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The San Francisco Ballet pulled out of several planned performances at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C., marking another major cancellation at the institution following President Donald Trump’s takeover of its board and operations.
According to the New York Times, the San Francisco Ballet’s board of trustees made the decision to cancel the five-day run planned for late May, but that the company said in a statement that, “SF Ballet looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C., audiences in the future.”
There were seven performances of the contemporary ballet Mere Mortals, inspired by artificial intelligence and Greek mythology, planned.
The New York Times also reported that the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell said in a statement, “Professional artists should perform for everyone — not just for people they agree with politically.”
According to the New York Times, a spokeswoman for the Kennedy Center, Roma Daravi, said, “Artists are pressured by cancel culture for daring to perform for everyone.”
This comes just after an announcement that the Kennedy Center Honors will be renamed to the Trump Kennedy Center Honors, matching with the institution’s planned name change revealed in December.
This is not the first major cancellation of this kind. In late January, composer Philip Glass canceled the scheduled world premiere of his Symphony No. 15, Lincoln, at the Kennedy Center.
Additional artists and institutions canceling events include Stephen Schwartz, Chuck Redd, Renée Fleming, and Seattle Children’s Theatre.
