A Canadian orchestra has shut down after being accused of body-shaming members in an email that said only ‘fit and slim’ singers would be featured at live events and asked singers they considered overweight to refrain from wearing tight clothing.
The Toronto-based Sheraton Cadwell ensemble, which was made up of volunteers, faced mounting backlash after vocalist Sydney Dunitz took to social media to share a screenshot of the email, which quickly picked up traction and was shared hundreds of times.
The email in question, sent early last week and signed by ‘the Management,’ singled out two singers for not living up to the orchestra’s body-standards, and criticized them for wearing tight dresses, leading people to assume it was directed exclusively at female performers.
Proof of body-shaming? Sheraton Cadwell ensemble faced backlash after one its vocalists Sydney Dunitz shared one of their emails online along her response to it
A personal attack: Vocalist Victoria Leone (pictured) sang with the Toronto-based orchestra a few weeks before the email was sent and said she felt personally attacked by it
‘Although almost all of our vocalists are fit and slim – the way our boutique orchestra would like our front line performing artists to be… two of our featured singers were not,’ the email said. ‘We hope that they would, as such, refrain from using tight-fitting dresses and use loose (less physically-revealing, less physically-accentuating) dresses instead.’
It continued: ‘As per our highly selective casting requirements for vocal artists taking on a prominent leading role on stage, only singers who are physically fit and slim (or at the very least, those who know how to dress strategically/suitably in order to not bring attention to their temporary physical/dietary indulgences) would be showcased with our boutique orchestras.’
Only singers who are physically fit and slim would be showcased with our boutique orchestras
The orchestra’s management also added that they do not require instrumental performers, who they called ‘essentially background wallpaper,’ to comply with their strict physical requirements.
In her post, Sydney slammed the group for commenting on members’ looks, calling the email ‘incredibly inappropriate’ and pointing out someone’s physical appearance has nothing to do with their musical talent.
‘This email is bullying, it is dealing with well-recognized issues that many women have with their bodies,’ she wrote on Facebook. ‘This is not about dress code; you have gone a step further and commented on someone’s physicality.’
Another of the orchestra’s vocalists, Victoria Leone, who had performed for the orchestra two weeks before the email, also spoke out against it, telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that having been bullied over her weight as a child, she felt personally attacked.
They’re not sorry: Victoria said that after she replied to the email, expressing her disgust over it and quitting the orchestra, she got a reply that did not include an apology
She’s over it: Vocalist Sydney Dunitz updated the Facebook post that first drew attention the orchestra and said it was all she wanted to say on the matter
After Victoria wrote the orchestra back, saying she was upset over the email and quitting the organization, she said she got a reply thanking her for her time, and asking her to reread the parts of the email that warned against dressing revealingly, which they were highlighted in red.
There was no apology.
Instead, last Thursday, just two days after the inflammatory email was made public, the orchestra announced it was shutting down; all management resigned and their website was taken down.
‘We sincerely apologize for any embarrassment/harassment that you may experience from media representatives or other individuals/parties as a result of misconstrued/malicious allegations and extremely negative/destructive/evil intent,’ the orchestra said in a statement, which did not reference the email controversy, according to AM640.
Victoria and Sydney both have both said they are disappointed by Sheraton Cadwell’s response, saying they just wanted an apology and for the gravity of body-shaming to be understood, not for the orchestra to shut down.
‘It was very disappointing to hear that they feel our discussion about the body-shaming situation was a ‘malicious and evil’ attempt at shutting down the organization,’ Victoria told AM640.
Sydney, on her part, edited her Facebook post to reflect that she is done discussing the controversy.
‘I’ve said what I wanted to say, and started the conversations I wanted to start. This isn’t a witch hunt, and I am not going to be answering questions about members of the orchestra or inner workings,’ she wrote. ‘THANK YOU ALL for positive responses and support, and let’s all take these conversations out into the world.’