127: Saving Ballet from Itself — Dr. Chloe Angyal

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra speaks with Dr. Chloe Angyal, an accomplished journalist and published author. Most recently, Chloe released</span> <a href= "https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/chloe-angyal/turning-pointe/9781645036708/"> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Turning Pointe: How the New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet from Itself</span></em></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Her book focuses on the future of ballet and reckons with all the forces that endanger its future — whether that be racism, sexism, elitism, or many others. Dr. Angyal holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a doctorate from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of Chloe’s earliest ballet journalism centered around the bullying of young boys who participated in the artform. Yet, after writing the piece, Chloe felt there was so much more to be said. And there was indeed more to be said — an entire 300-page book’s worth. On the podcast, Chloe discusses her book, which outlines the historical issues plaguing ballet but speaks optimistically to how dance’s next generation is righting many of the wrongs and making ballet a more equitable environment for everyone. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"When most people think about a ballet dancer, they think about a woman who is white who has long flowing hair. She is slender and effortlessly feminine... But the fact that that's most people's first thought is an obstacle that everyone else has to overcome."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Sometimes it takes having an outsider to reflect your underlying assumptions [about ballet] back to you for you to realize, 'Yikes. There's a real problem here.'" </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"One thing that I think a lot of people that leave ballet go through is a very solitary, piece-by-