When Abi Stafford Lillo took her final bow last fall after more than two decades with the New York City Ballet, it seemed like a quintessential dancer’s retirement, with colleagues handing her bouquets while the audience applauded wildly.
But her smile that afternoon disguised what had become a bitter dispute between the ballerina and the party behind the scenes.
Ms Lillo, 40, said she decided to leave because she felt she had been sidelined since her estranged brother, Jonathan Stafford, became City Ballet’s artistic director. Then, she said, she was cut from the opening cast of her latest ballet, “Russian Seasons” by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. He told her in a text that “the men struggled” to work with her — what she considered “body shaming,” she said in an interview.
City Ballet officials objected that Ms Lillo had been offered several roles in recent years that she had turned down, saying Mr Stafford had no say in her casting because his contract forbade him from making decisions involving either she or his wife, the dancer Brittany. , were involved. pollack. They said that Mrs. Lillo was removed from the opening of the “Russian Seasons” not because of her weight, but because of “problems with her stamina and with her strength”.
The dispute offers a glimpse into the complex, often fraught dynamics of City Ballet, a close-knit company in which family members, husbands and romantic partners often share a workplace. And it reminds us of the balance ballet companies must achieve if they are to break through the decades of unhealthy focus on dancers’ weight and body shape, while continuing to demand the strength, flexibility, athleticism and artistry that define the art form.
A family split
City Ballet has long been a family affair. George Balanchine, the co-founder, was married to two of its leading dancers. The wife and son of Peter Martins, the company’s ballet master for decades, were both principal dancers under his direction. And several siblings have danced in the company together, including the Kirklands, the d’Amboises, the Fairchilds and the Angles.
The Staffords joined the City Ballet siblings, initially studying at the School of American Ballet, its affiliated academy, and then joining the company. But they grew apart, even as they continued to work together.
Growing up in central Pennsylvania, she was the first in her family to take up ballet, she said in an interview. She recalled being frustrated when her brother and sister followed suit. “I wanted ballet to be my thing, even when I was six,” she said. “I was just always very angry that they were encroaching on my activities.”
In 2000, at the age of 17, Mr Martins hired her to dance in the company’s corps de ballet after six weeks as an apprentice – an unusually rapid promotion. As she established herself, critics praised Ms. Lillo’s technique, with one writing that she “defines each step with remarkable clarity.” At other times, the reviews were more mediocre, with some critics suggesting that her dance lacked depth.
Her relationship with her brother, who had been strong, began to deteriorate. She said she was offended on her 31st birthday when Mr. Stafford got engaged. “I was like, okay, he’s literally trying to make my birthday about him,” she said.
In 2017, Mr Martins, the longtime leader of the company, left after becoming the subject of allegations of wrongdoing, which he denied and which the company later said were not confirmed. Mr. Stafford took over, first as interim director and then as artistic director, with Wendy Whelan as associate artistic director. In an effort to avoid conflict, Ms. Whelan oversees the casting and employment of Ms. Lillo and Mrs. pollack. But Mrs. Lillo began to blame her brother for what she saw as fewer opportunities.
Mr Stafford declined an interview but said in a statement that Ms Lillo had inspired him to become a dancer and that he was “saddened” by the breakdown of their relationship, which he said deteriorated after he was promoted to principal dancer. “I’ve gone to great lengths since then to reconnect, but our relationship has never been the same,” he said.
The decision to retire
Less than a year after Mr. Stafford was officially named Artistic Director, Ms. Lillo went on mental health leave. In an interview, she attributed the leave to the breakup and her belief that she was being ignored in making decisions.
It was in March 2020, just before the pandemic shut down live performances in New York for a year and a half, that she told the troupe she wanted to leave. She accused her that after Mr. Stafford took over, she was relegated to “understudy roles in the back of the room,” as her attorney, Leila Amineddoleh, wrote in a letter to the company.
She asked for three years of severance pay, release from her contract so she could dance elsewhere, and a solo curtain on her last performance.
In written responses to Ms. Lillo’s allegations, Kathleen McKenna, a City Ballet attorney, dismissed her claim that she was, in fact, “demoted” after her brother became Artistic Director, listing 13 ballets she had been cast in since 2019, and noted that she was unable to perform in the spring of that year because she was injured. Mrs. McKenna wrote that Mrs. Lillo had also turned down some opportunities and then went on leave.
“In connection with that decision, she confided to Ms Whelan that she no longer loved dancing, but ‘the law,'” wrote Ms McKenna.
Ms. Lillo, who began classes at Fordham’s law school in 2018, acknowledged that she had turned down some roles due to injuries, her leave and other issues, but claimed she was not being cast equitably with other principal dancers.
In an interview, she said she got frustrated after asking Ms Whelan to learn new roles and being told she wasn’t right for them. “The only thing she said to me that was really disturbing or disturbing was that she said, ‘We’re trying to do what’s right through the ballets.'” Ms. Lillo said she replied, “What about the dancers?”
In an interview, Ms Whelan said she had worked hard to find Ms Lillo’s roles.
“I don’t think she was treated unfairly,” Ms Whelan said. “I did my very best to give her chances.”
‘The Men Wrestled’
Last fall, as the City Ballet prepared to return to theater at Lincoln Center, Ms. Lillo made plans to dance the ballet “Russian Seasons” for her farewell performance.
But after the early rehearsals, the choreographer, Mr. Ratmansky, to remove her from the opening night cast, Ms Whelan said. Mrs. Whelan called her and told her the news, Mrs. Lillo recalled, telling her that Mr. Ratmansky didn’t think she was “strong enough” or ready for the first night, but she could still dance it for her farewell performance.
Ms Lillo responded with a text message to Ms Whelan and Mr Ratmansky, writing, “I wish you’d given me two more weeks before you made your decision” and added that she “continued to work and push.” , according to screenshots of the text messages.
“I’m very sorry it hurt you,” Mr. Ratmansky replied. “I feel bad about it. I’m also sorry I couldn’t talk to you.”
He continued: “But please understand. There is a lot of collaboration in the piece and it should look effortless. The men had a hard time.” (Mr. Ratmansky did not respond to requests for comment.)
Ms. Whelan said she was never told that the decision was about Ms. Lillo’s weight, and that she interpreted Mr. Ratmansky as saying that Ms. Lillo lacked the strength and technical skill female dancers need to make partnering look effortless. see.
But Ms. Lillo read that text as an indication that it was “about what my body looked like, not how strong I was.”
“It’s just because I now say it’s body shaming that they change the story,” she said. Her attorney wrote to the company that the final weeks of her ballet career caused her “intense emotional distress” and asked for $200,000 in compensation in addition to the typical exit compensation she had already received. (City Ballet did not agree to that demand.)
City Ballet has talked in recent years about attempts to change the conversation about weight and the body of dancers – and to move beyond a culture, thinness sometimes seemed to be prized above other trappings, at the expense of dancers’ physical and mental health. .
Soloist Georgina Pazcoguin wrote in her 2021 memoir that her thighs were criticized, forcing her to undergo surgery to remove fat from them. And Ms. Lillo said that Mr. Martins once criticized her weight and removed her from a season.
Ms Whelan said the company has new protocols in place on weight issues: a wellness director must be involved in all conversations with a dancer, and dancers must have access to a nutritionist, physical therapy and mental health services. “We need to treat our dancers like human beings and with dignity,” she said, noting that she didn’t view the conversations about Ms. Lillo’s latest performance as overweight.
City Ballet says it managed to give Ms Lillo the farewell she wanted but was unprepared for that first performance, noting that she had not taken any business classes during the pandemic. Ms Lillo said classes were not compulsory and she had trained at home and in the gym.
Ms. Lillo was allowed to dance in “Russian Seasons” for her farewell performance on September 26. mr. Ratmansky agreed to some changes in his choreography to enhance the abilities of Mrs. Lillo, according to City Ballet’s letter to Ms. Lillo’s lawyer. Ms Lillo said some of the elevators had been modified, but she understood that the changes had been made because her partner had been injured.
After her final curtain call for “Russian Seasons,” Ms. Lillo took off her costume and donned a homemade T-shirt. It said, “I survived NYCB.”
