{"id":666796,"date":"2026-03-19T12:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/666796\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:29:13","slug":"la-ballet-companies-welcome-chalamets-comments-as-a-spotlight-on-the-art-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/666796\/","title":{"rendered":"LA ballet companies welcome Chalamet’s comments as a spotlight on the art form"},"content":{"rendered":"

The conversation around the cultural relevance of ballet and opera \u2014 sparked by Oscar-nominated actor Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s recent dismissive comments<\/a> about the art forms \u2014 came to a culmination at the Academy Awards on Sunday, with a joke about the backlash<\/a> from host Conan O\u2019Brien and a performance by celebrated ballet dancer Misty Copeland.<\/p>\n

While the Copeland appearance<\/a> was planned before Chalamet\u2019s remarks went viral, the fact that a ballet dancer (one raised in SoCal, we should note!) took center stage on Hollywood\u2019s biggest night seemed to fly in the face of Chalamet\u2019s assertion that ballet, as opposed to movies, is something \u201cno one cares about […] anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

It got us here at LAist wondering about the state of ballet in Los Angeles, so we reached out to leaders of ballet companies who explained what sets the ballet scene in Los Angeles apart, and where it stands in terms of cultural relevance right now.<\/p>\n

\u2018His remarks come from a place of insight\u2019<\/p>\n

Maybe surprisingly, neither Julia Rivera, executive director of Los Angeles Ballet<\/a>, nor Lincoln Jones, founder, choreographer and director of American Contemporary Ballet, took offense to Chalmet\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

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Rivera told LAist that while \u200a\u201dit’s not very neighborly of one artist to bash the other’s art form,\u201d once she learned that Chalamet\u2019s grandmother, mother and sister studied ballet and performed with the New York City Ballet, she had more understanding for where he may have been coming from.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think his remarks come from a place of insight,\u201d she said. Because he probably heard conversations \u201clamenting [how] we’re always trying to fund these organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a daily struggle,\u201d Rivera said. And \u201cfor a young person, wanting to have a career,\u201d it\u2019s understandable that they may not want to be involved in a nonprofit industry where funding is always a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u2018Like watching ballet in IMAX\u2019<\/p>\n

Jones, who co-founded American Contemporary Ballet in L.A. 15 years ago, said Chalamet\u2019s remarks were relatable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I understood him to be saying was that he wanted to be part of an art form that was central to the cultural conversation,\u201d Jones told LAist. \u201cAnd I actually agree with that. When I was choosing what to do artistically myself, I actually struggled with that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Jones said he was enthralled by ballet from a young age, his brother made a career shooting cover photos for magazines like Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone and later directing film and TV. And he saw the appeal in that as an artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want a big audience, you want to have people understand what you’re doing in a visceral and vital way,\u201d he said. \u201cBut \u200aI just couldn’t get myself away from ballet. I just loved it so much. And so my big thing became \u2018How do I do this in a way that is culturally relevant?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That\u2019s led Jones to a unique, more modern approach to ballet that\u2019s designed to be more cinematic, and at the same time more intimate.<\/p>\n

Much of what sets American Contemporary Ballet apart from other ballet companies is that they always perform with live music and in unconventional spaces, like warehouses and soundstages, instead of in theaters.<\/p>\n

\u200a\u201dSo it’s not like you’re sitting in this room where there’s darkened chandeliers, and you’re looking through a frame, which feels a bit 19th century to me,\u201d Jones said. \u201cInstead, it’s sort of like, for lack of a better term, like watching ballet in IMAX. The dancers are larger compared to where you are, you’re in this shared space and it just feels much more majestic to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pros and cons of staging ballet in L.A.<\/p>\n

As for the state of ballet in Los Angeles, Rivera described it as \u201cappreciated, valued and growing.\u201d The company received its first seven-figure gift from a donor just last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAudiences are very interested,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cThe more ballet that is offered in L.A., the more audiences want. That is very good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she said there are also some challenges for a ballet company that are specific to Los Angeles: \u200a\u201dWe are a company town and the company is screened entertainment. But the arts also compete with theme parks and sporting teams and the weather and things that have significantly larger budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navigating that \u201cand finding ways for the voices to break through some of that noise,\u201d Rivera said, \u201cis really tricky. It can be done, but it’s a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lincoln Jones agreed that running a ballet company in Los Angeles does have its challenges, but said he also saw a unique benefit to founding his ballet company in L.A.<\/p>\n

While Jones first incorporated American Contemporary Ballet in New York, he\u2019s originally from Southern California, and every time he would come home he felt \u201cthere was an energy and an openness [here], and a lot of that came from the film industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his view is that ballet has the potential to be just as exciting as popular films can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up, people were lining up to see the second Matrix, the first Matrix blew their mind. And now, \u2018Oh my God. We have to see what happens in the second one.\u2019 And that doesn’t happen in ballet, but that is absolutely what I’m striving for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Ballet has also had some fun with the firestorm Chalamet\u2019s remarks ignited, offering a ticket promotion with the code \u201cSUPREME,\u201d a reference to Marty Supreme, the film the actor earned an Oscar nomination for this year. <\/p>\n

So far, Chalamet\u2019s comments seem to be having a positive effect.<\/p>\n

Rivera, who\u2019s been with the company for 11 out of its 20-year history, said they\u2019ve seen an uptick in ticket sales and donations in recent weeks. \u200a<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time we can talk about opera and ballet is a good day,\u201d Rivera (who also previously worked with L.A. Opera) told LAist. \u201cI’m sorry that it’s at one artist’s expense, but he opened the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where to see ballet in L.A.<\/p>\n

The next Los Angeles Ballet performances (of Giselle<\/a>) begin April 30.<\/p>\n

The Music Center<\/a> is hosting the New York City ballet in June.<\/p>\n

American Contemporary Ballet has remaining performances of Balanchine: Twin Masterpieces <\/a>running this Thursday, Friday and Saturday and next Thursday through Saturday as well.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI guarantee you’ve never seen ballet like this,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd if Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet wants to come, I will get him a ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The conversation around the cultural relevance of ballet and opera \u2014 sparked by Oscar-nominated actor Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s recent…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":666797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[15797,1582,276,75192,2961,224,5337,84736,226960,32771],"class_list":["post-666796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-academy-awards","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-conan-obrien","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-marty-supreme","tag-misty-copeland","tag-timothee-chalamet"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116255848235326501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}