the amsterdammer: a selection of columns

As a columnist for The Amsterdammer, I had the opportunity to write a range of articles, ranging from film and theatre reviews to contemplations of the podcast’s role in modern politics to covering the Dutch National Ballet’s bi-annual international dance conference. Eclectic! Here’s a small selection.

The Modernity of Mary, Queen of Scots (2018) and the fear of powerful women

If you want to witness the fear of men, give a woman a crown. Josie Rourke’s Mary, Queen of Scotsdoes just this. In presenting a dynamic portrait of the formidable Mary Stuart, it leverages the contrast between the Scottish Queen and Elizabeth I, Queen of England, to illustrate that there is nothing more terrifying to powerful men than a powerful woman…

POSITIONING BALLET CONFERENCE: bALLET’S OWN #METOO

The ballet world might not like to consider itself a microcosm; preferring instead to see itself as an exemplum of what human endeavor and artistry can achieve, but in regards to sexual misconduct, it is naive to believe that in the ballet world such cases are fewer, if not – due to the specific circumstances faced by dancers – more common than in the wider world. 

In a world where bodies are necessarily objectified – in the best case, considered an instrument, in the worst case, a mere tool – how can the culture of a ballet company shift to ensure that dancers are protected and safeguarded against sexual assault, when there can be a fine line between necessary touching and unwanted groping? …

‘Buy, buy, baby’: the commercialisation of international women’s day

Friday, March 8, was International Women’s Day 2019. If the slew of Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram photos and shared articles hadn’t already caught my attention, there was also an email from Flixbus (the coach company) addressed, “To all the strong, amazing women out there”, saying, “we recognise and appreciate you all. Treat the women in your life or yourself (!) with the best trips. Let’s applaud womanhood :)” I’m not really sure what being stuck on a cramped bus with often loud and rude strangers has to do with womanhood (though on reflection, maybe it’s a metaphor for what women have to put up with daily) but a random marketing email doesn’t really make me feel ‘empowered’.

And call me cynical, but Pizza Hut’s creation of the Venus gender symbol with pizza emojis on Twitter felt nothing more than a flaccid gesture towards the popular girl-power current. International Women’s Day (IWD) can be an opportunity to express solidarity with women’s movements and the ‘powerful women’ in all of our lives – but as many companies on social media showed, that ‘solidarity’ is too often in name only…