The ballet world is a man’s world, but New York City Ballet star Ashley Bouder is trying to change that.
On March 17 and 18, the Ashley Bouder Project at Symphony Space will feature female choreographers and composers, as well as an unusual double ballerina pas de deux that Bouder is dancing with her with company mate Sara Mearns.
“Sara and I have been in [the] NYC Ballet for years, but we rarely get to share the stage together,” Bouder told me. “It’s rare to have a duet for two women.”
Bouder blames Serge Diaghilev, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins — “history that’s hard to break.”
“In all my years, I can’t think of one female composer I’ve danced to,” Bouder said. Compared to the paucity of female movie directors, “It’s worse than Hollywood.”