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Why is Joy Womak such a controversial figure in ballet?

Well...

Over the years she has ruined her reputation through various statements, actions, and ongoing behaviours.

She graduated BBA and claimed she was the first American to do that, idk how true that statement is. BBA has a reputation for taking on any foreigner who will pay, the foreigners are placed in a different class from the Russians who trained there from childhood, and they don't graduate with the same technical finesse. Joy, however, was in the Russian division, she clearly has had that level of technical ability at some point in her life. She graduated at the top of her class and went into the Bolshoi, where she expected to be a soloist from day 1. She was not. And she didn't like that, she claimed (publicly, on interviews) that she was asked to sleep her way up or pay a large sum of money if she wanted roles. I can't tell you how much of that is true, I was a kid at the time and honestly have no interest in looking that up. She left Bolshoi in 2014 (in the midst of all the Filin acid attack mess) with her name already tainted and went on to Kremlin Ballet.

I first followed her YT channel back when she was in Kremlin, before she was a soloist. She claimed she was always a principal dancer when she was a coryphee at best. I think there was some sort of agreement that her contract would be that of a soloist to sort out some visa problems, but her workload (and pay as far as I could understand) was that of a coryphee. Her "power" within the company was that of a coryphee as well, not a newbie in the corps, but definitely someone who should respect the higher ranks, and recognize their experience, talent, and seniority. She did none of that. She was constantly complaining about not getting roles while claiming she was better than other dancers who did solos, called other dancers lazy, she accused a prima of "accidentally" hitting her and making her foot bleed, she publicly called another principal a drunk, she claimed that a pianist wouldn't play for her rehearsal because she's American, and she filmed and posted company classes for years, while being told repeatedly to stop from colleagues. Eventually, she did get promoted and then continued complaining about the rehearsal studios, the pay, not getting the roles she wanted, and on and on... The thing is, Kremlin is one of the most prestigious Moscow ballet companies, in the center of Russia, who get graduates from VBA, BBA, Perm, and wherever else they want. If you don't like it, honey, you're replaceable. I don't think leaving was 100% Joy's choice, I wouldn't be surprised if some other members went up to management and had a few words.

After Kremlin, she went to Universal Ballet in Korea, where she again claimed to be a principal, barely posted anything, and left after a year. She worked as a freelancer for a while, in one of those companies that tour Europe and sleep in a bus. She then went on to Boston Ballet, where she was corps de ballet, and was really unhappy about that. Joy thinks that from some divine source she's owed the title of prima ballerina, she thinks she's the next Anna Pavlova, so when her contract in Boston was done, she went back to Russia to Astrakhan Ballet, where her wish finally came true, she was a prima, she danced all the leading roles, her genius was finally appreciated. And then Russia invaded Ukraine.

She, like many foreigners dancing in Russia, got offered a contract in Europe, in her case, a part-time corps contract in the Paris Opera Ballet. Idk if part time is the correct term, basically she was hired as an extra for a specific number of shows, I think it was Ballet Imperial and Who Cares? Anyway, POB has a "competition" (concours) to get promoted, so basically Joy had to present the selected variation (it was something from Lacotte's Paquita), which she did, and didn't get a permanent corps contract. So now she lives in Paris, her "favourite city" (a few years ago, that was Moscow) and does various projects as a freelancer.

She has had a bunch of movies about herself, an autobiography, apparently she runs some non-profit now (wtf is the Joy Womack Foundation), and has a "company" of some sort. Also she used to have some sketchy protein bar company, the Prima Bar (the obsession with being a prima continues). She was recently selected as a member of the Prix de Lausanne 2025 jury (rolling my eyes), which I find ridiculous because she's a no one in the ballet world. I mean, last year they had Darcey Bussell.

In general, I think she's sketchy, dishonest, never content with what she has, and she gives off mlm/the grind never stops vibes. Not a fan. It's insane I've been writing for an hour, and it's just an overview of the most prominent points. I absolutely have forgotten some things.

But I do live for the drama, so keep the juicy questions coming 🤣

#joy womack #ballet #russian ballet #bolshoi #Kremlin ballet