ABOUT FACE spotlights Georgina Pazcoguin and Phil Chan as they challenge the dance world to rid ballet of offensive stereotypes of Asians and make ballet more inclusive.

Gina, a soloist with the New York City Ballet, and Phil, an author, producer and choreographer, launch the global Final Bow for Yellowface movement. They post an online pledge and ask dancers to jettison offensive “yellowface” caricatures from ballets like The Nutcracker and La Bayadère. Hundreds from around the world sign the pledge.

We watch in real time as the Scottish Ballet updates its version of the Chinese dance to both high praise and stinging backlash.

Phil takes on a bigger challenge of reimagining a full-length ballet: the problematic La Bayadére. Working with dancers at Indiana University, he boldly transports the story from ancient India to a Hollywood studio in the 1920s.​

ABOUT FACE vividly shows the tension and risks the two artists endure as they push an art form—created for the entertainment of kings and queens hundreds of years ago—to more authentically reflect the American experience today.