Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Unite organises against the BNP ballerina

red letter | 10.01.2007 10:41 | Anti-racism

.


Musicians and workers at the English National Ballet (ENB) have reacted with outrage at the revelation that the company’s principal dancer, Simone Clarke, is a member of the fascist British National Party (BNP).

Unite Against Fascism has called a protest outside a lunchtime performance of the ballet Giselle this Friday which Clarke is performing in.

The anti-fascist campaign group is also circulating a petition condemning Clarke and calling on her to be removed from her position.

Clarke’s BNP membership was revealed by the Guardian newspaper over the Christmas break.

She responded by giving a lengthy and unrepentant interview to the Mail on Sunday, where she defended the BNP and praised its anti-immigration policies.

Many people involved in the arts world as performers or workers have contacted Unite to express their outrage at Clarke’s endorsement of the BNP.

Pressure on the ENB can force the company’s management to take a clear stand against fascism.

The Musicians’ Union has put out a statement condemning the BNP’s “attempts to portray itself as part of mainstream politics” and calling on the ENB to “act in order to maintain its position as a flagship for equality and fairness in the arts”.

“The BNP is exploiting Simone Clarke’s membership in order to promote and prettify their extreme right wing politics,” says the statement from Unite.

Endorsement

“Such developments are not new – historically the far right has sought the endorsement of artistic figures to attempt to normalise and disguise the reality of their politics.

“One of the many victims of the Nazi holocaust was choreographer René Blum, who was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. It is in those people’s memory that we should oppose all forms of fascism.

“Those artists – and everyone else – who defend the BNP should tell us if they defend the full reality of its politics. Claims of ignorance are no defence,” the statement continues.

“We are calling on all those who have an appreciation for

the arts, music and dance to demand that the promotion of racist and fascist politics are incompatible with a leading arts institution.”

Protest against racism and fascism at the ballet. Assemble at 12 noon on Friday 12 January outside the London Coliseum,

St Martin’s Lane, London WC2.

Unite Against Fascism’s national conference will be held in central London on 17 February. Go to www.uaf.org.uk for more details


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.

red letter
- Homepage: http://www.uaf.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

yeah!

10.01.2007 15:25

stamp out fascism by using fascism

and, er, if your socialist worker party just happens to offend those that believe the rampages of socialism (in national socialist germany and stalins soviet socialist paradise), tipping them further into the manipulations of the British Nutter Paranoids it's a price worth paying for you to look holier than thou

don't happen to agree or like her views

but then again I bet most of the other proformers agree more or less with positions i also might disgree with and even dislike

permanant action against everything

or

construct some decent arguments with which to nullify the pathetically simple minded twaddle the bnp disgorge

deconstruct the indecent arguments with which the bnp fails to nullify the vast majority of people with heads containing working brains

going around pretending that your idea of the world is the only 'good' and therefore you have the right to slap down those 'others' is actually a very similar message to the one the bnp stand for

leave the woman alone or engage her in debate

don't play the fucking soap box hero to me mr socialist worker rich boy

daddy's got a paper


Liberal tossers please awake.

10.01.2007 16:46

The above liberal comment is the exactly the same as the BNP would use. I.e. Don't t agree with her views but leave her in peace.


The BNP is a Nazi Party, when hitler was in power liberal arguements would and could not stop the force of nazism, we must learn lessons and therefore we must not allow the BNP to become respectable by allowing celeberities to endorce the party.

liberals can make me so mad sometimes.

UAF


now re-read

10.01.2007 20:04

try and look beyond your own prejudices mate

if you think fighting fascism with fascism defeats fascism then fascism defeats you

why become the thing you hate

you might try also reading a good book about fascism, nazism and stalinism - whilst each adopted similar methods, their outlooks differed widely

each has become popular in various parts of the world at various times

not because there were no groups and individuals opposed to them, but because they tried and failed to extinguish the effect without addressing the cause

fighting fire with fire sounds poetic but is bloody useless when yer chip pan is alight

killer aguments destroy fascists

arguments for killing fascists only spur them on

sicker hammer


BNP AND LABOUR

11.01.2007 14:28

Hmm let me see what is the worse bunch of scum, is it the BNP who rattle on about immigration and are tolerated by the state for as long as they remain a pressure valve for white working class rascists, or is it the labour party who have been instrumental in the murder of thousands of ethnics in Iraq, the detention of countless people without trial, the gradual erosion of civil liberties, complicit in torture, happy to destroy countless lifes in the pursuit of money etc etc.

Which one does the UAF see as a threat and which one do they prattle on about voting for to keep fascists out of power ????????????/

Danny


UAF???

12.01.2007 12:12

Good comment Danny.
The UAF ARE the New-Labour party. Nearly everyone of them I have ever met have either been Labour councillors, candidates, supporters/leafleters or friends and family of the same; its like a little clique. If you don't fit in with it they'll have you out.
They call themselves 'anti-fascists' but all they are is a bunch of hypocrites looking out for themselves and their expenses at the local council through fear of losing out to the BNP and others.
Don't take my word for it, investigate yourself and you'll see the same I'm sure.

Bill


Nazi welcome to work by protesters

12.01.2007 15:23

Protests as 'BNP ballerina' returns to work

Publisher: Jon Land
Published: 12/01/2007 - 13:18:04 PM Printable version
Send to a friend



'BNP ballerina' Simone Clarke
(pic: PA) Relevant News
BNP member loses appeal over racial abuse
Race riots 'danger list' hot-spots named
BNP leader Griffin cleared of race hate charges

Anti-fascist protesters staged a noisy demonstration outside the home of the English National Ballet today as "BNP ballerina" Simone Clarke prepared to take the stage.

Principal dancer Clarke is due to dance the lead role in a matinee performance of Giselle - the first time she has performed in public since she was outed as a British National Party member.

Around 50 members of Unite Against Fascism stood in front of the London Coliseum in Covent Garden waving placards which declared: "Ballet Not Bigotry."

They chanted "Ballet should be Nazi-free" and "The BNP has got to go".

Members also handed out leaflets to passers by headed "No to fascism and racism at the ballet".

"When fascists come to power they destroy the freedom of artistic expression," the leaflets read.

They cited the example of Rene Blum, choreographer and founder of the Ballet de l'Opera in Monte Carlo, who died at Auschwitz in 1943.

Clarke, 36, was exposed by a newspaper last month as a card-carrying BNP member and went on to give an interview defending her political beliefs.

She supports a crackdown on immigration despite the fact that her dance partner and boyfriend is a Cuban of Chinese descent.

She said: "Sometimes it feels as though the BNP are the only ones willing to take a stand.

"I have been labelled a racist and a fascist because I have a view on immigration, and I mean mass immigration, but isn't that something that a lot of people worry about?" she said.

"Everything will be different now. I will be known as the 'BNP ballerina'. I think that will stick with me for life. I'd rather it wasn't like that but I don't regret anything. I will stay a member."

Broadcasting workers union Bectu has called on the English National Ballet to distance itself from Clarke's pro-BNP comments.

Assistant general secretary Gerry Morrissey said: "We are calling on them to take action immediately, before the industry is brought into total disrepute.

"They should distance themselves from any comments which could be interpreted as supporting the policies of the BNP and make it clear that the English National Ballet supports equality and diversity."

Clarke attracted a high-profile supporter to the performance in the shape of Richard Barnbrook, BNP councillor for Barking and Dagenham.

"I don't normally go to the ballet but I'm going to support Simone Clarke. I'm supporting her freedom of expression."

He said of the demonstrators: "They have a democratic right to protest and the right to oppose us.

"But I find it really rather crude of them to take somebody who is a professional ballet dancer and say 'You haven't got the right to do the job you're doing'.

"They are trying to get her sacked for one simple reason: her standing up for common sense and saying she doesn't support the Government.

"She's not racist - she's going out with someone who is not of her own race."

Mr Barnbrook claimed to have no objection to Clarke's relationship with Cuban-Chinese partner Yat-Sen Chang.

"He works, he pays his taxes, he pays his dues, he has as much right to be here as anyone else," he said.

However, he hoped the couple would not have children.

"I'm not opposed to mixed marriages but their children are washing out the identity of this country's indigenous people," he explained, quickly adding: "That's my view, it's not the party's view."

Mr Barnbrook was accompanied by several burly associates and claimed that up to 40 BNP members would be in the matinee audience.

The English National Ballet has not publicly criticised Clarke for her comments.

A spokeswoman said: "The English National Ballet fully supports the democratic right of people to mount a legal protest.

"However, it is not within the company's mandate to express any political view, and any personal view expressed by one of our employees should not be considered as endorsed by the company.

"The company does not comment on any political affiliations of its employees or any other aspect of their personal lives.

"We are proud of the company's ethnic and cultural diversity. The English National Ballet has a diverse mix of employees from a broad range of sectors in our society. Our dancers come from 19 different countries around the world."

Copyright Press Association 2007.




red letter


Yet again!!!

12.01.2007 17:22

Yet again, another gift to the BNP!
I thought after the Leeds trial fiasco, people might just start to learn, and approach this problem at a different angle but no, the fucking UAF go and put their idiotic size ten boots into it yet again and help hand the BNP a world-wide platform.

It has even made her out to be the victim and the BNP all nice and cuddly as she poses in her ballerina get-up! What a joke. Griffin must be laughing his arse off.
I am utterly infuriated.

James


Reply to James

12.01.2007 23:43

I am sorry to learn that you are infuriated, but lets get the picture straight.

I do have sympathy in that it would have been better if the Nazi Ballerina had not been exposed as a BNP member and it was kept a secret, but this exposure was not initated by UAF. The Guardian newspaper first spilled the beans when a BNP undercover journalist discovered her membership and decided to print it in their news paper. The next thing you know, the daily mail interview the ballerina's husband and in turn supporting the BNP.

Under these circumstances UAF were right to attempt to isolate this BNP ballerina, hopely she will lose her public funded job and will make others feel less confident to express their Nazi feelings.

Unfortunately, with more disappointment with traditional political parties the BNP are likely to grow, one result means more high profile people will display public support towards gthe nazis, I regret to say if things do not get better than this ballerina could be the tip of the iceberg, we may need to get use to this more often. UAF will always attempt to isolate the Nazis and this ain't gonna be the last of this type of action.

red letter


UAF = State-Controlled Asset

13.01.2007 14:49

This blog is run by an animal rights extremist called Ketlan Ossowski.
If you want to complain to him about his campaigns of harassment here are his contact details :

Name : Ketlan Ossowski

Address : 16 Laburnum Grove , LANCASTER , LA1 5RT

Phone : 01524 34296 or 840074

E-mail :

 john.constantine@zen.co.uk
 arc.north@talk21.com
 zen26144@zen.co.uk
 lancaster.uaf@zen.co.uk
 ketlan@gmx.net
 Ketlan@Operamail.com
 lancasterarg@operamail.com

Or if you are thinking of popping round in person for a chat with him then here's some handy directions :

 http://tinyurl.com/waffx

Infiltraitor


Here we go again...

14.01.2007 20:02

Already the most popular troll arguments have been wheeled out:

1) Why waste your time on the BNP when New Labour are so much worse.

2) UAF are fascists because they oppose the 'freedom of speech' of fascists.

Okay then, as an antifascists who also detests both New Labour and tinpot leftist cults like the SWP, here's my repsonse...

Point 1 - no one is arguing that New Labour are scum because they are. The BNP would be a hell of a lot worse given the power, but that doesn't diminish the fact that New Labour are engaged in a poisonous attack on the British working class. No case to answer here.

Point 2 - I think UAF are completely ineffective and act as a virtual recruiting tool for the BNP in many ways. Their protest at this ballerina character was a laughable farce that made them (and unfortunately by association, antifascism as a whole) look stupid. But they are not by any definition fascists. I suggest anyone who levels this charge at them should read a bit and find out the difference between 'fascism' and 'authoritarian trotskyists who's middle-class leadership espouse futile gesture politics and a parasitic approach to genuine working class protest' - the latter is the SWP/UAF, but fascists they are not.

Furthermore, I can't see how protest (albeit ineffectual like the ballerina farce) is in any way fascist - by implication, that would mean that similarly pointless protests undertaken by BNP sympathisers (that Jerry Springer thing for instance) were fascist - and since they're so adamant in their refusal to acknowledge the F-word these days, the BNP would therefore have admitted defeat under the terms of their own argument.

Finally, on point 2 - GET A NEW ARGUMENT! For crying out loud, the BUF were bleating on about commies restricting their 'freedom of speech' seventy-odd years ago - it was a non-argument then, and it is now.

And as for the UAF=State Asset accusation... may be some truth in it, but I can't see it myself - and its a bit rich when the post in question has all the hallmarks of a certain Kevin Watmough, who has enough such accusations thrown at him over the years (along with a charmned ability to not get nicked when his 'comrades' do...) to make anyone who'd trust him a certifiable idiot.

Final tip - vocabulary... if you're going to try to pose as a red, best leave out words like 'ethnics'

Yorkshire RASH


Protest puts pressure on the BNP ballerina Simone Clarke

15.01.2007 12:03






by Anindya Bhattacharyya

Up to 100 protesters demonstrated outside the London Coliseum theatre this lunchtime against the first performance by Simone Clarke, principal dancer at the English National Ballet (ENB), since she was revealed as a card-carrying member of the fascist British National Party (BNP).

The protest, organised by Unite Against Fascism, was lively with constant chanting against the BNP. Demonstrators carried placards reading “Ballet not bigotry” and “No to fascism and racism at the ballet”. The demo also attracted significant interest from the mainstream media.

Clarke’s membership of the BNP was revealed in the Guardian newspaper over Christmas. She responded by giving a lengthy and unrepentant interview with the Mail on Sunday where she showered praise on the BNP’s anti-immigration agenda.

The actual performance of Giselle was disrupted by protesters from Love Music Hate Racism shortly after Clarke made her entrance on stage. They stood up and shouted that her presence was a disgrace, that there should be no racism in the arts, and that the BNP was a fascist organisation.

A group of a dozen or so Nazis were also at the performance, huddled around Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s mayoral candidate and lead councillor in Barking & Dagenham. They loudly applauded and cheered when Clarke made her entrance.

Emma Blackwood, a visual artist and musician from west London, was on the Unite protest outside. She highlighted the BNP’s bigoted attitudes towards lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

“Simone Clarke represents a fascist organisation. That seems to me to be incongruent with the arts world, which involves lots of LGBT people,” she told Socialist Worker.

“Clarke’s allegiance to the BNP must be distressing for her colleagues as well as for artists in general. She’s being employed by a publicly funded organisation, so she should not be publicly aligning herself with a fascist political party.”

Renowned classical pianist Ian Pace was also on the Unite protest. “It is incompatible for Clarke to be an active BNP member – going to meetings and using her prominence to promote the organisation – while also being in a multicultural state funded arts organisation,” he said.

“If she were to leave the BNP, then fine. But if not, she cannot remain part of a company with an extremely diverse group of dancers, many of whom are immigrants – she has to go.

“I also think she should say what she thinks about the politics of the BNP – which include Holocaust denial, racism and criminal violence.”

According to an article in today’s Independent newspaper, Clarke’s fascist sympathies have attracted anger from colleagues and workers at the ENB.

It reports “growing frustration among the troupe’s 150 dancers and backstage staff that Clarke has not been publicly challenged about her views when nine out her ten fellow principal dancers are immigrants”.

Both the Musicians’ Union and the Bectu theatre workers’ union have spoken out against Clarke and condemned the BNP. The actors’ union Equity, in contrast, has failed to comment.

Gerry Morrissey, Bectu’s assistant general secretary, said, “Simone Clarke earns her living in the subsidised arts and with this goes certain responsibilities, with which she has failed to comply. She has brought our industry into disrepute.”

The following should be read alongside this article:
» Unite organises against the BNP ballerina



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.

red letter


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech