Choreographer Rosie Kay forced to resign from her own company

[peonyred]

This is a share token so you can read the story. Another Janice Turner article. Simone suggested Crowdfunding for her new company.

Rosie Kay: I resigned from my own dance company after I was accused of transphobia

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3935bc4a-5858-11ec-a3f7-65d2d47c7fea?shareToken=d4efe0ddb11ede84d52835a0a02d70e3

This is sickening.

I read this this morning. Absolutely outrageous. These little ratbags.

Maybe all that dressing up and being in character had muddled their thinking.

My sympathies to Ms Kay. What happened to her is outrageous.

Another thread about this Janice Turner Interview with Rosie Kay www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4421797-Janice-Turner-Interview-with-Rosie-Kay

Breathtaking. Apart from anything else, what madness is this: 'filed a further complaint about the party, saying Kay’s use of the words “penis” and “vagina” amounted to sexual harassment.'

These type of people aren't satisfied until they can have everyone tip toeing on eggshells around them. It's controlling, abusive and pathological.

Fuuuuuuck!

(Almost) speechless. Privileged little twats*. Thinking of all the artists and dancers and organisations who aren't lucky enough to secure arts Council funding.

I'd never heard of Rosie Kay. Her work sounds extremely interesting. Her description of touring 5 Soldiers within army baraks is moving. Isn't this what art is supposed to do? Bridge divides? Communicate feelings that are hard to express? Notice things that go unnoticed? Reach different types of people?

Who wants to see desperate, dry, virtue signalling to the powerful people in their art? We've got politicians for that.

*I know those dancers aren't really just privileged little twats. They're also from a generation that has been lied to and thrust head first into the digital world like canaries.

@Ereshkigalangcleg

These type of people aren't satisfied until they can have everyone tip toeing on eggshells around them. It's controlling, abusive and pathological.

I'd like to see the tip toe egg shell dance choreographed! With the naked emperor sat firmly on his throne in the middle.

Wow, I hope Rosie claps back with a brilliant feminist piece of choreography - I'd go and see that.

@MrsColon

Wow, I hope Rosie claps back with a brilliant feminist piece of choreography - I'd go and see that.

Me too. She sounds like a fighter and I think she'll find an appropriate response.

That would be awesome. Her work sounds amazing.

I'd like to see the tip toe egg shell dance choreographed! With the naked emperor sat firmly on his throne in the middle.

Oh yes!

That poor woman. Modern McCarthyism.

And note needs to be taken that if you make certain employment choices you are opening yourself up to very high risks and a need to watch your back at every step. Which isn't really a positive thing for anyone involved. India Willoughby noted more than a year ago that job opportunities were drying up for them because of behaviour like this rendering people extremely wary of getting it wrong and then being punished in this awful way.

I found a link to her crowd funder on twitter. Won't link obviously. The details given about the events are below. Sounds like the coversations were more specifically about trans women using women's spaces, and there's a bit more about the investigation.

"The chain of events that has led to this began with a party in my own home four months ago with dancers during rehearsals for the company’s production of Romeo + Juliet. Debate turned heated as we talked about the differences between sex and gender and whether transwomen should be admitted to women’s spaces such as refugees for victims of domestic violence. I believe in sex-based protections and women’s sex-based rights. Women’s rights and freedom of expression are a cornerstone to my artistic expression. A complaint to the Board by one of the dancers at the party – a young political activist – led to a four-month investigation by my board which it has botched, first exonerating me, then, when that led to more complaints, opening a second investigation which still hasn’t concluded. I cannot endure this humiliation any longer."

The weird thing from the article was that they were planning a tribunal led by an hr firm? Sounds weird.

She wants to rebuild her career

"After a bit of a break and recovery time, I plan to continue my research and make a new dance adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando. I will also continue to work on my autobiography, which became my most recent solo show Adult Human Female, and I will continue with performing solo works while I build a new company. My new company will be totally artist-focussed, with a lighter structure that lets me, as the creator, stay in control."
(I actually wonder if adult female human is a typo as she had a recent show called adult female dancer)

broadwaybaby.com/features/rosie-kay-adult-female-dancer/2271

It's not very clear what the fundraiser is for other than 'legal fees'. Is she suing them, or is it just legal fees in extracting herself from the charity and setting up a new company or whatever.

It would be interesting to hear the non binary female explain their reasons and how they feel after reading that article.

She should have retained 100% ownership and not have a board or trustees.

It's not very clear what the fundraiser is for other than 'legal fees'. Is she suing them, or is it just legal fees in extracting herself from the charity and setting up a new company or whatever.

From the Times:

Now Kay finds herself locked out from her own company, estranged from her very name and suing her board for constructive dismissal.

You would think that dancers of all people would be aware of the physical differences between male and female bodies. Poor Rosie, I hope she gets her new work into production. It sounds extraordinary.

And of course none of the dancers had ever read Orlando, because reading a literary masterpiece exploring gender and sexual identity might make them use their brains and challenge their lazy thought processes.

I have to say that the article reads particularly badly for the non-binary female and how she was replaced by an older dancer who learnt the part in two days.

The whole bunch of them wouldn't last 5 minutes outside the arts.

@Zandathepanda

It would be interesting to hear the non binary female explain their reasons and how they feel after reading that article.

Except they won't read it, will they? One of reasons this ideology thrives is by urging believers only to read approved texts.

@viques

You would think that dancers of all people would be aware of the physical differences between male and female bodies. Poor Rosie, I hope she gets her new work into production. It sounds extraordinary.

And of course none of the dancers had ever read Orlando, because reading a literary masterpiece exploring gender and sexual identity might make them use their brains and challenge their lazy thought processes.

The wording of the article does lead you to the word 'lazy' on multiple fronts doesn't it?

The arrogance of berating the director of your dance company IN HER OWN HOME.

5 Soldiers sounds amazing, I would have loved to see that.

I thought the same, Somepeopleare. Not only berating her in her own home, but reporting her afterwards and then again when she was exonerated the first time.

She sounds amazing though. I hope she sues the board. What a bunch of backstabbers, given all that she had put into the company.

And the patheticness of the young person or people who reported her is frankly sickening. Rosie herself might not blame them, but really they need to get over themselves or nobody anywhere will employ anyone who claims such an identity. Indeed I’m sure many already would think twice. It’s not a good look to get your boss sacked for expressing perfectly reasonable views.