After watching “Billy Elliot” we had a group discussion on whether male ballet dancers are predominantly gay. In my youth (as in the film) any boy doing ballet would have been labelled a “poof” and would have had a terrible time. Are there any ballet artists out there who could , or any reliable stats? My suspicion is that ballet is largely hetero, but would be interested to know.
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"…who could inform us…
A female choreographer-dancer that I knew said that about half of the male dancers she knew were straight.
From first hand?
<me ->duck and run>
How much of it is due to straight men who could be fantastic dancers being scared off by being considered homsexual?
I suspect that the the theatre and performing arts naturally attracts people of a certain flamboyant nature, which was also a safe haven in the past for gays who would have been outcasts in any other profession. I don’t know whether that is so true any more, which is why I posed my question.
Something I heard about hairdressers, and I suppose ballet dancers as well, is that when you are working in close proximity with someone, you tend to pick up their mannerisms, etc. So hairdressers, and by extension, dancers, who work with women all day long, would unconsiously start to model their behavior. This makes the males look more effeminate, whether they are actually gay or not.
I bet I hear about this one…
" are ballet dancers really gay?"
Nope, just the gay ones.
As an aside, the proper term for a male ballet dancer is danseur. I learned this from a (definitely straight) friend who does ballet.