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Audiences have long admired the ballerina on stage, displaying her strength, poise, elegance and beauty. Ballet has been deemed the ultimate female sport – and if “Black Swan” showed us anything, it’s that ballet is indeed a sport – with men playing the supporting role to complement the ballerina. However, ballet culture is recently proving much more male-friendly, and with this phenomenon comes common misconceptions in need of some debunking.
“Dancing demands phenomenal power, extreme flexibility and balance, and high-end aerobic fitness,” says Lyle J. Micheli, M.D, a clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard medical school. Men in ballet are in better shape than most men will ever hope to be, as they must jump, lift and stretch their way to perfection for hours on end every day, consequently sculpting a physique that looks to be an exact replica of a human anatomy chart.
Marcelo Gomes, a principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, reveals to Huffington Post, “People are always surprised, when they ask me if everyone in the company is gay, and I say, ‘No, actually, everyone’s straight!’” Although Gomes is, indeed, gay, many men in ballet are straight and also happen to be extremely attractive. It’s like an untapped jackpot!
Ukrainian-born Ivan Putrov, the creator of “Men in Motion,” says, “We can perform for so much longer now. Dancing may be hard on us physically: when we jump, the joints take all the impact.”
“Men in Motion” is an ambitious all-male production featuring a collection of 15 short dances. According to Putrov, “We use our bodies to an extreme, like athletes. But an athlete burns out when he is about 25. A dancer, if he has good schooling, can go on for much longer. The career has changed.”
The traditional views of ballerinas as fragile and vulnerable women are constantly being challenged as the industry reveals what it really takes to succeed. According to CNN, Argentinian dancer Daniel Proietto of “Men in Motion” says, “I think there is always the concept of the ballerina who is this delicate creature, and men are the opposite – we jump higher, we have more stamina, we are stronger. But at the same time, maybe when you see us in a fragile setting we can also be delicate.”
While this may have been a male ballerina’s traditional role, times are changing as male ballerinas take the limelight. According to Putrov, “Previously, the role of the male dancer was very much to support the ballerina, but that has been changing, and what we are doing [with ‘Men in Motion’] is part of that process.”
What do you think of men in ballet? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @entity_mag!
