MONTREAL — An advertisement for the city's ballet company that includes a woman with blood running down her legs and a nail jutting out of her foot is not acceptable within the public transportation system, Montreal's transit authority said Friday.
The promotional image is supposed to be based on the pain of the Virgin Mary at the crucifixion of Jesus, and it was created for the first show of the year, called "Stabat Mater," of Montreal-based Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
The Montreal Transit Corp. nixed the advertisement, saying that in their opinion, it could incite violence.
"In the case of the Grands Ballets Canadiens, it was established that the poster could lead to violence, in particular because of the blood and the needle in the foot," spokeswoman Amelie Regis said in an email.
"It must be understood that the STM transports a wide, varied audience of all ages and we must be sensitive to this reality."
But the new artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens said he doesn't see the image in the same light.
Ivan Cavallari, who came into the job in July and is overseeing his first program beginning with "Stabat Mater," said he won't be submitting a new ad as suggested by the transit authority.
"I have no intention to change the concept, because throughout the program, all the pictures we've been making with the team, they go through a real concept — there's a meaning behind those pictures," Cavallari said in an interview.
"I stand behind those pictures, so no way am I going to change them."
The image depicts a standing dancer, draped in white and covered in blood.
A long, black nail protrudes from her foot as she looks down, seemingly in pain, at her wound.
Regis said the advertisement contravenes sections of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
Les Grands Ballets said the show, set to begin on Oct. 11, is about suffering that society is afraid to confront, noting it is based on a medieval poem about the sorrow and anguish of the Virgin Mary at the crucifixion of her son.
Cavallari said the basic elements of the image are meant to represent the music, Stabat Mater, composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and portray the suffering of a woman who just lost her child.
"I was very surprised because I don't find any direct violence in that picture," Cavallari said. "And obviously it does represent the Virgin Mary and therefore is also connected to the passion of Jesus — but all that is related to the Pergolesi music.
"So I didn't even think that a religious or pseudo-religious image could create any kind of reaction in that regard."
The company says it never intended to violate anyone's dignity.
Cavallari said all it can do is invite the public to see the show for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
