by Kathryn Boland | May 14, 2024 | Pointe+, Training
In fall 2023, Boston Dance Alliance held a youth open-call audition. Fifty dancers showed up—one of them male-identifying. Gender imbalance is not uncommon in ballet, yet that ratio is particularly stark. Is this shortage part of a larger trend? If so, what’s caused...
by Avichai Scher | Oct 16, 2023 | Pointe+, Training
When Matthew Fontana, 13, arrived at the School of American Ballet last summer, it was the first time he’d been in a class full of boys. During the school year, he trains at Rye Ballet Conservatory in New York State. The school has a growing program for young boys,...
by April Deocariza | Nov 9, 2021 | News, The Latest
For American Ballet Theatre principal Thomas Forster, his career has provided not only a good paycheck, but the opportunity to travel the world. Despite this, when he tells people he is a professional ballet dancer, he still finds himself fielding questions like “But...
by Amy Brandt | Oct 13, 2021 | Training
Being a boy in ballet isn’t always easy. We all remember what happened on “Good Morning America” a few years ago, when co-host Lara Spencer made fun of England’s then–6-year-old Prince George for taking ballet classes. Canada’s Ballet Jörgen recently launched an...
by Jennifer Heimlich | Nov 28, 2001 | Company Life
For most young boys in ballet class, dancing is a passion they have to fight for. Just yesterday, I got an email from a loyal reader who loves Pointe, and loves ballet more, but he never took ballet classes. He was too afraid of being bullied. And he is definitely not...