Women who move us
Liza Yntema
Born a trouble maker...started advocating at age 15. Have had multiple careers, before I found my true calling at age approximately 57. Plan on continuing like my grand mother - an early civil rights and environmental activist, who was hiking into her 90s. Background in labor law and public policy with experience in drafting legislation and policy papers - bailed on big law firm life (or they bailed on me - mutual agreement). From volunteer, to committee member, to board work to independent philanthropist in various areas - inner city education, parks in Chicago, and on to the arts, always with women and girls at the forefront. I'm also the Founder of Dance Data Project® (We promote equity in all aspects of classical ballet by providing a metrics based analysis)
When was the moment you knew you wanted a career in dance?
Not sure this question applies to me. I did dance until I was 13, but found my calling at age 15 when I was volunteering at a large hospital and a resident started to try and bully me. I ended up on an all hospital review committee looking at relations between staff, volunteers and patients.
What is a quote you live by?
My mother was Julia Child’s collaborator. I grew up in an academic, literary household with so many aritsts and authors. Julia used to say “Fun is hard work” - and I agree, to tackle and master something takes years, but that is where true joy lies.
If you could have lunch with any woman (living or from the past), who would you pick and why?
Oh wow, so many wonderful women in history that I would like to get to know. Some of the mystic saints, Joan of Arc, artists in Renaissance - Artemesia Geneleschia, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. The great British actresses: Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, the terrifying and glorious Glenda Jackson, and of course now Harriet Walter who has played Brutus, Henry IV, etc. Also Alexi Navalny’s widow Yulia, and the women of the OSS in WW2 to learn about their courage and grit.
Is it more important to be liked or respected?
Well, since I have been told “You know Liza, they are all afraid of you” I better go with respected.
How do you manage stress?
Long walks with my dogs, hot baths with a glass of wine and a trashy book, support of a small group of friends and working out as hard as my 66+ year old body will allow - no matter how tired or sore I am, I always feel better.
Where is your happy place?
Water - sea, inlet, marsh, lake, river... all good. And for urban environment, the sound and smell of summer rain on pavement, or a windy day on the shore, with the leaves blowing and wood smoke in the air
If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why?
Dragon fruit.. I am the least exotic person on the planet and have always wanted to be wildly colorful, stylish, etc. Who cares how it actually tastes. But, if I wanted to pick something useful - rose hips the seeded fruit of the flower. Wonderful tea for what ails you, or persimmon for the brilliant color and bright flavor.
In our dance sector, what do you think is the most pressing issue for women and girls right now and what are you doing about it?
Oh boy, where to start. Unacknowledged privilege of men, supported by so many women, which I find inexplicable. But also, and this is not politically correct, the Left tends to demonize anyone who doesn’t agree with some mysterious set of principles that all “righteous folk” agree to. We are seeing the backlash in the US. So, I would say above all lack of education aboiut economics, fair pay and labor and real world strategies to improve working conditions.
What’s something you regret in your professional dance career?
Didn’t go that far. Gave it up at 13 when my teacher left. I tried to go back 6 months later and I had started to grow, and my body wouldn’t cooperate. My life has been a series of “failures” where I have to re-group, renegotiate and start over.
What question do you wish more people would ask you?
What holds women back from pursuing daring, but intentional adventures or endeavors?
What are the 3 leadership traits that best define you?
Relentless, inquisitive, detail oriented.
What book/film/documentary do you recommend most to others?
The Genius of Women, The Broken Rung, and all of the Women of Troy series - so important to reconsider myth from women’s perspectives.
Which lesson has been the hardest to learn?
Trust myself. I have been told “No” or “how dare you” or “well, you can’t do that” over and over. Mostly by men, but again often by women who feel threatened when the status quo is overturned, calling their choices into question. Decades of lived experience have given me the basis to make informed gut check strategic calls, sometimes in the face of strong protests by my young Team members who feel strongly but don’t always get it right in terms of when to stand up, which hilll to die on.
What's next for you?
Keep going! Carefully iterate out bit by bit, improving our reports, taking periodic “soundings” from the industry as to how DDP can most be useful to those working in dance. One immediate area of expansion is the “Wild West” of commercial dance, film, commercials, etc. Use of AI is deeply threatening to individuals being paid for their work.
Cinderella, Pocahontas, Alice in Wonderland or Malefica?
All of them, depending on when you need them. Women don’t have to be any one thing. And, it changes as we get older.
