Western stereotype of the male ballet dancer

Western Stereotype of the Male Ballet Dancer Since the early nineteenth century, Western society has adopted a negative view of male ballet dancers, or danseurs. Danseurs are stereotyped as weak, feminine, or unnatural. The very essence of ballet is expressiveness, which directly contradicts the strict Western picture of masculinity: strength, dominance, and stifled emotion.

This belief began in the early nineteen hundreds at the emergence of Romanticism. The stereotype was not derived from homophobia, though the former is often confused for the later. The prejudice has become omnipresent in modern Western society.

History and Origins

Ballerina’s Dominance in Romantic Ballet

As the Romantic Movement erupted in the early nineteenth century, ballet’s focus shifted towards the ballerina, and the danseur gradually faded into the shadows. Romanticism was a revolt against the Age of Enlightenment. According to dance scholar Carol Lee, nineteenth-century ballet was “the perfect expression of Romanticism” . Ballets turned to folklore, legends, myths, and superstitions for inspiration. They told stories of nymphs and sylphs, innocent maidens and satanic witches. Composers and choreographers were inspired by pure human emotions and a fascination for macabre. Ballets such as Giselle and La Sylphide emerged during this time.

The heart of this new content was the ballerina. The danseur was demoted to the position of carrier for the star ballerina. He was only there to emphasize her beauty and talent. Women dominated the ballet for the first and only time in history The Romantic content focused on the ballerina, pushing the danseur into the background. Audiences wanted to see the ethereal, airy grace of the ballerina.
Training and technique turned to ballerinas as well. Fewer and fewer men were being trained in ballet. By the mid nineteenth-century, the number of men enrolled in professional ballet schools in Western Europe dramatically decreased. This scarcity forced ballerinas to being playing danseurs’ roles. This practice of taking on roles meant for dancers of the opposite gender was called dancing en travestie

Distaste for Danseurs in Romantic Ballet

Around this time, the French artist Charles Edouard De Beaumont drew a Lithograph entitled “The unpleasant thing about a danseuse is that she sometimes brings along a male dancer”. The piece depicts a male and female dancer. The ballerina is lithe and petite. Her partner has a distorted face, large hands, and thick legs. He appears to be off balance. He is an embarrassment in his attempt to be graceful. The piece embodies the negative undertone dancers implied to the bourgeois audience of the time.

Man’s social role was to make laws and govern. He represented strength and authority. It was seen as almost vulgar for him to intrude on the woman’s sphere of daintiness. According to dance scholar Ramsay Burt, the audience was put off by “his resembling the rude prowess of the working classes”. Romantic critic Jules Janin stated,”…I know nothing more abominable in the world than a danseur. Under no circumstances do I recognize a man’s right to dance in public” .

In the Romantic Era, watching ballet became a sexual thing for many men. The focus shifted to the female body and while the choreography was meant to create art, it also provided a more exclusive way to objectify women discretely. Having men on the stage disrupted the male audience’s sexual evaluation of the performance.

The danseur also presented another problem for male viewers. The ballerina now had sexual connotations, which leaked into one’s appreciation of the male dancer. Burt explains the dilemma, “…the ways that male dancers appeared on stage became a source of anxiety to bourgeois male spectators. To enjoy the spectacle of men dancing [was] to be interested in men”. Thus the “pleasures of watching men dancing became…marred by anxieties about masculine identity” . Much of the audience now wanted the ballet stage rid of male performers.
Additionally, since the focus on the ballerina was so heavily associated with the new ideals of the time, the danseur with his stiff dominance was a reminder of the pre-Romantic ballet, and thus, Burt asserts “the aristocrats who had been its patrons” .

Diaghilev, Nijinsky, and The Ballet Russe

With the opening of Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet company, The Ballet Russe, in Paris in 1909, Western society saw a powerful reentry of the male ballet dancer. For several decades now, the pas de deux (‘dance for two’) had been danced by two ballerinas, one en travestie. Included in the premiere show of The Ballet Russe was the Blue Bird pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, danced by a ballerina and a danseur . One of the ballets performed in the early years of the company was Le Spectre de la rose. This ballet’s content was revolutionary for its time—the main character is male, with the female playing the supporting role.

In 1911, Diaghilev formed a permanent company. One of its members was Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950). Nijinsky played a large role in the danseur’s return to the stage. Nijinsky was a principal danseur in The Ballet Russe. His performance in Le Spectre de la rose, launched him into stardom. He became the poster boy for male ballet dancing.

The Ballet Russe was successful and continued performing in Paris in addition to touring other countries, though the company never performed in Russia .

Male dancers began to be better accepted in their choice to perform, but by this time society was too pervaded with the dislike of men displaying qualities deemed ‘effeminate’. Audiences again desired to see male dancers perform, but society still felt uncomfortable to a certain degree.

Western Stereotype of Masculinity

One of the biggest issues perpetuating the stereotype is society’s view of masculinity. Men must be manly, virile, staying as far away from any trait perceived as feminine. This greatly contributes to the bias against male dancers because dance is expressiveness—a trait seen as effeminate in Western society. Boundaries have been set for masculinity, and if a man steps out, his ‘manhood’, an attribute central to his very identity, is thrown into question.