LittleTomato

that's exactly what i had in mind! thanks!

I've been trying to find a good forum/website about ballet (similar to this one) but in french. Anyone know of one??

wow. does anyone know why/where he's going? He's been doing really well with the company up until now

I was just reading a review and I'm thinking that the writer made a mistake, but the last sentences of this article say hohenstion celebrated his last performance with sfb. Is this true? I haven't heard/read ANYTHING like this before

No, but the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York could be said to be about putting down gays, although I have little interest in that and never cared about it. Likewise, since I have so little gay identity, I can see when someone wants to proclaim straight identity, and I find both pretty boring. I think Radetsky wants to get the privileges he perceives in the straight establishment by making sure to identify himself as 'not gay'. Because Nureyev managed to become famous despite a gayness and even outrageous promiscuity that was even flaunted, and that's what's crucial. He certainly didn't mean Nureyev 'opened minds' toward accepting anybody's sexuality, but rather opened up ballet to bigger audiences--especially though that he was hugely successful. I know plenty of people who don't spend their time at a keyboard, including dancers, who write decently and often very well. I don't think he writes well by any standards, so that it has to be accepted that some want to take a somewhat Christian-compassionate attitude toward it, and some are not going to. Almost any quoted remark by Suzanne Farrell, without any forethought, is better, when she talks about 'fantasy and how she likes it, that there's little enough of it in the world' when she was doing 'Cinderella' in Chicago years ago, or just even talking about how 'I like dancing with Peter, it's a pleasure.' It sounds banal and nothing, but it always rings true and makes you rethink that very simple thing. I use that example only because she, so silent and reserved, is not even one of the ones we usually think of as being the most verbal, but every time she opens her mouth, there is something there that is not advertising itself. And the many others who speak a lot more, like Melissa Hayden, really tell you something about how dancers can articulate and speak truly: Nobody was better than Hayden at explaining certain things about Balanchine's musicianship, for example. There are even some dancers and dance writers here at Ballet Talk that really write, and not just the fine professionals like Alexandra but also just dancers themselves posting like we are. People who are literate and know how to compose a sentence that makes sense, not sentences that people have to contrive and work at and give 'extra credit' to force them to make sense they don't have as written. I parsed several of his 'sentences', and some of them are not even grammatically decent, much less in a decent spirit. As a writer myself, I can tell you something about what writing is and is not. It is obvious that one can give anybody the benefit of the doubt. It is something some here want to do, it can feel generous but it needs to be sincerely believed, so these do believe it. I don't. I think it rings false, and so do others here. While it is true, as Hans says, that one is often assumed to be gay because of being in the ballet profession, it is also true of pianists, in the exact same way--I have been through this myself and been called sissy years ago when I was a budding pianist, been beaten up by rednecks in Alabama, been thought sissy because a pianist and thought gay for not dating girls in high school (they don't know that I then started dating them and having sex with them as well as men). I then toughened myself and nobody fooled with me. Radetsky seems to have as well ('we need to go outside', my version was 'meet me after school'), but wants to talk about it and get special sympathy, which he has found somehow. Frankly, he sounds a little like a sissy to me in some ways--you know, if you've been through that, it doesn't necessarily mean an insult. Perhaps I should phrase it: 'Some of my colleagues are straight sissies. Can we move on now?' Of course, by 'sissy', I do not mean 'gay'. That is what he meant. He wrote: "Ironically, the stereotype of the sissy male dancer has given rise to a male dancer who is anything but." By 'sissy', he clearly meant 'gay', and he meant the established perception of 'ballet sissy' to mean 'gay'--there is no way to mean 'sissy' without meaning 'gay'. He was not thinking of 'straight sissies.' Ballet has as much to do with gay male ballet dancers as it does with straight male dancers, no matter what anyone wants this to be. He was talking about straight male dancers as opposed to gay male dancers. I disagree with much of what you've said. First of all, I think the majority would agree that he is arguing that, due to the stereotype of sissy male dancers (which IS separate from sexuality), and the need of many male dancers to defend themselves, their masculinity and their chosen area of interest, male dancers have been toughened up as a result. I also take issue with you saying that Radetsky is "seeking special sympathy." This isn't an "oh woah as me" article nor is it a plea for pity or recognition. And while this article could be taken apart and analyzed to death, I agree with Sascha Radetsky's overall approach to the issue at hand, which is getting respect for male ballet dancers. His approach is very pragmatic, though I doubt he consciously made the decision to go about it in such a way. Let's be honest, ballet does not, and frankly will not ever appeal to certain portions of the overall population, which is fine with me, because in the same manner, I will NEVER understand the appeal of baseball. I will however, readily admit, that baseball is difficult and that if I went up to bat I would inevitably injure myself before the first pitch was thrown (I think ballet is much more difficult, but perhaps that's just my personal bias ). What Radetsky is trying to do is get a respect for the art of ballet, specifically for male dancers. Articles like this are necessary, but to make them nuanced to the degree that some here seem to expect is not practical or realistic. If he launched into a discussion about the various natures of heterosexual and homosexual dancers and the stereotypes surrounding both and what both bring with them to the stage etc., not only would he have strayed entirely from his purpose, but the majority of the people reading would glaze over, if Newsweek had even printed something like that. One could draw a comparison to today's news. Most shows have 30 second clips of inflammatory remarks and then 4 minutes of 16 people giving opposing viewpoints all the while the camera is constantly changing angles with graphics gone wild. If you want insightful discussion, you have to go to some obscure public broadcast channel or seek out unbiased web pages. The 30 second clips draw the most viewers, and I see this article as the male ballet dancers' 30 second clip. I question how many Newsweek Readers gave it more than a glance. I certainly doubt it will be a catalyst for some kind of mass cultural shift, but I think this articles net impact will be positive. If nothing else, I have no doubt that more than a few aspiring male dancers felt encouraged by the article.

Amen to that. It is nobody's business and sorry but there are tons of guys entering the field these days the competition and level of male dancers rivals the girls. I run a local ballet school and do not find the stereotypes hold true. There are many dads who bring their sons to dance class and sit and watch with the other dads there with their daughters. In fact guys who are openly leery of it are almost inclined to be ridiculed for it thinking that a dance class will make you gay, really when you say it out loud it is just a ludicrous statement. I also agree that we don't need Sasha Radnesky to prounounce his "straightness" who cares. Is he reinforcing the stereotypes by feeling the need to to write articles on his macho ness Maybe I am just tired or jaded by it. I have trained professional male dancers and have a dancing kid (almost adult) who is male. He knows who he and he respects the other members of his class as people and friends and does not identify them by their sexual orientation. Get over it already. ON with the dance. Good lord. The people on this board are clearly not a young male dancer in today's world, and as one, let me speak from a first person perspective, to counter the points of view of those who have no firsthand experience. As a male dancer I greatly appreciated this article because there is still a VERY serious level of mockery towards the male ballet dancer. Yes, there is an increasing number of male students, and WITHIN the dance world male dancers get a great deal of respect. However, it seems to me many members of this board haven't stepped outside the dance world in a while, because the number of idiotic, mocking questions about tights and feminine costumes I get from non-dancers is enough to make any male dancer get frustrated. The question, "so like, are all the guys gay?" is CONSTANTLY asked, which, to me, justifies Sascha Radetsky reasserting his heterosexuality. All male dancers, gay or straight, are consistently dogged by questions regarding their masculinity which is insulting and undermining, and often questions regarding a dancer's masculinity take the form of a question regarding sexuality, which is idiotic as many of the most masculine dancers are in fact homosexual. Also, despite the parents and dads around the dance studio, there are many parents (my own included) who are not particularly cozy with the idea of their son being a dancer. (Now they are more than supportive, but only after they saw how serious I was about ballet). Most of the dad's I see at the dance studio are there to support their DAUGHTER who dances, and I have seen firsthand a boy ask his dad if he could take a class and the dad scoffed and said no, and that he would never let his son do ballet. So yes, within the dance world male dancers are respected, and, lucky for us, there are fewer male dancers to compete with. However, why are there fewer male dancers? Because of the social stigma surrounding the male dancer. So while ballet goers may say that they've never encountered any of these, thats probably because THEY ARE NOT MALE DANCERS and for teenagers, a notoriously rocky period riddled with insecurities, questions constantly regarding sexuality and masculinity in a time when both of those are forming does little for the self-esteem. While, I agree with the fact that all dancers must have exceptional force of will and dedication and an ability to overcome odds and adversity, the things a male dancer must face are not something I would argue should be written off as useless complaining.