| Has the ballet world changed in terms of sexuality? | |
| Posted by: portenopete 07:12 am EDT 09/06/18 | |
| In reply to: Amar Ramasar update - Bway802er 11:12 pm EDT 09/05/18 | |
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| I admit right off that I know very little about the ballet world other than glancing stories in the news and a general impression from the way it is marketed. The general impression I have is that, as in most corners of life, it is now advertised in increasingly sexualized ways. Where once ballet connoted beauty and grace and an ephemeral quality, it is now much more about love and lust and carnality. (I sound like such a conservative! I'm not!) And it's also a general impression that, for years, ballet schools have striven to attract boys, especially boys who are as much athlete as artist. (Whether looks play into who gets accepted at the top schools I don't know, but there certainly seems to be no shortage of very attractive young guys dancing these days.) I know that's nothing new- Nijinsky was gorgeous- but my image of a mid-20th century male dancer is Robert Helpman, slathered in pancake and eyeshadow and looking almost as fey and lugubrious as he did when he played The Child Catcher in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. I'm just trying to figure out why such a "frat house" atmosphere exists at the NYCB and wonder whether the standards have changed for whom they choose to educate and then employ? In an attempt to dispel the stereotype of the effeminate, gay male ballerino, are they consciously or unconsciously in search of hyper sexual and aggressively straight young guys? Or are these dancers feeling some kind of pressure- either from within the ballet world or without- to prove their heterosexuality? I read this story with sadness, having been really impressed with guys like Amar Ramasar, whom I loved in CAROUSEL, and whose combination of masculinity and grace worked so well for a lowlife sailor like Jigger Craigin. (Not that he is involved in this incident, but equally impressive- even more so- was Robert Fairchild in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS who might have a real career as a musical comedy actor once his dance career begins to slow.) |
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