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 Men
in Ballet
By Rhee Gold
A Short History of the Male Ballet Dancing
“Ballet
isn’t a woman’s art form at all . . . [it] was not only
created by men . . . it was created for men,” stated the late
Fernando Bujones. Those words, spoken in an interview with
Frank Augustyn, the creator of the television series
Footnotes: The Classics of Ballet, may sound surprising,
but a brief trek through the past proves that he was right on.
If you
venture back in time looking for males in ballet history,
you’ll discover that one of the most notable early dancers was
Louis XIV, a student of French choreographer Pierre Beauchamps
(who is credited with defining the five positions of the feet
around 1700). The young king began dancing as a child; in
1653, as a teenager, he performed a series of dances in Le
Ballet de la nuit, including a solo finale as Apollo. That
role, in which he was swathed in gold, earned him the moniker
“The Sun King.” Louis XIV performed for 48 years and
encouraged his male courtiers to dance. In 1661 he established
the Académie Royale de Danse, a professional organization for
dancing masters.
In early
ballets all the dancers were men; they performed women’s roles
wearing masks. The first female dancers to perform
professionally appeared in 1681 in a ballet called Le
Triomphe de l’amour (The Triumph of Love). The mind-set
of the time was that it was unladylike for women to throw
themselves about with physical abandon.
Many of the
ballets presented at the Louis XIV court were created by
Beauchamps along with the Italian-French composer and dancer
Jean Baptiste Lully. During this time, the playwright Molière
invented the comédie-ballet, in which danced interludes
alternated with spoken scenes; with Lully and Beauchamps, he
continued to develop the art form.
Another
notable male dancer of the period was Jean Balon, a dancer who
jumped and moved with such extraordinary lightness that
supposedly (though doubtfully, according to most historians)
the term ballon, meaning springiness or elasticity, was
derived from his name. Also famous were the father and son
dancers Gaetan and Auguste Vestris. The elder was known for
his elegance, while his son presented what is described as a
dazzlingly athletic style, pushing the limits of virtuosity at
that time.
From 1830
to 1870 in France, the female dancer was on the rise. Women
were wearing less restrictive costumes, pointe shoes had been
invented, and a delicate-looking but technically strong
ballerina was emerging. The Romantic Age brought ballets like
La Sylphide (1832) and Giselle (1841), which
featured story lines that emphasized the feminine persona. It
was during this period that the male ballet dancer became
little more than a partner, often overshadowed by his elegant
counterparts.
Meanwhile,
in Denmark, August Bournonville (whose dancer/choreographer
father, Antoine, greatly influenced Danish ballet) served as
ballet master of the Royal Danish Ballet. He was the man who
would start the revolution that would once again bring male
ballet dancers to prominence. In 1836 he was inspired to
create his own version of Filippo Taglioni’s La Sylphide
after seeing a performance by the choreographer’s
daughter, the great Marie Taglioni. He restaged the ballet
with a focus on the male lead, in his version a poet who
demonstrates not only elegance but also beautiful partnering
and towering jumps—all surrounded by a corps of women in
white. The more than 50 ballets that Bournonville created
included many parts intended to show off his own brilliant
dancing, and these later became vehicles to establish and
display the excellence of Danish male dancing in general.
Another
legendary artist of the late 19th century was making ballet
history in Russia. Marius Petipa, who directed many of the
great dancers of the era, choreographed more than 60 ballets,
many of which continue to be performed worldwide. He
collaborated with Tchaikovsky on The Nutcracker, Swan Lake,
and The Sleeping Beauty; other works include
Raymonda, Giselle, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, and
Le Corsaire. Working alongside him on many productions was
Lev Ivanov, a great choreographer who remained in the shadow
of first Jules Perrot, then Petipa, for his entire career. He
is credited with creating much of The Nutcracker, most
notably the “Waltz of the Snowflakes”, and the white acts of
Swan Lake. He choreographed or restaged 20
ballets, including the version of Coppélia on which
most 20th-century productions are based.
The first
great male ballet dancer of the 20th century was
Vaslav Nijinsky, born in Russia in 1890. He was a member of
Serge Diaghilev’ Ballets Russes, one of the world’s most
famous ballet companies from 1909 through 1929. The company’s
men were acclaimed for their virility and exoticism, bringing
the male ballet dancer to the forefront once again. Nijinsky
was the first male dancer to appear on a poster, and he was
idolized by his public. He is best known for his ballets
L’Après midi d’un faune (which, with its blatant
eroticism, created a scandal at its opening) and Le Spectre
de la rose, both of which he performed in as well as
choreographed.
You can’t
talk about the male influence on ballet in the 20th century
without including George Balanchine (1904–1983), who trained
at the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg. He left
the Soviet Union in 1920 and joined Diaghilev’s company. In
1933 he came to the United States at the invitation of Lincoln
Kirstein, where he founded the School of American Ballet and
the American Ballet Company. In the 1930s and ’40s he made a
name for himself choreographing many Broadway musicals,
including The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and On
Your Toes (1936), which included the groundbreaking
dancing in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” (now a standalone
ballet). In 1947 he founded Ballet Society, which became New
York City Ballet two years later. In 1970, U.S. News and
World Report commented on Balanchine’s
achievements: “The greatest choreographer of our time, George
Balanchine, is responsible for the successful fusion of modern
concepts witholderidea s of classical ballet . . . he has made
American dance the most advanced and richest in choreographic
development in the world today.”
Megastars
like Russian defectors Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov
made a huge difference in the perception of the male ballet
dancer during the 20th century. Their breathtaking technical
ability, athleticism, and very public personalities
transcended the ballet world to land on the big screen (Nureyev
in Valentino and I Am a Dancer and Baryshnikov
in The Turning Point, White Nights, and
Dancers). In so doing, they became household names,
ultimately helping to dispel the effeminate image of the
ballet dancer.
These men
throughout history, who shared the stage with many other
noteworthy dancers, choreographers, and ballet masters, shaped
the world of today, one that increasingly allows male ballet
dancers to enjoy acceptance and respect. Each year more and
more boys put on their first pair of tights—some hesitantly,
but nonetheless they do it. They are the future Balanchines,
Bournonvilles, and Baryshnikovs, who will continue to develop
the art form and establish new expectations for male ballet
dancers of the future.
Check Out
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