Commentary: No, Timothée Chalamet, ballet and opera are not 'dying' (it is that deep)

Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey during their reunion discussion at the University of Texas. (Credit: People Magazine)

In a conversation with Matthew McConaughey for a Variety and CNN Town Hall event, Timothée Chalamet described the experience of trying to encourage people to go to movie theatres and keep the industry alive while discussing the growing demand for fast-paced media in an age of declining attention spans.

This led to a now-infamous quote, with Chalamet saying, “Another part of me feels like, if people wanna see [a movie], like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re gonna go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it. And I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”

Now that we’ve laid out the full context, let’s lay out why people are upset – and yes, it is that deep.

As someone who has never been trained in ballet or opera, but has grown up in the performing arts of choir, band and theatre, I was appalled by this statement. 

I thought, "Of course I feel personally about this, I’m an arts person."

However, Chalamet is also in the performing arts. Before his acting career, he had a background in theatre. Many clips have circulated on the internet of him performing onstage as a teenager. His own mother was also a trained ballerina. 

While the internet is raining hellfire on Chalamet, fans are also defending him by arguing his comments as a subtle commentary on the inaccessibility of classical art forms, or simply a misinterpretation of his words altogether. 

As much as I’d normally like to give someone the benefit of the doubt, I think it is important to analyze the comparison Chalamet makes and the implications. 

He described Barbie and Oppenheimer, two mainstream and widely popular, Oscar-winning films, as art forms that people naturally want to engage with. 

Then, he brought in ballet and opera as the undesirable second option that “no one cares about,” that he specifically does not want to work in because of the challenge he believes he would face in convincing people to “care.” 

He followed with the jibe that he has lost “14 cents” worth of viewership, further perpetuating the idea that only a select few people engage with these works.

I also don’t think that Chalamet was making a thoughtful commentary on capitalism and the barriers people face to attend classical art performances. 

He does not mention money, nor people desiring to take in shows but being unable to, nor the reasons why people may not be interested in ballet and opera. He solely brings up ballet and opera as the less popular, unappealing alternative to a movie theatre visit.

Chalamet’s comments also have the misfortune of coming during a time when the arts are widely facing budget cuts. 

Locally speaking, our own St. Thomas University, a liberal arts institution, was recently under threat of merging with the University of New Brunswick, with many other examples in the world that discriminate the arts.

It becomes a lot harder, then, to pass off his sentiments as mundane when it reflects the opinions of politicians whose first instinct in cutting costs is to withdraw from the arts.

The Fredericton Playhouse recently made a sly clapback while advertising upcoming Ballet Kelowna, posting a doctored ticket with Chalamet’s name on it and applauding him for his “change of heart.”

Lulu Pastrana, the Playhouse’s marketing and communications manager, challenged Chalamet’s statement by pointing out how commonplace ballet and operatic training are in widely famous performers.

Actors Anya-Taylor Joy and Tom Holland have trained in ballet, with singers Nicole Scherzinger and Mariah Carey having backgrounds in opera.

“Opera and ballet and really all classical music and art forms are indeed mainstream and we just don't notice it,” she said. “We don't notice that they're there and that's because they're the foundation, not the final product.”

Pastrana also pushed back against the misconception of ballet and opera being a “high art” that only those with certain linguistic or educational backgrounds will understand.

“Many years ago, these art forms were caged and reserved for only a specific economic sphere. But today, there's been such a huge process of democratization of arts, so that anyone can and should enjoy them,” she said.   

“You don't have to know anything about ballet or about opera or about anything to feel something … that's the job of the artist to transmit that emotion through whatever means necessary so that you can understand the piece.”

The Playhouse has special pricing for students and ticketholders under 25 to make their shows more accessible, as well as pay-what-you-will events. 

Performances in their Spotlight Series often cut their prices in half for supported tickets, reducing financial barriers.

I was recently fortunate enough to get the chance to take in the Atlantic Ballet’s Bolero Other Works at the Playhouse. The house was not entirely sold out, but many seats were occupied by passionate patrons. 

And as I took in the skillful leaps and twirls onstage, the mesmerizing harmonies and orchestral swells, I didn’t worry about whether I “understood” it. I simply let the art carry me away into an experience. 

I also felt a sense of kinship with the performers, despite not personally knowing any of them. Even though anyone who has done a musical with me can attest to my lack of dance skills, I felt connected to them, as someone who also comes to life on a stage.

To conclude, even though I am not involved in every art form (or even most of them), I feel the importance of each form as strongly as the ones I love because I am an artist. 

I see artists as a community, no matter what forms our work takes and if one goes down, we all do. 

To the Timothée Chalamets of the world, I hope you find that connection and empathy once again. The ballet and opera houses of the world will be with arms wide open when you are.