Photo - Erin Zysett, Tutu - designed and crafted by Marjorie Taylor, Chains - borrowed from Bill Harbaugh, B Plus coaching - Victoria Harvey, Model - Brian McWhorter 

by Erin Zysett 

Description from Brian McWhorter 

This photo was taken for a series of talks called Ballet Outsider: Gender Politics and Power that I hosted at the School of Music and Dance. The series was a way for us to facilitate conversations about workplace conditions in the ballet world - particularly for women and gender queer folk - and to encourage dancers within this community to tell their stories. 

When Erin Zysett and I started discussing the spirit of Ballet Outsider, we wanted to create an image that hinted at the objectification of women in ballet who are too often coerced into a sexualized role - either on stage or off. We wanted to explore the damage being done by heteronormative conventions and misogyny, especially within ballet narratives, casting, and direction. 

Of course, there is a disturbing irony in this photo: I chose to objectify myself. Dancers are not typically given this agency. Even though I am the music director for the Eugene Ballet, I am cognizant that my privilege shelters me from retaliation for speaking my mind and being provocative. Because I exist outside many of the power structures dancers operate under, I was not risking my career making this image - a privilege most dancers would not have experienced.