer is to reimagine outdated classics from Europe that still speak to us today, removing racial caricature that prevents these works from being widely enjoyed. As a person of Asian heritage, deeply involved in the ballet community, I’ve got a lot of skin in the game; I very much want to preserve the best from my dance heritage, but also want Asian characters on our stages to be represented with integrity. It’s possible to do both, as I’ve discovered in reworking the popular ballet, La Bayadère.

Review: Oakland Ballet dreams big in ‘Dancing Moons Festival’ excerpts - SF Chronicle, March 15, 2024

The remainder of this program serves a smorgasbord of dance bites ranging from the dead serious to the sassy, and the tastiest bits are all by Phil Chan.

CHOREOGRAPHER PROFILE: PHIL CHAN - Dance Data Project Newsletter, March 2024

“I like to describe my work as the opposite of cancel culture; I am not advocating for us to no longer perform problematic works, I am pushing for our field to find creative ways to reimagine them.”

Film about pioneering ballet dancer George Lee premiers at Lincoln Center - AsAm News, February 11, 2024

When filmmaker Jennifer Lin found publicity photos of the seminal 1954 production of The Nutcracker, she was stunned: The dancer in the “Chinese Tea” section of the ballet was actually Asian. Reviews mentioned that the dancer, George Lee, had phenomenal abilities that others could not replicate. Yet he remained relatively unknown in ballet history.

A ballet out of step - The Australian, February 1, 2024

West Australian Ballet has been urged to cancel its production of La Bayadere, a work now regarded as insensitive to Indian people and Hindus.