Gay ballet dancers

Boys dance too: My experience as a male ballet dancer

This story was published in print in December 2022.

The faint sound of pointe shoes echoes through a narrow walkway as I begin to ascend a place of stairs. With each step, the soft tapping crescendos into a storm. At the superior, I take a right, passing a wall peppered with photos of known dancers, choreographers and directors. I twist left, passing a bulletin board of castings, rehearsal schedules and showtime updates. One more left turn to proceed . My mind desperately tries to serene itself down, but doubtful thoughts initiate to seep in. With no day left to spare and my brain shaking off the last drops of doubt, I twist to face the dance studio.

For six years, I’ve danced at Maryland Youth Ballet and earned incredible opportunities. I’ve landed lead roles in my studio’s productions, worked with world-class choreographers and even performed in a professional performance at the Kennedy Center. But those opportunities didn’t collapse into my lap — they required limitless dedication and sacrifice.

What started as a three-hour weekly obligation where I learned the basic positions and steps, quickly snowballed into a 25-hour weekly commitmen

All Male Ballet Dancers Are Gay, Right?

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE ADVOCATE.COM

Boys who undertake ballet are queer. That’s the stereotype that filmmaker Scott Gormley goes toe-to-toe with in his new documentary, Danseur.

The motion picture follows several male dancers, some same-sex attracted, some straight, and sensitively unfolds their relationships with that stereotype and others.

Gormley also confronts the extreme level of bullying that they face. He shares why it was important for him to deal with this issue:

“I’ve spent the last two years creating a documentary about the struggles that little men face when they choose to dance ballet ― when they select to thumb their nose at what boys “should do.” While directing and producing Danseur, I’ve seen over and over again the clear-cut lines we draw as a society around what boys “should” and “shouldn’t” perform. I’ve interviewed more than two dozen dancers, and their stories are heartbreakingly similar. Verbal overuse. Physical abuse. Assault. Researcher Doug Risner of Wayne Articulate University found that nearly 96 percent of all boys who dance possess faced verbal and/or physical assaults from their peers, ultimately driving many fresh danseurs from the s

In and Out: Bolle, Gomes, Stiefel – how effortless is it to be an openly gay ballet dancer?
When Roberto Bolle popped out and in of the closet four years ago internet forums and gossip rags foamed at the mouth. Openly homosexual ballet dancers, like openly gay actors and singers, are few and far between.
In 2005, after the British Navy introduced an advertising campaign aimed at recruiting gay men, Colin Richardson wrote in the Guardian,
The Navy advert is yet another sign that we possess grown up as a nation. The police are ahead of the game, having started to advertise for recruits in the gay press in the mid-90s. I used to say then that I knew more gay police officers than I did gay hairdressers. It surely won’t be long before openly gay sailors outnumber openly gay ballet dancers.
This is probably already correct. But the reason is that sailors don’t acquire fans who buy tickets, books and DVDs. Though the climate in a rehearsal room or recording studio allows gay people to be freer than in many other productive environments, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easier for them to reach out to audiences and that their sexual orientation should automatically bec

LGBTQ Ballet Dancers
LGBTQ Ballet
The world of the Ballet dancer is a unique one. As an imaginative venture that incorporates athletic ability, artistic expression, and public show, it demands a significant amount of talent for the individual artist. Similar to many demanding professional sports, it tends to be a profession for the young that takes a dense toll in terms of second, energy, and physical and mental stamina.
LGBTQ ballet dancers contain been a visible and essential part of the arts people for many generations. As an artistic field which appreciates its talent, it is a profession that has accommodated LGBTQ individuals even in conservative political and religious environments.
A survey of professional ballet dancers in 1997 revealed that they themselves believed that 57.8 percent of the men in dance companies overall were gay, while they considered 53 percent of the men in their own companies to be gay. Indeed, many past high profile LGBTQ ballet dancers are household names. These comprise Erik Bruhn of Denmark, Jerome Robbins of the United States, and Vaslav Nijinski or Rudolf Nureyev of Russia.
In addition to their prominent early sway careers,