On Sunday, our Pride center showed a documentary video about gender and sexuality expectations in professional dance and how that affects LGBT+ dancers. It was made by a trans male dancer who was also there for a Q & A. Basically, although the gender-based expectations may differ between styles of dance, each one has fairly narrow and rigid expectations of how dancers should move, be costumed, and what their bodies must look like, and the expectations are very different for assigned-male dancers vs. assigned female dancers. Assigned-male dancers are expected to be ultra-masculine, and assigned-female dancers ultra-feminine. I think you can see why this could be a difficult for a lot of LGBT+ dancers, or at least the trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming ones.
It got me thinking about how ballet fits into some of the stories I read here and how the gender-based styles are shown. In Emerging from the Cocoon, the main character is repeatedly told by their ballet teacher that their dancing is not masculine enough, at least until they come out as (M2F) trans. And in Amadeus Irina, much is made about how the main character's dancing is "feminine," and another character who comes out as (M2F) trans has to more or less relearn how to dance, because they were trained to dance in a masculine style and now had to switch. Nobody seems to have any problem with the dichotomy in dancing styles and what steps and styles are assigned to each gender, other than wanting to have the "gender" of their dancing style match their gender identity.
I get that, for the most part, the stories here are people's fantasies of becoming female, and being an ultra-feminine ballerina in tutu en pointe seems like the ultimate expression of femaleness. So maybe I shouldn't take it that seriously. It's just that I've spent my whole life struggling against all the rules saying what boys have to do and be and what girls have to, so I reflexively question anything that sounds like that, even in stories. I mean, I love the idea of dancing in a beautiful tutu, but why should it only be allowed if you were born i(or transitioned to) female? Why do people have to have what they can do restricted based on whether they're labled "male" or "female"?
So I wonder if there are any writers here who are or were professional-level ballet dancers, or whatever style, who have also transitioned. And if so, what they would have to say about how dance is presented in these stories.
Comments
All Male Ballet Company
I saw a documentary a while back about an all male ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo based in New York City.
They have performances scheduled in Japan and the UK later this year. Earlier this year they performed in Spain and Portugal in addition to several US performances.
Michelle B
Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo
I have seen the Trocks live several times. However, they are parodying classical ballet, rather than trying to upend gender-based dancing. There was a mini documentary about then not long ago on PBS, as well. If you are a fan of ballet, as I am, you can't help but love their performances.
Developmental limitations
I think that part of the reason that males and females are taught to dance differently is limitations caused by skeletal and muscular differences during development.
Although there is overlap, male and female bodies do develop differently, especially during and after puberty. The avergae male is taller and heavier than the average female. Male musculature is denser than female and, more importantly, is emphasised in different parts of the body.
The major difference, from the point of view of dance, is the pelvis, which in females widens and changes shape. This means that females walk and dance differently. The muscles connecting their legs are positioned differently since the pelvic attachment points have moved. Females typically have a greater range of movement of their upper legs because of the different joint position.
Since the weight of female dancers is usually less than that of male dancers they can tolerate going on point for longer - a male dancer may not be able to do it at all. Female dancers are under constant pressure to keep their weight down and this is one of the reasons. Male dancers, on the other hand, have to be strong enough to lift females and low female weight helps with this.
Yes, male dancers can wear tutus and yes, some female dancers can lift male dancers but those are not common occurrences. Classical dances are choreographed to emphasise the traditional roles of males and females in the society of the time they were written. Modern dances are more flexible but still have to take into account the physical body differences of the performers.
Sometimes we just have to live with the limitations our bodies give us.
Penny
Not really due to body limitations
This is not really what is going on. As you point out, there is considerable overlap between the male population and the female population. This is true for pretty much every supposed gender-based difference. But what society does is to ignore that overlap and exaggerate the statistical difference between men and women, and then insists that people take steps to insure they fit society's stereotypes. For instance, boys are bullied into being agressive and even violent, girls are bullied into being submissive and compliant, and then we are told, "look, boys are agressive by nature, girls are submissive by nature" (and the ones that aren't are dismissed as "unnatural.") It seems to me that the burden of proof is upon those who would claim that this or that difference is by nature due to one's gender to prove that it isn't because society does its best to create that difference.
The same is true in dance. If you average all the men and average all the women, that artificial "average" man may be somewhat stronger, and that "average" woman may be somewhat more delicate, but this is then used to excuse requiring and training all women to be (or at least seem) unnaturally thin and light and delicate and all men to be unnaturally strong and "ripped." (And the ones who can't fit those rules well enough get forced out of the profession.) If one simply looked at body type, one would find male-bodied people who were well-suited to dancing en pointe and light enough to be easily lifted, and female-bodied people who could leap and lift (or be trained to) as well as any male-bodied person. But admitting that would blow the stereotypes out of the water, so it is forbidden.
But what the video was concerned with was the way in which the psychological nature of the dancer does or does not fit into the rules that are applied to them, based on their birth gender. What if an assigned-female dancer whose body does more or less fit the stereotype doesn't feel comfortable being clothed and trained to be a delicate, sought-after flower? What if an assigned-male dancer whose body could be trained to lifts and leaps and "ripped" abs doesn't feel comfortable being forced to dance that way? The way the dance profession is now, they either force themselves to do what is unnatural for them, or they leave the profession.
This is pretty much the sort of conflict that transgender non-dancers face: society insists that they be one way, based on their bodies, but their true selves can't be that way. Society excludes and punishes them as "unnatural" for failing to conform to its gender rules, then uses the people that are able to conform as evidence that people "by nature" fit its rules.
Amadeus Irina
Part of the reason I agreed to work with Shauna on books two and three of the Amadeus series was her fascinating and lengthy discussion of nature versus nurture. While, in general, I wouldn't disagree with your recap of the story, the layers that Shauna brings to her writing through the use of shifting narrative characters -- are much more complex than suggested. The femininity of her ballet, taught to her by her mother, contrasts with the masculinity of her violin playing - taught by her father . . . are just two examples of extended questioning into the formation of a person's soul.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)