These Latino Ballet and Opera Stars Are Proving Timothée Chalamet’s Take Wrong
Timothée Chalamet is facing backlash over his comments about ballet and opera. During a town hall with Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet was talking about the film industry. That is when he decided to speak about his views on ballet and opera. The comments have spread throughout social media, with people pointing out his familial ties to ballet. The whole moment is a reminder that even some of the most celebrated celebrities can still disappoint you.
Timothée Chalamet is happy not to be in ballet or opera
Timothée Chalamet was talking about saving movie theaters, which have seen a decline in attendance over the years. He just couldn’t make his point without trashing two foundational art forms.
“I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, who go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta keep this genre alive,'” Chalamet told Matthew McConaughey. “And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.”
He then added, “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore.”
Ballet has been entertaining patrons for more than 500 years. Meanwhile, opera has been captivating audiences for more than 400 years.
His comments rubbed people the wrong way
The View co-hosts called out the comments as “vapid” and pointed out how closely Chalamet is connected to ballet. Three women in his family, his grandmother, his mother, and his sister, all danced for the New York City Ballet, a prestigious ballet company. What a way to honor the women in your family at the beginning of Women’s History Month.
This also isn’t the first time that Chalamet has talked down about these arts. A resurfaced clip from 2019 shows that Chalamet has long held negative views about ballet and opera.
“No woe is me thing, but you start working on movies, you start acting and pursuing your thing,” Timothée Chalamet told a crowd. “I started to get the sense that it was maybe like opera or ballet or something, a dying artform or something.”
Latinos have a long history in these disciplines
Alicia Alonso was the most important ballet dancer in Cuba and remains an icon in the art form. She founded The National Ballet of Cuba in 1948 as the Ballet Alicia Alonso in Havana. It was taken over and became a state-run institution after the 1959 revolution. The ballet company was founded to bring professional classical ballet to Cuba. The National Ballet of Cuba is one of the premier ballet companies in the world. Aside from the dancers, it developed a unique style that blends classical ballet and Caribbean fluidity.
Julio Bocca had a storied career in ballet. It started with winning the Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition at 18 years old in 1985. Following that victory, Bocca joined the American Ballet Theatre, a top ballet company in the world. He was the principal dancer for the company for 20 years before officially retiring in 2007. In 1990, he founded Ballet Argentino in his native Argentina. He gave young dancers in Argentina a platform to share their art and highlight Argentina’s rich artistic talent.
Juan Diego Flórez is an incredible opera singer from Peru who is world-renowned as an operatic tenor. He is a master of bel canto operas, and his work has been seen around the world. His talents earned him the highest honor from the Peruvian government. He holds the prestigious Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Sun of Peru.
Born in Puerto Rico and educated at The Juilliard School, Ana María Martínez has enjoyed a career that spans three decades. She is a soprano with a masterful control of the stage. Martínez is one of the best opera singers around, having performed on some of the most prestigious stages around the world. She has graced the stage at Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Colón, and LA Opera. She is the first-ever artistic advisor for the Houston Grand Opera, her home company.
