Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Quora Question: What is a male ballet dancer called? Is he a ballerino?

Not in the U.S. he isn’t.

Male ballet dancers have many names.  Choreographers often refer to the male ballet dancer as a no-talent impostor or oxygen thief.  This verbal abuse, however true and accurate it may be, is often inversely proportional to the creative genius of the choreographer.

Critics, always a reliable, impartial source of information, often call the male ballet dancer a bad actor with aspirations to mediocrity.  This unrivaled talent is combined with a sense of rhythm and timing that has yet to manifest itself in a meaningful fashion.  Other comments frequently refer to the dancer in question as abusing a perfectly good ballet, or while executing a jeté, having the grace of a brontosaurus extracting itself from a La Brea tar pit.

Creditors call male ballet dancers broke, or bums.  Their parents call them destitute and lazy.

Male ballet dancers refer to themselves as a danseur until they have performed in front of a paying audience once.  After that, they call themselves Principal or Soloist.

Sure hope this helps!


5 comments:

Mike-SMO said...

"Oxygen Thief" works for me. Or "prop". I think his role is to provide an opportunity for the "ballerina" to look graceful and talent while generally staying out of the way. I havew heard "drone", so maybe that works.

Mad Jack said...

Mike-SMO: prop is a good one.

I'm curious as to just how long this one will remain on Quora before some twinkle-toed cigar smoker has a hissy fit and demands it be deleted.

CWMartin said...

Considering the news last week about the Buttons, maybe "perv" is in order...

Mad Jack said...

CW: I missed that story entirely. Given my experience in the dance business, I may write something about it later - but for now I'll say this: A ballet troupe is not a warm, friendly place. Dusty Buttons was at the top of the ladder, and believe me when I say that the dancers looking up are all, one way or another, jealous to the point of envy. They'd do anything to knock out the girl ahead of them, and everyone either knows this as fact, or is in some kind of denial.

Sure, all that could have happened, but I want hard proof before I believe a word of it.

Old NFO said...

Interesting question, and not a clue. I don't follow that particular cluster...