An education in ballet, it's not just tutus and tiaras
Here in this edition, we will kind of go over some things for boys in ballet to help make this journey easier. With the first few blog posts about male ballet dancers doing well, I thought I would expand on some things that might be relevant. I hope you enjoy, Surviving Ballet: The Guide to being a Boy in Ballet.
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Each era, ballet redefines the role of a male ballet dancer. The last era, was the era of gods, Fernando Bujones, Jose Mannuel, Ethan Stiefel, David Hallberg, Steven McRae, Jonathan Stafford and Marcelo Gomes. .. With classical Greek body types, each of these men represented the best of the best, but once again ballet has evolved, and over the past five years we have seen a new breed of male ballet dancers. While the former generation has taken jobs as Artistic Directors, these young men have already started their own artistic vision. The next group of ballet dancers became slightly leaner and slightly longer like James Whiteside, Roberto Bolle, Alexandre Hammoudi… I was going to include some men from Paris Opera buuuuut they have always been kind of on the skinny and sleek side. Now we are seeing the new male body type… They are like Italian sports cars, versus Greek gods. They are shorter, more compact, lean, sleek and have powerful engines. Not only do they possess all these qualities but they are also creating their own space for movement, artistic expression etc- like Jeffery Cirio, former Principal Boston Ballet now a soloist at ABT and Daniil Simkin, Principal ABT. I think they are like the predecessors for the next male body type. While the ranks of ballet companies are filled with the sleeker longer bodies of men like Roberto Bolle and James Whiteside, I think these bodies will slowly be replaced by these now thinner, sleeker bodies. How this is going to affect women? I don’t know? Currently in fashion, we are going through the same aesthetic… where male models are as thin or thinner than female models….
So, you have a beard, you drink independent craft beers, and on the weekends you are hiking, rock climbing or making funny Youtube Videos. What does this all mean? You might just be a ballet dancer, or you might just be one of the thousands of men who are embracing the lumbersexual trend. If you are into this trend, you might be one of the male dancers who drinks overpriced, but luxurious hand crafted espresso, or you might own some top of the line cool bike. Sounds about the majority of the younger male ballet dance population. While in a recent articles of beards and facial hair, a conclusion was drawn that as facial hair is an extremely popular trend, men are now more than ever overcompensating for masculinity (Esquire, Details, GQ, and NYT Style). How does this translate into ballet? It really doesn’t, because most of the time, you have to be clean shaven in performances.
Now, if you aren’t at this point of coolness, and you are still training, or you are a mom/dad reading this trying to prepare your son for ballet… Well, here we go again… MANLYBALLET…
The Dance Belt: Things to Know about Dance Belts
While pro athletes use cups and jock straps, ballet dancers have the feared dance belt. Mostly feared because of it’s thong back, a dance belt offers support and protection for male genitals. Reasoning for the thong back? Because tights, booty shorts and other male ballet costumes are so tight, the avoidance of lines is necessary. Also, dance belts create a smooth clean line in front, so the audience isn’t distracted by lumps and bumps. The Great Debate: Besides Gaynor Mindens, a controversial topic in ballet is how to wear a dance belt. The debate is somewhat like the toilet paper over or under debate. While some men prefer things to face down, others prefer everything to point up. Preference of comfort? Or what actually protects the goods?
What is the purpose of a male ballet dancer?
It seems that the glory always goes to the ballerinas of ballet, but men seem to be the ones who gain notoriety and make a place in history for themselves. Why is this? While balletcompanies need a lavish number of females to stage productions like Swan Lake, and Balanchine glorified ballet as woman… The majority of the population sees female ballet dancers are the epitome of grace and elegance. Male ballet dancers are recognized as athletic and powerful.
It can be argued that male ballet dancers are there to support, lift and partner a woman, but if you took out men from ballet… You have nothing. Even though most ballets are female driven, the male ballet dancer plays a crucial role: The Hero. While feminists who have written in say that this blog is ______(insert any number of words)____, the reality is ballet, as an art form, is the one who is sexist. So, recently, I saw a Southern California, crappy school production of La Slyphide with zero men… I was so confused. Seriously… What if you were to do Swan Lake and take out the men… Who would save Odette? There would be no need for Black Swan, or any other act. Literally we would just be left with a prologue… Wait, not even that. No one would turn her into a swan. I guess we could argue maybe if there were no men in the world, there would no drama? Haha Just kidding.
While new choreographers have utilized men in outstanding ways, and have created vibrant roles for men, the male ballet dancer is still shrouded by mystery.
We know male ballet dancers are just as athletic as any sportsman.
We know that male ballet dancers are just as graceful and musical as any ballerina.
We know that male ballet dancers have some of the most beautiful bodies in art.
Myth: There are more jobs for men and the women in ballet.
Well older ballet teachers say that there are more jobs for men than women in ballet that would be a lie.
There have always been jobs for both men and women in ballet, but unfortunately there are more female students training in ballet making female jobs more competitive. This has slightly shifted. In the 70’s there were more women studying ballet than men. This has shifted due to amazing men, the progression of society and social norms, and brilliant men who weren’t afraid to push the boundaries.
The first generation of super start male ballet dancers included men like Rudolf Nureyev, Edward Villela, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques D’Amboise and Fernando Bujones. They made ballet more accessible and relatable and presented ballet as athletic, powerful and regal. These men ushered in the powerhouse male ballet dancer. This brought us the golden age of ABT: Ethan Stiefal, Angel Corella, Jose Manuel Carreno; Paris Opera’s Manuel Legris and Jose Martinez. Royal’s Carlos Acosta. The tail end of this generation of powerhouses are: Roberto Bolle, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Steven McCrae etc…
Now there is a new generation of male ballet dancers that have surpassed the technical abilities of everyone previous and have created a new vocabulary of movement, quality, and choreography. This generation we have Daniil Simkin, Jeffery Cirio, Justin Peck, and other really young stars. Most ballet super stars are still in training right now. This gives credit to social media like IG, VINE and YouTube. America is becoming a lot like the Vaganova school in a sense, by prepping superstars at the school level and publicizing them greatly before they even have a job.