The Bold and Beautiful Ballerina: Ashley Boulder

“She never holds back. I think she’s fallen more often than anybody, but she also succeeds more.”

Ms. Lovette said she fully supported Ms. Bouder’s call for a more equitable field. “It’s kind of like when a politician speaks out about something you believe in, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, you say it!’”

“It shouldn’t be shocking to anyone that every ballerina has a voice.”
In the past few years, works by women have become less anomalous at City Ballet; new ballets by Ms. Lovette, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Gianna Reisen have entered the repertory. But there’s still progress to be made. Ms. Bouder said that of the 40 or so choreographers to come through City Ballet during her career, only seven have been women. And, looking back, she discovered that she had never — not once — danced to music by a female composer.

She has also been paying attention to the company’s diversity initiatives. She recalled feeling cautiously hopeful last fall when a new group of apprentices joined City Ballet, and half of them weren’t white. “I walk into the studio and people don’t look the same anymore,” she said. “Everybody deserves a chance to be here.”

Ron Wasserman, who directs the 17-piece Jazzharmonic, met Ms. Bouder through his job as a bassist in City Ballet’s orchestra. As the evening’s co-producer, he said he appreciated her decisiveness in planning such an ambitious program. “She makes up her mind,” he said. “It’s risky, but it’s daring.”

Ms. Bouder said that some male colleagues have brushed off her project as trendy. “They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, every ballerina’s doing it now.’”

Her response? “Yeah, actually, we are. We finally stepped up! It took a lot of courage and a lot of time to get here. Please don’t be so dismissive.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/arts/dance/ashley-bouder-the-feminist-ballerina-with-a-mission.html