SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — We’re learning more about the recent controversy surrounding Syracuse City Ballet as the company and its dancers get ready for this weekend’s Nutcracker performance.
Long hours and weeks of rehearsal with chaos building up behind the scenes for these dancers.
“It was kind of stressful a little. There was a lot of tension in the air,” said Cole Shultz, Syracuse City Ballet dancer.
That tension stemming from what some dancers say was caused by Syracuse City Ballet’s artistic director, Caroline Sheridan. Some dancers say that tension had an impact on them, while others tried their best to ignore it.
“I just practiced at home, didn’t care what was going on, just pay attention to what’s the main importance,” said Shultz.
Sheridan, though, is no longer the artistic director. The company’s executive director, Melissa Minjares, decided to place Sheridan on administrative leave following allegations of mistreatment of a teen dancer in The Nutcracker.
“There was a complaint that came in from a parent, and my immediate response is we need to place her on leave, which I did on [November] 12,” said Minjares.
Some dancers say last-minute changes made just weeks before the Nutcracker made things difficult.
“A lot of changes had to be made, which was like really hard. But we have adapted and brought in new people,” said Zalika Adjei, Syracuse City Ballet dancer.
This comes after the company fired five of its professional dancers and placed one on administrative leave after the dancers went on strike for a number of reasons, including unsafe working conditions.
Minjares says at one point, the company was considering canceling the show. But she says she couldn’t take that away from the children and teen dancers.
“I expressed that to the board as a mom, I don’t think we should cancel. I think we should move forward,” said Minjares.
“I hired in an HR representative because we are a small not-for-profit. We don’t have an HR personnel in, and she is doing an investigation. So as soon as that concludes, we will be able to make decisions from there,” said Minjares.
The Nutcracker performance will be held December 1-3 at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse.
