Dancer's 'growth spurt' tips hiring scales, she says

Dancer’s ‘growth spurt’ tips hiring scales, she says
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne,IN,USA
... claims that her generous breast size got her fired from the cast of “Movin’ Out,” the Broadway show choreographed by Twyla Tharp to songs by Billy Joel. ...

MIAMI – Alice Alyse is quite plainly a knockout: She’s slim, leggy and gorgeous, with long, dark hair and great cheekbones.

Also, she’s stacked.

And that, she says, is why she’s out of a job.

Alyse, 29, claims that her generous breast size got her fired from the cast of “Movin’ Out,” the Broadway show choreographed by Twyla Tharp to songs by Billy Joel. Alyse was an ensemble dancer in the national tour until her bra size “naturally increased” from a C cup to a D, according to her lawsuit against the production company. The growth spurt happened while she was on leave last year with an injured big toe; she says she neither gained weight nor got implants. When she returned, she needed new bras sewn into her costumes, and for this, she alleges in her 42-page complaint, she was sexually harassed, verbally abused and wrongfully dismissed.

Let’s leave aside, for the moment, questions about what other factors might have been behind Alyse’s dismissal (which we can’t really answer because the show’s management won’t tell us its side) and whether a woman can continue developing well past puberty. Musical theater routinely depicts women as sexpots, curvy dimwits and window dressing – so if you believe Alyse’s account, the hypocrisy is evident, especially given that “Movin’ Out” bumps and grinds from start to finish.

But the dance world doesn’t necessarily view such firing decisions as hypocritical; they are merely business as usual. The Body Police enforce specifications that have nothing to do with talent, and some women have resorted to breast reduction. Anastasia Volochkova of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet made headlines two years ago over a similar issue, when she was fired for being too fat (at a reported 110 pounds). She sued for damages and was unsuccessful, though she did get her job back.

Alyse’s $100 million lawsuit names Tharp, the production stage manager and the show’s producers among the defendants (though not Joel). Her notoriously combative attorney, Larry Klayman, relishes a scandal, judging from his record. Klayman, 54, founder of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, became famous for suing the Clinton administration over numerous alleged cover-ups and conspiracies. He has since taken on top Republicans, including Vice President Cheney, over his secretive energy task force.

Alyse calls him “a blessing from God.”

“I lost my job for reasons that weren’t my dancing,” she says. “When they hired me I wasn’t flat-chested. I mean, a C means – ya got boobs.”

The producers, who would not comment for this article, have filed motions to dismiss the case or proceed through arbitration. As for Joel, after Alyse filed suit in March he told the New York Daily News, “Under no circumstances would I ever have anyone fired for having breasts that were too large.”

To which Klayman replies: He’ll have to be deposed, since “he’s insinuating he was involved in hiring and firing decisions.”

The real targets are “Movin’ Out’s” deep-pocket backers, among them veteran Broadway producer Emanuel Azenberg and owners James and Scott Nederlander and Clear Channel Entertainment. Going up against them is like fighting the White House, Klayman says. “They’re powerful. And their arrogance is unlike anything in Washington.”

Isn’t it also arrogant to demand $100 million for Alyse losing her $130,000-a-year job? Klayman, whose hourly rate tops out at $600, says: “The only way you prevent this from happening again is to hit them in their pocketbook. A hundred million dollars from these owners is like a quarter in our pocket.”

He observes, “It’s a virtue to have bigger breasts on Broadway, in my expert opinion.” But from ballet companies to Broadway, the preferred look is slender, long-stemmed and minimally jiggly. Prevailing theater wisdom warns that an ensemble dancer must not distract.

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