When Roberto Bolle popped out and in of the closet four years ago internet forums and gossip rags foamed at the mouth. Openly gay ballet dancers, like openly gay actors and singers, are few and far between.
In 2005, after the British Navy introduced an advertising campaign aimed at recruiting gay men, Colin Richardson wrote in the Guardian,
The Navy advert is yet another sign that we have grown up as a nation. The police are ahead of the game, having started to advertise for recruits in the gay press in the mid-90s. I used to say then that I knew more gay police officers than I did gay hairdressers. It surely won't be long before openly gay sailors outnumber openly gay ballet dancers.
This is probably already true. But the reason is that sailors don't have fans who buy tickets, books and DVDs. Though the climate in a rehearsal room or recording studio allows gay people to be freer than in many other working environments, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's easier for them to come out to audiences and that their sexual orientation should automatically become public knowledge.
Luca Tomassini, the choreographer for Italy's X Factor, commented on Roberto Bolle's apparent about-face.
Bolle has an international public. I don't know how they might react in middle-America to the news that he's homosexual. In the dance world there is a very open mentality, but you need to think about ticket sales and fans. Bolle is a sort of pop star: beautiful, attractive, women find him sexy. I can understand that for him this is a difficult moment.
Fellow dancer, colleague and ex-schoolmate Massimo Murru has said,
It's his business. I don't understand this morbid interest when it comes to ballet dancers: everyone's asking if this one or that one's gay.
Though that curiosity is perhaps very easy to understand: among female fans who dream of becoming Signora Bolle, or by gay men, and maybe especially boys, who want to see a beautiful, talented and successful guy ‘on their side'.
Murru continues,
If they ask if I'm gay I don't reply: it's my private life and my business who I go to bed with. The fact that people think that male dancers are all gay is a prejudice that sets us back centuries. In every field there are gays, and in our world perhaps it is more evident because we're theatre people. But I've never seen a ballet dancer on a truck during Gay Pride, whereas it's full of lawyers, students and lorry drivers.
Not well expressed, maybe, but you can see where he's coming from. Listen to what Matthew Cain says on the Channel 4 News blog about the BalletBoyz:
So why should the fact that they're straight be considered an asset? The truth is that so much of the Balletboyz work has been intensely homo-erotic yet their audience is predominantly female. So is what we're seeing here merely the dance version of Brokeback Mountain, in which two publicly straight men were cast in gay roles, presumably as a means of “taking the edge off” the film's gay theme and making it more palatable for mainstream audiences?
Ah yes, the predominantly female audience. Though it must be said, Elton John's female following hasn't fallen off over the years, though, of course, he doesn't have Bolle's pecs and never did. And there's the rub, the problem seems to be for the heart-throbs among us; Elton John wasn't a pin-up even at 20. An artist wants as many people as possible to experience his work, and the fear of alienating a good part of the fan base must be a primary consideration in being out, or in. However, one of the most famous, beautiful and, dare I say, macho, dancers is openly gay. American Ballet Theatre's Marcelo Gomes has never hidden his sexuality, yet he says:
I don't think [coming out] is necessary. If they want to say they are gay, that is up to them. I don't think people should care. They should enjoy the ballet and not worry about that person's personal life. I think there are dancers who are afraid. But when you are ready, you are ready — when you're not, you're not. The most important thing in life is to be happy and live as you want to live.
Gomes points out,
Right, I'm gay, but not because I dance. That's what I want to tell people: ballet doesn't make you gay. There are plenty of men in ballet who aren't gay, and I can do the same roles that they are doing.
Ballet might not make you gay, but it attracts more gay men (and boys) than many other professions because homosexuality is so easily accepted. Carson Kressley of the tv show Queer Eye said,
Whether you work as an artist or a singer or a dancer, those are all really creative places where gay people are embraced.
And the same applies at school, before entering the workplace. In a recent interview, David Hallberg said that when he was young, dance was his “respite, it was a sort of escape for me”. Within the four walls of the dance studio it was possible to be safe and happy. There is certainly more than a grain of truth in the stereotype of the slightly effeminate boy who finds himself at home in a ballet school with his coterie of female friends, yet still has the physical stimulus of ballet's athleticism. The sports field can be a far less welcoming territory, though homosexuals are found here too… though that's another story. As Camille Paglia said, “Heaven help the American-born boy with a talent for ballet.”
Northwestern University psychology professor Michael Bailey studies human sexuality. In an interview with ABC News he explained,
There's no obvious reason why sexual orientation should be associated with how masculine or feminine one is, but it is in our species. And it probably has to do with the causes of sexual orientation and early effects of hormones on the brain.
The angle from some dance professionals and tv series like Breaking Pointe is that most dancers are not gay, but Bailey did a survey of professional dancers and found half the men were gay. His explanation?
Because dancing is a feminine occupation.
David McAllister, artistic director of the Australian Ballet, has said that half the company's dancers are heterosexual although he admitted that the company ”went through a period of setting up fireworks” to show off a heterosexual male dancer, but that policy has been dropped.
I think we've actually realised what people do in their private life is their own business. Talent is the commodity we're really looking for.
Carla Fracci who, with gay partners like Rudolf Nureyev and Erik Bruhn, has more right than most to comment on Bolle's choice, said,
Perhaps among bankers the percentage is the same. The fact is that in the dance world it doesn't cause a stir, at least not much. Roberto is so beautiful, talented and adored, he shouldn't be worried about such things. He's intelligent and influential, and I can't imagine that he thinks homosexuality is a mortal sin.
In fact, in 2009 after the confusion of his presumed outing in a French magazine interview, which was probably the result of a mistranslation, Bolle said,
I never speak about my private life, and don't intend to start now… I don't talk about my sexuality or that of others, and I don't believe that this is part of the social obligation of artists and public figures. I have an understanding and deep respect for gay people.
Of course, figures such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Carlos Acosta may help to encourage the lads to enter the world of ballet, but both are from very different backgrounds than most Europeans and Americans. In Russia dance is not seen as being girly and the President pays regular visits to the ballet; and in Cuba, someone who manages to get into a ballet company earns kudos from the kid who lives on the street right up to the political leaders. Dance, including ballet, is part of their popular culture. Straight boys in Manchester or Texas who sign up for ballet classes are the true heroes, like mid-Westerner ex-American Ballet principal Ethan Stiefel:
No. The stereotype of the male dancer is still there. Some dancers in our company have been attacked in the streets. Friends I go motorcycling with say, `So you dance around posies?' That's not being beaten up, but it's only a few steps away.
Of course, figures such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Carlos Acosta may help to encourage the lads to enter the world of ballet, but both are from very different backgrounds than most Europeans and Americans. In Russia dance is not seen as being girly and the President pays regular visits to the ballet; and in Cuba, someone who manages to get into a ballet company earns kudos from the kid who lives on the street right up to the political leaders. Dance, including ballet, is part of their popular culture. Straight boys in Manchester or Texas who sign up for ballet classes are the true heroes, like mid-Westerner ex-American Ballet principal Ethan Stiefel:
I represented about 50 percent of the male dancer population there.
When asked by The Boston Globe in 2003 whether he thought documentaries went too far in continually stressing the fact that not all dancers are gay, he said,
No. The stereotype of the male dancer is still there. Some dancers in our company have been attacked in the streets. Friends I go motorcycling with say, `So you dance around posies?' That's not being beaten up, but it's only a few steps away… We haven't come as far as we might have thought.
Top, from left, Roberto Bolle, Marcelo Gomes, Ethan Stiefel.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
Gramilano,
I love the way you get to the heart of things without ever judging or being cruel or spiteful, a tone too prevalent in many other blogs. Balanced opinions are important on the internet too. This article is very well judged, and important for many young dancers out there, including some of my students who first directed me towards your blog in the first place. Congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Gabby
Why are the straight boys in Manchester and Texas the true heroes of this story when the article is about openly gay dancers in ballet? Why is Ethan Stiefel and his motor cycle even mentioned in the article? I’m tired of hearing “not all male ballet dancers are gay” – like we have to justify ballet if it consists of gay men, and it’s only acceptable if straight guys participate. And it’s dancers who say this! The problem is ballet is homophobic. All the classical ballets tell traditional love stories between men and women. Boys are told to be “masculine” (or act straight) – and if they’re unable to, they are not cast or even hired. If a boy plays around dancing the girls part – yes it’s for laughs, but no self respecting macho straight acting heterosexual male ballet dancer should do such a thing! What would people think? That all male ballet dancers are gay?!?! Heaven forbid! And who doesn’t want that? Ballet companies. So why don’t we try to change peoples perspective from the inside and not from the outside.
I think the point is that the ballet dancer (hairdresser etc) stereotype is that they are all gay, and that doesn’t just mean a sexual orientation but the whole limp-wrist baggage that comes with it after seeing years of such stuff in tv sitcoms. Effeminacy can certainly be found in ballet companies, but not only. If these images persist then many excellent dancers (like Stiefel) might be kept away. Certainly they are heroes, or at least had courage to go to ballet classes when they were young. In Cuba where this stereotype doesn’t exist the straight guys don’t have this problem.
As for straight dancers joking around in tutus and pointe shoes, just look at Carreno as Giselle in the Tokyo Gala, or most guys in any ballet class who want to have a bit of fun – I’ve seen it countless times.
I think Stiefel is mentioned because he had something to say about gays in ballet. Maybe Gomes who is so hunky, or reality shows which play down homosexuality, or Polunin and his tattoos, and Stiefel with his Harley, will help change this perception of ballet boys and, ironically, it then maybe easier for the gay guys to come out.
Dear Alex, thanks for your ‘defence’ of the article, but Ben has a valid point about ‘the heroes of our story’ which is very sloppy indeed – I will correct it! Thank you both.
You are correct. There needs to be more open homos in ballet. Also, there needs to be more homo ballet stories choreographed. Also, as you pointed out, since homos have been dancing hetero parts in ballets for centuries, why nott time for hetero males to dance roles in homo male love ballets?.
I may make enemies with what I’m about to say, and it may not even be posted, but I will post it anyhow. In my experience and observation there are at best few male ballet dancers that are straight. After a lifetime of being in and observing this world That’s what I believe. Mind you, I said few at best. Most of the male ballet dancers that I have come across, strike me as gay, even if they have girlfriends or are married. The few that I have come across that do not strike me as gay, still do not strike me as straight, just not gay. Though most people may not admit it there is a gray area for men in between straight and gay, and these few male ballet dancers that I have come across appear to fit into that gray area. Much as I love ballet and ballet dancers, and I have defended ballet and male ballet dancers to people who would heap scorn on both, I could never honestly imagine a straight guy doing that. This also applies to Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, lyrical dance forms as well, and to a lesser extent to tap and ballroom/social dance.
For me there is no problem with the idea that all male ballet dancers are gay. The problem that I have is that so many people believe that there is something wrong with being a gay male ballet dancer, in and out of the industry, and that ballet is often looked down upon because of its association with male homosexuality.
For the record, I also believe that there are far more gay men, and men in the grey area in the performing arts than a lot of people care to admit. I always laugh when people describe an actor (male) as b eing straight.
Are you saying, then, that all of those male balletinos who are not gay are bisexual?
Not necessarily bisexual, just in a grey area. Their sexual and romantic feelings may be more spiritual. I know what I just said may be confusing, but it is the best way for me to briefly explain. I have come across so many men in this line of work who don’t strike me as gay or even bi, but still do not seem to be straight men. Some people may more easily understand what I mean. The actress Lynn Redgrave, who has dated more or less artistically inclined men all her life once quipped” I’ve never dated a straight man, or even had feelings for one.”
The lack of men in ballet in England is partly a consequence of the fear of being labelled homosexual.
I’m straight and dance ballet recreationally and perform on stage locally. I started too late to make much of it although my dance teacher has told me I could have been a ballet dancer if I hadn’t chosen the law.
Taking ballet class I’ve faced every joke, every question about my sexuality one can imagine, something strangely absent from my career in the law.
At my dance school I’ve heard parents say about their sons “We didn’t want him to do ballet and made him do tap but he insisted on ballet, he enjoys it so much”, “He boasts about street dance but never mentions ballet to other boys”. Prejudice starts at a young age and close to home.
“Is he gay?” is just about the first question my class colleagues and dance partners are asked about me by men who’ve never met me. Homosexuality is part of the stereotype of a male ballet dancer in England and it’s a deterrence to heterosexual boys and men and to others who don’t want to be judged in this way. This stereotype is reinforced with every “outing” and needs to be shattered before men in ballet are judged solely by their character and ability.
Perhaps heterosexual ballet dancers should also have an outing (or would it be an inning?). I’m so happy about the publicity given to Carlos Acosta’s female conquests, to the on-stage engagements of world famous dancers like Nunez and Soares and the not so famous ones like Paul Kay and Leanne Cope as well as the seduction of Natalie Portman by Benjamin Millepied. It’s like shouting, “Straight men do ballet!”.
Someone has a bee in their bonnet, I guess.
I read Gabe B B’s comment with interest. The answer to Dan Tsar seems to clear up some of the ‘mistakes’ in phrasing of the first comment. Two things really- I should imagine that to inhabit the ‘grey area’ looking into two worlds but partaking completely of neither, would be a great advantage to an actor or dancer. Secondly the description of these men of the ‘grey area’ reminded me above all of many priests and monks I have known. I seem to remember a particular Archbishop of York once described his sexuality as a ‘grey area’.
Please, explain it to me.
I don’t understand the meaning of this sentence: “Not well expressed, maybe, but you can see where he’s coming from.” What does it mean? I really don’t understand!
Thank you!! 😀
M.
Hello. I wrote this a while ago, but I think I meant that that he says, “The fact that people think that male dancers are all gay is a prejudice that sets us back centuries,” and then he makes a similar sweeping statement saying, “But I’ve never seen a ballet dancer on a truck during Gay Pride, whereas it’s full of lawyers, students and lorry drivers.” Is it full of lorry drivers? And I know for a fact that there have been ballet dancers in the Gay Pride marches in Milan.
Also the phrase, “In every field there are gays, and in our world perhaps it is more evident because we’re theatre people,” I find odd because, as this article argues, it is not always all that easy for a gay dancer to be openly out, at least outside the walls of the theatre. So it probably isn’t ‘evident’, it’s just that people associate tights and makeup with homosexuality, so back to prejudice and stereotypes again. But, of course, what he’s saying is right, though it could maybe be expressed better if written down rather than said in an off-the-cuff interview.
Does that make sense 😉
Yes, Perfect. Thank you. I asked you this because your point was perfectly my point. I don’t understand, before he says that is not true that ballet dancers are gay and then he says, yes there are and they are “evident” because of their work, so he’s agreeing with all the stupid stereotypes that he condemned before. But how this article says, is it difficult to understand, because all men in ballet are full of grace and movement harmony and so it’s impossible to say “gay or not”. Then he goes back saying that gay dancers don’t go in Gay Pride marches, and people with “normal” jobs yes. He is trying to say that in general there are not gay dancers, but then he says, yes they are “evident”, also if not “exhibitionist”. What is the point? I find a little lack of respect and incoherence for his colleague in difficulty.
But sorry, stop stop with all this philologists thoughts hahaha 😀 Thank you 🙂
I just wonder what your native language is.
I’m guessing Spanish, maybe.
Nah, Italian. 🙂
I was never a dancer. My field was banking. As far as I know, no one ever figured out that I was gay. One day one of my banking friend’s brother lost his long time love. He was going to commit suicide. My personal opinion is always that if you threaten, you probably won’t, but that doesn’t help those who love you. She came to me for help, not because she thought I was gay, but because in her experience, I knew things well beyond my years, and well beyond my presumed experience. I agreed to help, if I could. Her brother was very vulnerable, and he was much too effeminate to suit my tastes, but I was able to present the facts of his circumstance in a way that made sense to him and he moved on with his life, also never discovering (or maybe realizing) that he’d been talking to another gay man. Years later, when I was getting ready to retire from the bank we had shared for so many years, she decided to thank me again for helping her brother. I asked how he was doing. She told me that he’d lost another partner to HIV/Aids this time, but still credited me for giving him the strength to go on with his life remembering how valuable it is to find a faithful, committed friend at any time in your life, and that he could be that person more than once for someone he loved. I’m now quite open about my sexuality in retirement, but I’m still glad I could help another… RobtheElder
I used to get tired of the machismo culture amongst male ballet dancers, so often a defensive pose. The whole competition repertoire they are expected to learn and excel in is too much like developing egotistical, strutting stallions rather than men who can express themselves through movement..Interesting that Anthony Dowell was a much sought after partner, sensitive to the needs of his female partners.
Incidentally, the spelling “boyz” used by The Ballet Boyz, a straight outfit, came directly from a weekly gay journal in London. Like it’s OK to dip into that world as long as they don’t indulge…
I’m a retired, gay male ballet dancer. Lots and lots, and lots of homosexuals in ballet. HOWEVER, the ballet guys I always fell for were ALWAYS, ALWAYS STRAIGHT. Damn…
the gay question is a reflection of societal judgement in general. A person’s sexuality is their own business ultimately. I feel this is really a religious/fear based type of judgement that people really need to GET OVER! So tired of this idiocy!
Why don’t homosexuals all wear skirts and dresses then,. If they HAVE to be different ?