by Lucy Spencer Mason | Aug 14, 2026 | Onstage, Summer Study, The Latest, Training
Patrick Frenette knows firsthand what it means to find your place in ballet. The American Ballet Theatre soloist has been open about bullying he faced growing up due to the social stigma attached to being a boy in ballet. In 2016, he, his mother Kimber Frenette, and...
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...