Some more modern choreographers HAVE arranged for men to dance en pointe.
Case “en pointe” (heh): Mark Morris. Anyone who’s seen his annual holiday classic, The Hard Nut, has been awed by men (in drag) en pointe, in addition to men dressed as men en pointe. As a classically trained ballerina (age 3-18), it’s a little odd for me to see, but I say, more power to 'em. They seem much more awkward than women while up on their toes. This is probably because they do not begin pointe training at age 11 or 12 like most female dancers do, so their feet don’t grow as flexible as women’s. If boys started pointe training when girls did, they’d probably be just as graceful as their female counterparts.
You can also see a male dancer en pointe in the ballet The Dream (it was used for the period when Bottom is transformed into a donkey, the idea being that the feet look more like hooves when en pointe).
Men en pointe, even Les Trocks, look like they’re walking on stilts. 32 fouttes are very impressive, but most ballet aficionados are looking for more artistry than that.
We all know that strength and flexibility are at opposite ends of the spectrum and that dancers have to work to combine them. Perhaps male feet are just so strong they can’t get the flex? Or maybe it is just training, as you say.
And by the way, Russian folk dancers do not dance on their toes. Georgian dancers dance on the knuckles (i.e their toes are folded under).
I once played in an orchestra backing up the Trocks – after the intermission the prima stepped out on stage and announced that since the orchestra didn’t get to see the performance he would dance just for us.
And he did, without any music whatsoever. And it was exquisitely beautiful work, too. That was quite a while back but I’ve never forgotten it.