PRESS 2022

 

Press Highlights

 

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.”

 

2022 By Date

 

(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.

(Podcast) Final Bow for Yellowface ft. Phil Chan - StarkMarkings, December 22, 2022

English National Ballet’s Nutcracker – what’s not to love? Sparkles and omissions - Gramilano, December 21, 2022

Important to note that ENB hasn’t signed the pledge thus far. Reconfirmed by Chan on Twitter on December 16: “For some reason @ENBallet has yet to sign the Final Bow for Yellowface pledge. Sounds like they should give their Chinese a haircut and get on board!” So how does Nutcracker Act 2 feel in 2022? A moment of seasonal warmth or a misrepresentation/cancel culture minefield? Well, there’s a big problem. Yes, there’s no questionable Arabian anymore – but it hasn’t been replaced with a less questionable version. It’s just been excluded altogether! Who made this very bad decision? Was Eagling involved at all? Fine – a problematic three-act ballet is an actual problem, but surely a two-minute divertissement can be dealt with rather than just deleted. I think this is lazy and does the genre zero favours. Deal with issues – don’t be in denial for ages and then just disengage. Lord.

English National Ballet’s Nutcracker at the London Coliseum review: a festive treat - Yahoo News, December 16, 2022

Modern Nutcrackers now come with slightly less racism, notably in the Chinese dance – though ENB’s pigtails and tilting moves still teeter on the edge of discomfort. The production has also, thank goodness, dropped Eagling’s alarmingly pervy Arabian dance. Less conflicted, Ken Saruhashi’s fearless spins are a blast in the Russian number, while Precious Adams brings seamless fluency to the Mirilton’s fluting melody.

‘Nutcracker’ performance in Vancouver challenges original’s cultural stereotypes - Oregon public broadcasting, December 15, 2022

“The Nutcracker is 130 years old and anything that’s 130 years old comes with baggage,” says Moore. ”I thought, ‘Why drag that baggage into the next 20 years?’”

Q&A with Phil Chan and Doug Fullington - Indiana Daily Student, December 11, 2022

Chan, in collaboration with dance historian Doug Fullington and the Indiana University Ballet Theater, is now working on a reimagining of “La Bayadere,” a classical ballet piece set to debut at the Musical Arts Center in 2024. The IDS spoke with Chan and Fullington about this process on Dec. 8. 

(Podcast) IS HUMAN COMPOSTING THE NEXT BIG THING? - AudioFiles, Sounds of The city, December 9, 2022

Twin Cities ballet companies crack open stereotypes in 'Nutcracker' - Star Tribune, December 6, 2022

The movement to end "yellowface" in productions of "The Nutcracker" has started to gain momentum in the Twin Cities, and ballet companies are reworking the classic holiday piece without racial stereotypes and cultural appropriations.

Cancel culture and the ballet - Dance Australia, December 5, 2022

In Australia, where traditional Nutcrackers are also being staged with increasing frequency, there have also been rumblings of disapproval. “It may be time for a radical reimagining of elements of The Nutcracker,” Susan Bendall wrote for Dance Australia of the Australian Ballet’s Peter Wright version (created in 1984). Similarly, from Isabelle Leclezio of the West Australian Ballet’s version last year: “… although it appears that some attempts have been made to tone down these problematic imperialist caricatures, there is still potential to create a refreshing version that an increasingly diverse Australian audience can relate to,” she wrote.

(VIDEO) Twin Cities Ballet's 'A Minnesota Nutcracker' aims to be 'more inclusive' - KARE, December 1, 2022

"The issues with 'Nutcracker' weren't so much a lack of diversity, it was more the treatment of stereotypes," Vogt said. "It's referring primarily to 'The Chinese Dance,' where historically a lot of companies have had very stereotypical … makeup and the style of movement."

PHOTOS: A New Look for Richmond Ballet's Nutcracker - The Richmond Times Dispatch, December 1, 2022

Cracking open ‘The Nutcracker’s’ dark Russian past - The Washington Post, November 25, 2022

“Is ballet a multiracial art form that includes everyone, or is it just a folk dance done by kings and queens?” asks Phil Chan, an advocate for ending Asian stereotyping and author of “Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing between Intention and Impact.” “Is it just a regurgitation of the past, or is ballet an art form that is urgent and alive? We have to choose.”

“Ballet des Porcelaines” at MIT - MET News, November 9, 2022

“MIT might be known for its emphasis on STEM, but the arts, humanities, and social sciences are also central to our undergraduate curriculum,” says Jeffrey Ravel, a professor of history at MIT and a specialist in 18th century French theater and political culture. “Our students are primed for artistic events like these, and dance is extremely popular among the MIT community. Most importantly, the performance is part of our ongoing campus conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, investigating the historical context of the pervasive issues that affect cultural production today.”

Scholarship and activism in the world of dance: talking with Phil Chan ’06 - Carleton News, November 7, 2022

Chan discusses returning to Carleton as a visiting professor and his ongoing work combating racism in ballet.

Asian American Dancers Challenge Ballet’s Legacy of Yellowface - Ethnic Media Services, September 15, 2022

Stieg has partnered with director Jennifer Lin and producer Jon Funabiki on a new documentary titled Beyond Yellowface, which follows Chan and Pazcoguin as they advocate for culturally aware ballet. A 10-minute clip is available on the film’s website for public viewing.

5 New Ballet Books to Look Forward to This Fall - Pointe Magazine, August 24, 2022

Since the founding of his organization, Final Bow for Yellowface—and even before—writer, dancer, choreographer and arts administrator Phil Chan has been at the forefront of the movement to abolish harmful and disrespectful portrayals of Asians in the performing arts. In 2020, he released his first book, Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact, which outlines the work he and co-founder Georgina Pazcoguin have done as part of their nonprofit Final Bow for Yellowface, as well as offers tips for organizations to implement themselves. Banishing Orientalism: Dancing Between Exotic and Familiar (Yellow Peril Press, price forthcoming) furthers this conversation. Through a thoughtful examination of ballet history, peppered with touching personal anecdotes, witty humor and candid—but never judgmental—observations, Chan provides a look at how classical ballets that have historically relied on Orientalism can be reimagined beyond harmful tropes. Banishing Orientalism is a glimpse into a more equitable future for the quickly diversifying world of ballet, making this an essential read for anyone invested in the art form.

What’s being done to fix opera’s problem with anti-Asian racism? - Al Jazeera, July 7, 2022

Puccini's Madama Butterfly tells the tragic love story of a Japanese girl betrayed by her American naval officer husband. It is a production that at once showcases one of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful arias in Italian opera and yet the worst stereotypes of Asian women. So how are modern opera companies handling these issues when it comes to developing new productions that won't turn off audiences in 2022?

Freeing Ballet From The Stain of Yellowface - Magazine CN D, June 2022

Despite ballet’s adherence to tradition, artistic directors have begun to reject “yellowface” and “blackface”―the practice of painting dancers with yellow or dark body paint to indicate Asian or Black heritage, and the racial caricatures that accompany it. Some politicians, including Marine Le Pen, have decried this move as "anti-racism gone mad.” Regardless, a number of artists and historians have embraced the change as a means to invite new audiences into the field.

International Work & A Sense of Place with Final Bow for Yellowface - Active Hope Podcast, Season 2, Episode 1, June 16, 2022

Our premiere episode focuses on belonging, and the work that it takes to create emotional equity in cultural spaces. Our hosts describe the process of maximizing cultural safety as performance halls re-open themselves to the public. Featured guests for this episode are two Kennedy Center Next 50 awardees: NYC Ballet company member Georgina Pazcoguin, and dancer and author Phil Chan. Together, Georgina and Phil have established Final Bow for Yellowface, an advocacy coalition and field-wide barometer for Asian-American inclusion in dance.

As Anti-Asian Hate Rises, Here’s How Some Dance Educators and Institutions Are Offering Support - Dance Teacher Magazine, May 26, 2022

Dance institutions are also providing their own educational tools. In 2021, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), in collaboration with Final Bow for Yellowface, created the Unboxed program, in which three Asian choreographers—Yin Yue, Edwaard Liang and Peter Chu—were invited to reimagine the Chinese “Tea” divertissement from The Nutcracker. In addition to the three new dances, presented digitally, HSDC also created a professional-development series for teachers, along with a curriculum kit offered free of charge to Chicago Public Schools and public educators alike. Targeted for sixth- to 12th-grade youth (with modifications for third- to fifth-graders), the curriculum led students through discussions around stereotypes, appropriation and understanding what cultural dance is.

Gold Standard Arts Foundation Seeks to Foster Community and Collaboration for Asian Creatives - Dance Magazine, May 2, 2022

But after the March 2021 shootings in Atlanta that claimed the lives of eight people, six of them Asian women, founders Phil Chan and Georgina Pazcoguin realized more needed to be done to organize as a community. “There isn’t a space for us like a Ballet Hispánico or Dance Theatre of Harlem,” says Chan, an arts administrator, educator and choreographer and the author of Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact. “That was the impetus of deciding that we really need a service organization, a home, for supporting Asian creatives who want to collaborate in dance.”

Georgina Pazcoguin, New York City Ballet's first female Asian American soloist, discusses her trailblazing career - NY1, March 28, 2022

So Final Bow for Yellow Face was a pledge, and it was co-founded with my partner in change, Phil Chan, and we realized that there was still prevalent use of yellow face on our stages. And now in this time, and especially today, on the anniversary of the shooting in Atlanta, I think it is time for us as an Asian American community to gather to support each other and now. So Final Bow for Yellow Face was recognized by the Kennedy Center, and we are expanding upon that, and Final Bow will now become Gold Standard Arts Foundation, a greater umbrella service organization for not only dancers of AAPI heritage, but costume designers, lighting designers, directors, choreographers, we really want to support and uplift all of the voices in every aspect of the Performing Arts.

Dancing Moons Festival helps ‘move the conversation’ away from hate - SF Chronicle, March 19, 2022

When hate speech and assaults against Asian Americans surged in the U.S. last year, Oakland Ballet Company Artistic Director Graham Lustig didn’t want to merely watch in shock — he wanted to do something. “I just could not stand on the sidelines and simply put on another evening of lovely dances,” the British-born choreographer recently told The Chronicle between rehearsals. “I think there are ways that ballet companies, even a small ballet company like us, can move the conversation.” He quickly reached out to New York scholar Phil Chan, the Chinese Korean American author of a book about Asian stereotypes in ballet titled “Final Bow for Yellowface,” and co-founder of an initiative to eradicate such stereotypes signed by more than 100 dance and arts leaders. Lustig knew Chan because they had already been working together to promote the legacy of Choo San Goh, a leading Chinese choreographer of the 1970s and ’80s who was Lustig’s good friend when they both danced with the Dutch National Ballet 50 years ago.

Reimagining “Ballet des Porcelaines,” a Lost 18th-Century Divertissement - Pointe Magazine, March 18, 2022

An opportunity arose when Martin received a 2021 fellowship at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts (CBA). It was there that she connected with Phil Chan, a choreographer and co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization dedicated to eliminating racist and offensive portrayals of Asians in ballet. Given his experience, Chan proved to be the perfect collaborator Martin was looking for.

(VIDEO) Oakland Ballet gives 'final bow for yellowface' while raising curtain on more inclusive future - ABC 7 News, March 10, 2022

Chan co-founded Final Bow for Yellowface in 2017 as a call to action to diversify ballet companies while eliminating offensive stereotypes of Asians seen in ballet.Since 2017, most major American ballet companies have agreed to the pledge. The Oakland Ballet is one of those companies that signed on and is now making good on its word, uplifting Asian American choreographers, dancers, composers, and designers in the Dancing Moons Festival.

Rethinking La Bayadère: The Norwegian National Ballet Sparks Debate About Preserving Orientalist Ballets - The Oslo Desk, March 6, 2022

Both Chan and Proietto’s works reveal that the key to revising classics is to replace caricature with character, not necessarily to cancel traditional ballets. “We have to shift how we preserve our repertory from being just a Eurocentric way of doing it, just assuming that these cultures are fantasies, to thinking about how do we keep the steps, keep the music but keep changing it so that it’s still relevant, still alive, still meaningful for people today,” Chan says.

‘I felt sick’: Opera Australia under fire for using ‘yellowface’ - Sydney Morning Herald, February 26, 2022

No government-funded Australian arts organisation would put a white performer on stage with their face painted black in 2022 without expecting to spark an uproar.So Cat-Thao Nguyen wants to know why no one at Opera Australia seems to have questioned whether it is appropriate to dress white performers up in traditional Chinese make-up and exaggerated Fu Manchu-style moustaches to play characters named Ping, Pang and Pong in one of their marquee productions. Meanwhile, a New York-based group called “Final Bow for Yellowface” has launched a campaign to eradicate “outdated and offensive stereotypes of Asians” from ballet productions such as The Nutcracker.

Oakland Ballet Presents THE DANCING MOONS FESTIVAL, March 24 - April 2 - Broadway World, February 10, 2022

Chan, co-founder of "Final Bow for Yellowface," a call to action to diversify ballet companies while working to divest the field of offensive stereotypes, is currently in residence at New York University and the Manhattan School of Music, and a "Next 50" arts leader at The Kennedy Center. Last year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned him to create a work inspired by an 18th-century ballet that has been lost, reimagining its story from a new perspective. Titled Ballet de Porcelaines or The Teapot Prince, the original story centers on a prince in search of his lover who is trapped by an evil sorcerer with the power to transform people into porcelain. Chan's version of the ballet premiered in December; next month's presentation will mark its West Coast premiere.

Meet—and Watch—the Winners of the 2022 Prix de Lausanne! - Pointe Magazine, February 8, 2022

The competition also inspired further discussion on representation in ballet: The all-white 2022 Prix jury spurred a wave of criticism from the ballet community, including prominent individuals and organizations like Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem dancer Ingrid Silva and Final Bow for Yellowface co-founder Phil Chan. These criticisms escalated following the Prix’s response to one Instagram commenter this past Thursday—the exchange is now deleted, but the Prix’s account wrote that “statistically ballet doesn’t include much variety.” The competition published an official statement regarding the exchange on its social media channels the following Monday.

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Music for Dance - NY Times, February 2, 2022

A good piece of dance music is an aural guide for the body to explore the freedom of movement. It changes directions. It grabs onto your heartbeat and pulses through your veins. It makes you tap your feet. One of my favorite pieces of dance music is for the Tinikling, the national folk dance of the Philippines, which emulates the swift footsteps of the tikling bird. The virtuoso melody provides variations on a theme, syncopated rhythms, changing tempos to build excitement and, finally, a crescendo release. Fair warning: Only the most musical dancers avoid the sore ankles that come with the closing snap of the bamboo poles

Showcasing Asian American dance - SeeingDance, January 18, 2022

That there has been a lack of representation of Asian American dance work historically is undeniable. To help raise the profile of artists, the Asian American Arts Alliance, Final Bow for YellowFace/Gold Standard Arts Foundation and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company jointly assembled this showcase as part of the Dance Managers’ Collective’s 2022 Imagine Dance Festival. Primarily aimed at presenters and promoters, it demonstrated the breadth of work being created as it featured cross-genre and cross-cultural works by eight promising AAPI (Asian American Pacific Island) choreographers.

Boston Lyric Opera reexamines Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly' through cultural discussion series - WBUR, January 14, 2022

“Our approach is very much saying, works like ‘Madama Butterfly’ are beautiful … they can bring a new audience, and there’s some stunning work there,” said Chan. “But there are some problematic elements to them. So what do we do, to keep it fresh, to keep it alive? If you think about works in the performing arts as living rituals that we perform, versus static art, like a film, a sculpture, or a painting, those things capture the zeitgeist of the moment. You can’t put a mustache on the Mona Lisa. But every time we decide to do ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ we’re saying it a little differently. Different parts resonate at different moments.”

Slant Podcast: Phil Chan - January 9, 2022

Phil Chan is a co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization that is decolonizing ballet repertoire through advising performing arts groups on how to maintain the integrity of works from the classical Western canon while updating outdated representations of race and culture. Chan discusses navigating orientalism in classical ballet performances and outlines an essential path American ballet must take in order to survive a growingly diverse 21st century audience.

How Sweet is the Land of Sweets? - Grant Magazine, January 1, 2022

“They are raising worldwide awareness of the issue that Asian dancers have known all along,” says Walker. Final Bow for Yellowface is encouraging dance companies everywhere to change their productions of “The Nutcracker.”

6 standouts in classical music on the changes they hope to see, and make, in the new year - The Boston Globe, January 1, 2022

The big New Year’s resolution I would hope to see in the performing arts is a shift from a Eurocentric way to a multiracial way of producing,” Chan said. “Using diversity and inclusion not as something that is painful for us to do, but something that is a wellspring of creativity as opposed to being a burden. So what does this shift look like? It looks like questioning: Whose perspective are we taking when we tell a story in an exotic place that might be real to some people? So, you know, fantasy India, fantasy China, fantasy Middle East — how do we give the composers, choreographers, artists, and dancers from those communities . . . equal oxygen to make their art as we do with European art? A multiracial way of producing includes Puccini and Shakespeare and Verdi and all the rest. It just means we get more, it means it’s bigger.