It is with some shock and dismay that many in the Australian dance sector have learned about bullying accusations levelled against one of their all-time dance heroes – the famed Belgian choreographer and founder of Rosas, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Her statement admits, “At times in [the] company’s past, people have been caught up in conflicts and have been hurt.”
According to the range of contemporary dance artists and directors ArtsHub spoke to for this story, all agreed that directorial practices have indeed changed over the past 20-plus years, and that the “bad old days” when tyrannical directors who could operate in untouchable realms of unquestioned authority are largely over.
