The Association of Ballet Artists of Serbia (UBUS) provided public support ballet dancers of the Serbian National Theater (SNP) in Novi Sad, who pointed out problems in the personnel policy of this institution.
They filed a complaint with the High Court in Novi Sad against their houses, and because of the mobbing of the artistic director of the Ballet Aye Jung. The most pronounced are the remarks regarding Aya Jung's attitude towards members of the Ballet who are over 40 years old.
Solve the problem!
UBUS calls on the Serbian National Theater and the Ministry of Culture to solve these problems.
He calls on the management of the Serbian National Theater to immediately stop the pressure on the artists and start a transparent dialogue on solving the problem, and the Ministry of Culture to activate the working group for the field of artistic dance and to pass adequate legal regulations in order to permanently and systematically solve the problem of ballet artists going into retirement.
"The lack of adequate legal regulation that would regulate the retirement of ballet dancers, which results in difficult employment of young dancers, is one of the existential problems of the ballet industry," their statement reads.
Negotiations with the state on a systemic solution that would ensure the natural succession of generations of ballet artists have been going on for decades. The Ministry of Culture appointed a working group for the field of artistic dance, but its work was suspended without explanation.
There is no law.
And when there is no law, says the UBUS announcement, employers act on their own initiative.
"The Serbian National Theater retired a dozen ballet dancers, and the competent court rejected this action as illegal. This theater implements a personnel policy with unclear criteria and procedures when it comes to the change of generations. Also, the results of the last auditions, as well as the fact that the contracts of a certain number of young local players have not been extended, indicate that the SNP's personnel policy does not pay enough attention to the professional engagement and retention of ballet artists trained in our country."
Photo: PromoAna Đurić in "Romeo and Juliet" in 2020
"We believe that there should be no justification in the business of any cultural institution that violates the legal rights of artists."
Who decides that we are no longer worth it
Ballet dancers who pointed out all these problems and filed a lawsuit against their house, recently asked on social networks:
"Who decides that we are no longer worth it? Is it someone who hasn't spent a day on stage or someone who writes a fake biography or someone who hasn't achieved their dream of becoming a professional ballerina?
They take away our opportunity to play, but they cannot take away our right to speak.
Art must not depend on one's arbitrariness.
How do you get over the day when someone erases your life?
Speaking Serbian in the Serbian National Theater is a matter of culture, knowledge and personal upbringing.
Instead of shining on the ballet stage, we ended up in a mouse hole.
Let's give artists back: dignity, respect, professional integrity."
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