Endgame
- La Permanence -
Today, we publish an open-letter written by members of La Permanence, an activist group that exposes abuses of power and cases of harassment and discrimination in dance and other related fields. In this letter, La Permanence supports dancer Karline Marion's struggle against the discrimination she endured while working at the ballet of the Lyon Opera, and pays tribute to her courage and tenacity. Through this struggle, Marion achieved a highly symbolic victory. With this letter, La Permanence seeks to rehabilitate Marion's name and restore her practice to its rightful place in the world of contemporary dance. The letter already has already gathered 250 signatures (247 from art workers and 3 from activist groups).
On February 18th, 2020, an open letter published in Next
Libération spoke out against the dismissal of Yorgos
Loukos from his position as Director of the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon. This
dismissal followed a court decision that found Loukos guilty of workplace
discrimination in December, 2019. The discriminations in question concern
events taking place in 2014, when dancer Karline Marion, returning from
maternity leave, was subject to sexist remarks on the part of the director. She
was subsequently fired.
Various media outlets have reported on these events (Libération, Télérama, Sceneweb,
etc.). More recently, the open letter of
February 18th has expressed the reaction of a certain class
of artists and cultural professionals who take exception to this decision,
judged “arbitrary” and “incomprehensible.” (for a synopsis of the events in
English you can read this article of The New York Times).
The media coverage often omits Karline Marion’s remarkable
talents as a dancer, and we wish to underline them here, understanding that
written dance history often privileges the names of choreographers over those
of dancers. After years as a soloist at the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, she joined the
Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon in 2008. She was attributed numerous “soloist” roles
in pieces by William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj, Benjamin Millepied, and
George Balanchine, for example, and also stood out in more contemporary
repertory: works by Odile Duboc, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, and Ohad
Naharin.
In 2014, after having been employed on the basis of five short term
contracts, her employment was not renewed. Yorgos Loukos voiced his decision
not to renew Karline Marion’s contract, citing artistic and familial reasons:
“If between 29 and 34 years old you’ve done well but not fantastic, you won’t
be able to do much more, especially with a kid.” [1]
In a
March 5th press release, the FNSAC-CGT [2] noted
that “the judges have also made it clear that the Director of the ballet had
been incapable of proving that the discharged dancer could not satisfy
'fundamental professional demands.'”
Yorgos Loukos has taken it upon himself to deny employment
to this dancer under the pretext of her personal situation, relegating her to
her status as a mother and woman, which would be apparently incompatible with
her professional position. If Karline Marion had not been fired, she would have
certainly been offered a longer term contract.
Maintaining the employment of
dancers on the basis of precarious, temporary contracts guarantees a certain
docility. This asymmetry is omnipresent in all domains of wage labor; the dance
field is no exception. These power dynamics clear the way for harassment and
discrimination. It is therefore necessary to reinforce the rights of workers
and foment a more balanced power dynamic. Flexibility and mobility for
contracted workers are advantages if they are chosen rather than imposed,
contrary to what recent reforms to the French unemployment and pension systems
have attempted to promote. It is the responsibility of a director to inspire
trust and professionalism among members of a troupe, to insure that rehearsals
proceed respectfully and ethically, and to support dancers in the evolution of
their career.
Those who have signed the February 18th open letter
question the role of organised unions. It seems to have become fashionable to
call for a direct dialogue between employees and directors without these
intermediary parties, a mode of operation which in reality serves to reduce the
negotiating powers of the workers and to further solidify the traditional
hierarchy. A union representative helps guarantee that exchanges between
employers and employees respect the rights of the labor force. The open letter
suggests that a vote amongst the dancers should determine whether Yorgos Loukos
would maintain direction of the ballet. To suddenly call for a democratic vote
within a vertically-structured organisation demonstrates the hypocrisy of those
who benefit from these power structures.
Over the past several years, collectives and associations
such as La Permanence and HF have gathered statements from employees in the
dance field. Conclusions echo those from the majority of institutions : art
communities are not immune to neoliberal erosion, dancers in a company are
often subject to the desires of a director, and pyramid-like hierarchies
continue to wear down artistic and administrative personnel. Open dialogue is
still lacking. The fact that Karline Marion was obliged to secretly
audio-record her discussions with her employer bears witness to the fact that
her testimony could not stand on its own. Herein lies the difficulty in proving
verbal harassment and abuses of power. While the February 2020 open letter deems
the methods by which the director was dismissed as “regrettable,” we would like
to underline that by casting doubt on the condemnation of Yorgos Loukos, the
letter casts doubt on the stated experience of a victim. It is this that we
find truly regrettable. Why has this privileged cohort of figures from the
dance sector chosen not to take personal statements on the lived experience of
a dancer seriously?
The ouster of Yorgos Loukos
–
even if it is not understood
as such by this cadre of publicly acclaimed artists
–
is an historical moment
for us. Karline Marion’s courageous engagement in a five-year-long judiciary
procedure heartens us, and gives us hope that we can continue to change
practices in our profession. This dismissal calls us to reach out to the boards
of trustees of other institutions demonstrating violent managerial politics,
that these boards might put an end to those practices. The Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, for example.
These tactics of intimidation and blackmail don’t have a
place in 2020. Is it necessary to remind our readers of the difficulties women
face in our societies? Is it necessary to remind them of the latest statistics
published on International Women’s Day concerning the place of women in the
cultural field? Is it necessary to remind them of the situations of those who
exist in the margins : people on lower rungs of our hierarchies, the
economically precarious, trans people, non-white people, fat people, lesbians,
the disabled, seniors, etc.?
We who work in the fields of dance and live arts in France
have chosen to react publicly to an open letter that seems to come to us from
another time, another era. We, artistic labourers, we wish with our letter to
give strength to the testimonies of a dancer, an artist, and to denounce the
violence of a system of power that always brings harm down on the most
precarious among us. We - dancers, choreographers, techniciens, administrative
workers, researchers, spectators - we are shocked to read this open letter,
signed by those we have often admired, respected, and who may have helped spark
our desire to practice and create. You represent, in this letter, another
world, one different from the world in which we want to live. You are invited
to withdraw as many pieces from the repertory of the company as you wish, if
they serve to reinforce this societal violence. It is your behaviour that is
incomprehensible. It is this condescension from the upper classes that is
shameful. It is this systemic violence that is intolerable.
La Permanence
SIGNATORIES: Patricia
Allio · Selin Altiparmak · Aude Arago · Jonathan Archambaut
· Clément Aubert · Stéphanie Auberville · Andrea Baglione ·
Juliette Baron · Françoise Barret · Anne Bautz · Stéphanie Bayle · Chloé Bégou
· Jérôme Bel · Jenny Bernardi · Benjamin Bertrand ·
Nadia Beugré · Olivier Bioret · Nuno Bizarro · Sarah Blumenfeld
· Virginie Bobin · Alice Boivin · Christine Bombal · Léa Bonnaud · Léa Bosshard
· François Boulet · Noémie Bourlon · Philippe Bouttier · Mathieu Bouvier ·
Garance Bréhaudat · Mia Brion · Dominique Brun · Gaëtan
Brun-Picard · Louise Buléon-Kayser · Lili Buvat · Fernando Cabral · Bryan
Campbell · Laura Campino · Jonathan Capdevielle · Sofia Cardona · Céline
Cartillier · Valérie Castan · Baptiste Cazaux · Marie-Bénédicte Cazeneuve · Pascal
Cebulski · Antoine Cegarra · François Chaignaud · Sarah Chaumette · Clarisse
Chanel · Céline Champinot · Béatrice Charreton ·
Matthieu Chayrigues · Jonas Chéreau · Camille Chenais · Adrien Chiquet · Anna
Chirescu · Sylvie Cieren · Ondine Cloez · Barbara Coffy · Pauline
Colemard · Nathalie Collantes · Anne Collod · Emmanuelle
Cordoliani · Nick Coutsier · Benjamin Croizy · Daria
Dadun · Charles Dalerci · Renaud Dallet
· Frédéric Danos · Sorour Darabi · Garance Debert · Helena de
Laurens · Bintou Dembélé · Anne Dessertine · Aurore Di Bianco · Louise Djabri ·
DD Dorviller · Matthieu Doze · Léa Drouet · Victor Duclos · Agathe Dumont
· Marjory Duprés · Caroline Eckly · Arthur Eskenazi · Teo Fdida · Simon
Feltz · Charlotte Fermand · Isabela Fernandes de Santana · Leïla
Fourez · Madeleine Fournier · Abigaïl Fowler · Aurélie Gaillard
· Audrey Gaisan · Florian Gaité · Chiara Gallerani · Clémence Galliard ·
Thomas Gallus · Rachel Garcia · Lili Garcia Gomez · Ghyslaine
Gau · Estelle Gautier · Fanny Gayard · Dylan Genest · Dominique Gilliot ·
Philippe Gladieux · Halory Goerger · Vinciane Gombrowicz · Célia Gondol ·
Miroslaw Gordon · Elsa Goujon Gregori · Sophie Grappin · Jessica Guez · Younès
Guillemot · Margot Guillerm · Maxime
Guillon-roi-sans-sac · Patrick Harivel · Helen Heraud · Rémy Héritier · Simon
Hervé · Johanna Hilari · Axel Ibot · Sandra Iché · Tristan Ihne
· Catalina Insignares · Kévin Jean · Dom Jégou · Yoann Jolly · Anne Kerzerho
· Kidows Kim · Solène Krystkowiak · Aminata Labor ·
Jennifer Lacey · Aude Lachaise · Joris Lacoste · Mateo Lagiere ·
Lucas Lagomarsino · Nino Laisné · Maëva Lamolière · Julie Laporte · Erwan Ha
Kyoon Larcher · Lasseindra · Isabelle Launay · Pénélope Laurent Noye
· Mylène Lauzon · Pauline Le Boulba · Victor Leclère · Florian Leduc · Jeanne
Lefèvre · Myriam Lefkowitz· Corentin Le Flohic · Aurélien Leforestier · Anne
Lise Le Gac · Alice Leloup · Vincent Lenfant · Anne Lenglet · Anne-Chloé
Le Roy · Jean Lesca · Laure Lescoffy · Annie Leuridan · Germain Louvet ·
Cécile Loyer · Sabine Macher · Mohamed Makhlouf· Noémie Makota
· Nicolas Marie · David Marques · Hélène Marquié · Blandine
Martel-Basile · Jan Martens · Corba Mathieu · Jérémy Mazeron · Émilie Meeus · Catherine
Meneret · Anthony Merlaud · Bastien Mignot · Juliette Mignot · Viviana Moin ·
Fabien Monrose · Anna Muchin · Juliette Murgier · Tidiani N’Diaye · Calixto
Neto · Nosfell · Smaranda Olcèse · Mathilde Papin · Mélanie Papin · Isabelle
Paquet · Jean-Christophe Paré · Enzo Pauchet · Guillaume Pellay · Edouard
Pelleray · Carole Perdereau · Julie Perrin · Katia
Petrowick · Céline Peychet · Mickaël Phelippeau · Aubane Philbert · Zoé Philibert · Ana
Pi · Pol Pi · Laurent Pichaud · Pablo Pillaud-Vivien · Maud Pizon · Léa
Poiré · Cécile Proust · Myriam Pruvot · Annabelle Pulcini · Hélène
Raimbault · Mathilde Rance · Elsa Raymond · Karine Rico-Perez · Alexandre
Roccoli · Garance Roggero · Clémentine Rougier · Julie
Salgues · Violeta Salvatierra · Jean-Jacques Sanchez · Anne Sanogo · Marcela
Santander · Nina Santès · Lina Schlageter · Kanti Schmidt · Claire
Serres · Marion Siéfert · Pauline Simon · Barbara Sirieix · Tilly Sordat ·
Danièle Soubeyrand · Matthieu Sparma · Betty Tchomanga · Ana Rita Teodoro
· Cécile Tonizzo · Loïc Touzé · Pauline Tremblay · Myriam Van
Imschoot · Luc Verbitzky · Clément Vercelletto · Julia
Vercelli · Françoise Vergès · Jean-Baptiste
Veyret-Logerias · Julie Viala · Margot Videcoq · Mathilde
Villeneuve · Juliette Wagman · David Wampach · Mimi
Wascher · Baudouin Woehl· Elisa Yvelin · La Buse · La
Coordination des Intermittent·es et Précaires d’Ile-de-France · Mouvement HF ·
[1] Excerpt from a conversation between Yourgos Loukos and Karline Marion, mentioned in the newspaper 20 minutes, 07/02/20, available here.
[2] The « Fédération nationale des syndicats du spectacle, du cinéma, de l'audiovisuel et de l'action culturelle (FNSAC-CGT) » is a French worker's union for artists and technicians from the performing arts, audiovisual and cinematic sectors.
13.04.2020
La Permanence
La Permanence
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