Telegraph: Top ballet schools ditching leotards to help transgender dancers

[LazyViper]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/21/uks-top-ballet-schools-ditching-leotards-tights-aid-transgender/

Some of Britain's top ballet schools are preparing to do away with leotards and tights to be more inclusive of transgender performers, The Telegraph can reveal.

A group of sister schools teaching ballet and contemporary dance have pledged to support the transition of transgender students who may be self-conscious about their bodies.

Loose-fitting clothing should be promoted in classes over traditional skin-tight leotards and tights commonplace in dance, according to inclusivity protocols touching on student anatomy.

The guidelines have been adopted to address dance subjects by London Contemporary Dance School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the Rambert School, and the Central School of Ballet.

Their protocols state: “Form fitting clothing may force trans people to use unhealthy methods to conceal their bodies such as binding or tucking.

“It is important for trans people to not feel self-conscious during training.”

Paywall, but you get the gist.

Would be interested to learn how many trans students these ballet schools expect to admit.

Isn’t it also quite important for students’ bodies to be visible so they can correct their form during classes? Hence the reason for tight clothing in the first place?

Erm

Have they thought about what male ballet dancers tend to wear?
Traditional- skin skin tight.
More modern stuff often wear less- no no top little skin tight shorts.

Erm...

And like gymnastics, ballet at a high level has different disciplines for the sexes. Women. Balancing. Holding poses. Jumping yes but my god. When the men leap!

I mean ballet is a whole lot of stuff to talk about but at a fundamental level. The attire has been commented on criticised for years.

And suddenly!!

I mean what about all the homogeneity and the racism and all that stuff. Not more urgent? The impact the massive focus on bodies has for both the women and the men. Been talked about for years.

I mean. God's sake.

Oh right, glad to know someone in the dance world is being listened to.

For years:
“please can I wear a dark colour/skirt, to make me less anxious during my period?” “No!”

“Please can I have ballet shoes that match my darker skin tone?”
“No!”

Now:
“please can absolutely everyone have to wear something baggy so that I can hide my penis, but also not feel left out that I’m the only one wearing baggy penis concealing clothes?”
“Of course!”

Well quite

It's well known that girls stop participating in all sorts of physical activity around puberty.

Skin tight outfits
So much white! Martial arts cricket maybe more
Boobs get big and embarrassed/ uncomfy. What then? Quit obv.
Meeting the beauty standards many want to meet does not fit with exercise that makes you sweat/ go in a pool
Etc etc.

But yeah so what

Until now.

Fffffffs.

Thanks for the insight Dancer. The erosion of boundaries sounds awful. Are the female dancers talking about it amongst yourselves or does it feel too risky?

There was a ballet dancer described in Abigail Shrier’s book who, once they began identifying as male, convinced their ballet company to let them dance male roles. This was problems because they weren’t strong enough, and so were dropping the female dancers

Seriously?

Please tell me this was America or Canada, and not any rational part of the world.

As Graham Linehan has said, it's almost impossible write comedy in this climate. You can't out-ridiculous it...

Awful, Terrified. Sport and creative arts really need a dose of reality soon.

@CloseYourEyesAndSee

How many male ballet dancers will be joining top ballet schools as women? And vice versa? It's not likely to happen is it??

I can’t imagine a transboy being able to lift a female dancer, and a transgirl who may end up being 6’ tall is going to stand out like a sore thumb in the corps de ballet in Swan Lake!

But isn't the whole point of dance watching people's bodies? And it is not just breasts and genitals that distinguish the sexes. The shape and movement of men differs from that of women. Even in baggy clothes all it would take is for a male dancer to walk on stage for his sex to be clear.

Wouldnt the steps etc be designed for different sex bodies - female hip configuration vs male for example, limb ratio, flexibility (okay a specific stereotype of female hip config etc) ?

Ballet is the perfect context to show that sex matters. Men's and women's steps are very different and from something like Grade 1 ballet boys and girls will have separate sections of the syllabus. This isn't just based on tradition but also on real sexual differences. Men, being stronger and more muscular, do the lifting and the big jumps. A women just would not be able to lift or support a man in the same way and it would be incredibly dangerous.

And as someone said above, it would be really obvious if you put a man in the corps.

@FeatheredHope

Fuxk me. I mean great, but… I can’t help be annoyed It’s been fine to force girls and women into leotards and tights all this time (along with the body and eating issues that it exacerbates)

Exactly!

Thank you @TerrifiedDancer those are superb posts. And I agree totally and utterly.

Let us of forget, the world of dance is not somehow magically from safe sexual assault charges and like many organisations, has not always been exactly prompt or effective in dealing with them. These headlines are all from just the last 12 months:

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-57073643

www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/08/03/boston-ballet-dancer-accuses-former-dance-teacher-of-sexual-assault-in-lawsuit/

www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/london-professional-ballet-dancer-22-20212853

www.theweek.co.uk/105452/royal-ballet-sex-scandal-who-is-liam-scarlett

If anyone is interested, there’s also a good article here are sexual misconduct issues and the ballet #metoo movement
www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/nov/02/ballet-stage-me-too-sexual-abuse-harassment?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Sorry, forgot another one from the last year:
www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/aug/25/scottish-ballet-west-school-closes-allegations-sexual-misconduct?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

My daughter had friends at Ballet West. She also has friends in most of the schools mentioned in the OP. It is truly terrifying.

She gave up ballet and moved to other forms of dance/musical theatre because an injury meant she was no longer able to do pointe. She’s perfectly capable of performing the men’s jumps.

Seriously? grin

Please tell me this was America or Canada, and not any rational part of the world

The book is set in North America, but I’m not sure what would stop a ballet company being “inclusive” elsewhere. Common sense - that a female won’t be strong enough to take a male role - seems to be long gone.

Maybe what would readdress things in the US would be if a trans male dropped a female and she was seriously injured?

A group of sister schools teaching ballet and contemporary dance have pledged to support the transition of transgender students who may be self-conscious about their bodies

Right-o, because women and girls are of course famous for never having any self esteem issues around their body.

I think what these organisations mean is ‘we didn’t give a shit when it was just females being impacted, it now there is the slightest possibility that it could impact a boy? Well we looked to change that right away’

She gave up ballet and moved to other forms of dance/musical theatre because an injury meant she was no longer able to do pointe. She’s perfectly capable of performing the men’s jumps.

That’s interesting that she could match the adult male jumps. Could she lift an adult sized female dancer too?

I would question though whether the female body could take doing the leaps and lifts required in training and on show without higher injury, particularly at such times during menstrual cycle when it has been identified that hormones change connective tissues etc.

Wouldnt the steps etc be designed for different sex bodies - female hip configuration vs male for example, limb ratio, flexibility (okay a specific stereotype of female hip config etc) ?

Even more than that - a very specific type of body of each sex.

In the Abigail Shrier example above - an actual man with a transman's physique, unable to lift a woman - would not have gotten into that position, right?

Are they doing the nonsensical thing of letting a woman in based on female criteria, then letting them play a male part? And vice-versa? If you're trying to play as a particular sex, you need to be judged as that sex.

So transwomen will almost invariably be too big, and transmen too small. No?

If they're bypassing normal rules for these "trans" people, then that would be clear sex-based discrimination, right? Women being judged more strictly than men for female roles, and men being judged more strictly than women for male roles?

[quote FeatheredHope]Thank you @TerrifiedDancer those are superb posts. And I agree totally and utterly.

Let us of forget, the world of dance is not somehow magically from safe sexual assault charges and like many organisations, has not always been exactly prompt or effective in dealing with them. These headlines are all from just the last 12 months:

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-57073643

www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/08/03/boston-ballet-dancer-accuses-former-dance-teacher-of-sexual-assault-in-lawsuit/

www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/london-professional-ballet-dancer-22-20212853

www.theweek.co.uk/105452/royal-ballet-sex-scandal-who-is-liam-scarlett[/quote]
Here are some more:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50264895
What reports of the above case fail to mention is that he was on the ballet staff of one of the major companies for years (not the one he is associated with in the article as a performer).

www.khsu.org/post/dance-coach-s-molestation-case-headed-retrial-following-hung-jury#stream/0

www.buzzfeednews.com/article/scatx/some-days-the-bomb-goes-off

www.firstpost.com/world/switzerlands-bejart-ballet-lausanne-company-faces-probe-over-allegations-of-drug-abuse-and-harassment-9712231.html

Also the ongoing Waterbury case.

It is worth mentioning that these two cases allege that perpetrator burst in on them in the changing room or shower:

www.salon.com/2018/01/08/peter-martins-sexual-misconduct-wilhelmina-frankfurt/

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/former-english-national-ballet-dancer-scared-me-in-the-shower-hvpx90fzq

The second one was convicted of 13 out of 14 charges in court, but I don't know if the shower charge was one of the 13.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/10/male-dancer-gender-fluid-wins-part-english-national-ballets/?utm_source=pocket-app&utm_medium=share

the English National Ballet's latest production of The Sleeping Beauty may have won rave reviews from the critics, members of the audience may be unaware they are also witnessing a little bit of stage history.

Because for the first time in the modern era, a male dancer - who identifies as being 'gender fluid' - is performing as part of the female ensemble.

Chase Johnsey, 32, an American, who has been dancing since the age of 14, won his part as a ballerina, after impressing Tamara Rojo - the director of the English National Ballet - with his grit and determination to be accepted for his dancing rather than for his sex.

She (the director, Tamara Rojo) has insisted that his appointment is not a publicity stunt, but is instead intended to "reflect the world we live in".

Ms Rojo added: “I think ballet can be the perfect environment for gender fluidity. We are in a position where we could open up roles for lots of people.”

"In the Abigail Shrier example above - an actual man with a transman's physique, unable to lift a woman - would not have gotten into that position, right?"

Correct.

That's the first case I've heard of of a transman, all the ones I've been aware of have been transwomen or (male) non binary people. But yes, in the vast majority of cases it would be bypassing the normal criteria.

"I would question though whether the female body could take doing the leaps and lifts required in training and on show without higher injury, particularly at such times during menstrual cycle when it has been identified that hormones change connective tissues etc."

Those female dancers who have a talent for jumping could do the jumps (some already do, but this is on their own steam - they have no help with learning how to do tours en l'air etc from their schools or companies). Of course the majority may not jump as high but there are always exceptions - Osipova springs to mind as having a particularly high jump.

The lifts are quite a different matter and would be dangerous.

Tucking? But I thought ‘some women have penises - get over it’. I can’t keep up.

Truly appalling isn’t it @TerrifiedDancer?