After nine current and former Dell’Arte International staff members penned an open letter to the theater school outlining what they see as major problems with the organization’s treatment and advancement of Black and Indigenous people and people of color, Board of Directors Chair John Bartholomew has written response to the Dell’Arte community.
In it, Bartholomew writes, “We acknowledge that people have been hurt in many ways by white supremacy culture and by Dell’Arte’s unintentional complicity; be that by our own ignorance or lack of understanding.” The letter notes appreciation for the “courage” of those who came forward to criticize the school and invites them to a socially distant meeting to discuss their experiences. He also says the school is working on “a list of specific initiatives and commitments,” for which it is soliciting suggestions.
Bartholomew added in an additional email to the Journal, “there are perspectives from each human in any interaction (which you know); and the statements thus far out there only offer one side of those interactions; so I truly hope there is no rushing to judgement before both sides of the story are known and/or expressed. I say this because all Staff I have had the pleasure of getting to know at Dell’Arte are fine people that to the best of my knowledge and belief would never harm another in some of the ways described.”
Read the full letter from Dell’Arte staff here and the board’s full response below:
Can’t see the PDF in mobile view? Try desktop view.
This article appears in Dinner from the Dock.
Oh please! No we are picking on Art schools?
The proof, as they say in the old country, is in the pudding. I look forward to both proposals and dialogue with an open mind.
I thought they were just clowning around.
In support of the artists and workers affected by Dell’Arte International:
The letter published on Friday 6/26 (after an irresponsible silence of several days, and just before the weekend) tries to discredit the veracity of the testimonies of our community members. But we know the integrity of these artists and the damage that your actions has caused on them, therefore we say:
1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN “INVOLUNTARY COMPLICITY”, the accomplice is as guilty as the one who executes.
2. Neither ignorance nor misunderstandings are justification for hurting with discrimination against anyone.
3. There are no “perspectives” on racism and discrimination, in this act there are victims and perpetrators. Justice is not relative, it doesn’t have a side B or are you trying to impose a version of history from the white supremacy perspective? AGAIN?
4. NO, you are not an anti-racist organization and you are not making efforts to be one either.
With his letter and public statements you offends our fellow artists by trying to call them “liars”
when you state “the Staff I have had the pleasure of getting to know at Dell’Arte are fine people that to the best of my knowledge and belief would never harm another in some of the ways described.”
NEVER are definitive words that are not use in this case, you lie!
This is how you showed that you are not willing to tell the truth and apologize, but to continue reproducing the same scheme of violence in which the voice of people of color is minimized.
NOT! This is not a worthy answer, it is a letter to try to impose “your supposed prestige” over the honest word of our artists community members.
STOP symbolic, verbal, labor VIOLENCE against communities of color, and dell’arte workers, stop the practices that despise and diminish the testimonies of those affected.
No to dialogue without an APOLOGY.
We trust you dearest artists,
En apoyo a los artistas y trabajadores afectados por Dell’Arte International:
Su carta publicada el viernes (después de un silencio irresponsable de varios días, y justo antes del fin de semana) intenta desacreditar la veracidad de los testimonios de nuestros miembros de las comunidades en Humboldt. Pero los grupos que conocemos la integridad de estas personas y el daño moral que les ha causado la directiva de esta escuela, decimos:
1. NO HAY TAL COSA COMO UNA “COMPLICIDAD INVOLUNTARIA”, el cómplice es tan culpable como el que ejecuta.
2. Ni la ignorancia ni los malentendidos son justificación para herir, discriminar racial y ocupacionalmente a nadie.
3. No hay “perspectivas” sobre la discriminación, en este acto hay víctimas y culpables. La justicia no es relativa, no tiene un lado B u “otra perspectiva” o ¿acaso intentan imponer una versión de la historia desde la perspectiva de la supremacía blanca? ¿DE NUEVO?
4. NO, dell’arte NO ES una organización antirracista y tampoco está haciendo esfuerzos para serlo.
Con su carta que ofende a nuestros colegas artistas al tratar de llamarlos “mentirosos” cuando jura que conoce a las “finísimas personas que dirigen Dell’Arte International y que este grupo en el poder NUNCA se atrevería a lastimar a nadie”. Solo nos muestra que no están dispuestos a decir la verdad y pedir disculpas, si no que pretenden seguir reproduciendo el mismo esquema de violencia en el que minimizan y quieren silenciar la voz de las personas afectadas por su comportamiento.
¡NO! Esta no es una respuesta digna a los artistas afectados, es una carta para tratar de imponer “su supuesto prestigio” a la palabra honesta de los trabajadores.
DETENGA LA VIOLENCIA simbólica, verbal, laboral, contra las comunidades de color, y los trabajadores, detenga sus prácticas que desprecian y disminuyen los testimonios de los afectados.
No al diálogo sin disculpas.
Confiamos en nuestros colegas SU VERDAD ES LA NUESTRA.
An International “clown school” whose mission is to bring joy and create community? Oh no!
Commedia is an ancient form of physical theatre from Italy based on appetites: food, sex, money and power. The servant Harlequino is starving and his extreme search for food becomes hilarity on stage.
One could argue Justice is an appetite.
This pandemic and shelter in place is a pressure cooker of powerlessness. Add to it the injustices replayed on the media, and we have a powder keg looking for a spark.
It’s human nature is to hate your boss, and have an appetite to right injustice.
Of all the hundreds who passed through their doors only 9 signed. Hmmm.
So much verbiage in their upset. Sounds more like people looking for a cause to feel empowered,
and who do not like having women bosses.
Some had only been students (paid for by parents) and had never worked before, let alone in the business of theatre. Of course you’ll hate your boss when it’s not like the movies where you’re running everything at 25.
Let’s own what’s true as a community and make deep changes. Yes!
If I understand Dell’Arte’s intent correctly, to bring joy and strengthen our community, let’s remember it as we move forward together.
In response to Centro del Pueblo,
In melodrama, a form of theatre from the 1800’s, the formula is
Victim
Villain
Hero.
In 12 step recovery one learns that we are not victims….we have the power to act vs react to a situation. That’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes when the world is filled with so much crud and we feel alone and disempowered.
Am understanding correctly that you’re implying people have to be victims or perpetrators?
If so, how can solutions come from that?
Thank you.
I post this as me, as an individual, not on behalf of an organization or group. I confess to trepidation to respond on these platforms as I know it is an invitation to attack with just a couple of clicks of the keyboard from the phone. In fact most of what I see is attack. And Facebook and Instagram are owned by lovely pirate capitalists who profit from our attacking each other on their sites. A bit of irony here.
I am responding because much of what I see written buys into the same paradigm that most oppressors like to use (Whether left, right or Trump) and that is the classic “us vs them”…in other words division. “They” are “wrong/bad”. “We” are “right/good”. I think the essential question is how do “we” move to a better “we”?
And often a jargon is developed, words are defined, coded and then weaponized. I have lived through a lifetime of different jargons. Now we have a sort of “social justice” jargon, that in many ways does not actually seem to seek justice, but to promote more division.
I understand there is anger, hurt and a desire for retribution. I understand the “we are mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it any more”. I truly do. Is change necessary, absolutely. I own my mistakes. But I also will not let them define me. As I wrote to someone yesterday, I am like the poster boy for the white patriarchy. I am an old, white, cis male that talks too loud. I am a child of the 60’s, the civil rights movement, and an unjust war that killed many of my family. I am familiar with protests. I know…I know …”ok boomer”.
I am a product of my sixty years of life. No matter age or times, I know I need to continue to learn, to grow and be open to change. That is the journey of a human being. And that change must lead to collective action as we seek to find a new “we” for a better world.
And now we are in the midst of a pandemic. For over 40 years I have has the absolute gift of being able to create theatre for and with this place that I love. Now I cannot do that. None of us can. And we have no resources, people are furloughed because there is no work and no income. Who wants this?…no one. And almost everyone I talk to, no matter who or where, are deeply frustrated.
With malice to none and love to all, I stand ready to move with you to a new we.
Michael Fields
Clearly, the deeply rooted institutional racism and white supremacy are not being adequately addressed. Sincere desire to address the issue would be expressed by ceding to the requests made to conduct a racial audit and the other requests made. Denials, defensiveness, redirection, justification, and appeals to be seen as “good people ” reveal insincerity and desire to protect status quo (and white supremacy is our national status quo) more than protect people and work toward a just world, a just theatre community, and a just world,
White supremacy must end. White supremacy must not be enabled and encouraged.
Re: Dell’Arte & White Supremacy
Let me get this straight:
Dell’ Arte proclaims support for Black Lives Matter & police reform. In response, nine former faculty, staff, and students–four People of Color (POC), five white–broadcast their perceptions of “WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE” (WSC) at Dell’ Arte and list the harms they suffered there.
As an intimate of Dell’ Arte for 38 years and a faculty member for 23, I have been and remain familiar with its administrations, pedagogical preferences, and 8 of the 9 signees on the complaint.
They have valid criticisms of the administrative and pedagogical shortcomings of Dell’ Arte, the same valid criticisms clowns-in-training have had before them. The non-racial nature of the clown-school’s innate institutional shortcomings is evidenced in the fact that more POC staff and students either rejected or never learned about the complaint than signed it.
Lastly, having had five of the nine signees in my classes, I must apologize. Obviously I failed to teach you: piggy-backing personal issues on socio-political movements only works for billionaires.
Critical Al