 the male dancer
written by Jeff               on 09.06. at 04:41:10 - as answer to: Thank you and welcome! Sorry we are in downward cycle! by balletboy>Hi Jeff!>Welcome to our board. We have cycles here. At times we serious about dance. Currently we are on a down cycle, where people like Balletidiot (AKA Balletboy from the northeast, who was so rude when he stole my handle) have degraded this board into discussions about nothing more than mud slinging.>Most of us males in ballet believe in the beauty and expression of the male body. There's an element of coordination and expression in our art that glorifies what the male body can do. And we enjoy performing for people who appreciate what the male body can do! We are a different class of athletes.>And that ballerina is usually 150 plus pounds (unless you're with the NYCB, where Balanchine loved emaciated ballerinas)!>For many of us, the spandex is a uniform, our workwear. But some of us appreciate the spandex in the light of a fabric that lets us show people what the male body can do to express male emotions.>I have, and really appreciate these guys, friends who like dancewear for the feel and sensuality. Some people who post on this site think that may be a perversion of our workwear, but, in my opinion, there are so many differences in the world that we have to bend over backwards (And Balletidiot, I don't bend over backwards with Bubba. He likes it when I bend over forward. Sorry Jeff, but I have to play with the board's current fool!) for friends who appreciate what we do.>Some of us would like your perspective on men in ballet. You've show us that you understand how we expresss the male through our art. Let us know more.>Welcome! I hope you post your thoughts about males in dance. We need to know how people think of us!>balletboyHi, balletboy, You mean those ballerinas actually weigh more like 150 pounds? Yikes! Now I'm REALLY impressed! Seriously, thank you for your kind words of welcome. I'm not really sure I have that much to offer by way of perspective, but I'm certainly glad to share my thoughts. Since I've never had a class in my life, you can be sure I won't venture any comments on technique! I'm just the guy who sits in my seat at the venerable Academy of Music here in Philadelphia, constantly picking my jaw out of my lap as I watch the guys in Pennsylvania Ballet do the most incredible things with their bodies. It's been well said that the male human body is God's noblest creation, and ballet certainly displays what that body is capable of doing. I would certainly concur in your comment that your art "glorifies what the male body can do." You also wrote, "We need to know how people think of us." Well, I think of you guys as practially superhuman. I understand that there are grueling hours of hard labor that go into enabling you to do the things you do on stage, but during a performance you make it look so easy! As if the jumps and the turns and lifting a 100-pound (OK, 150-pound I've run on long enough, but I would like to share something that happened to me this spring that I feel was really neat. I mentioned in my first posting that I had seen my first ballet when I was in college. That performance was actually a television appearance by Edward Villella. Well, this spring, Miami City Ballet did a two-performance stand here in Philadelphia, the complete Balanchine's "Jewels." For some reason, the theater moved me from my usual amphitheater seat to the main floor. During the first act, there was an empty box two rows in front of my seat. During the intermission, a group of people came and sat in the box--including Edward Villella. I recognized him at once. No, I didn't have the nerve to speak to him when the performance was over, but, still, even though his performing days are over, I think it was just so cool that I actually got to see, live and in person, the individual who first sparked my interest in ballet! Jeff |
