Men Of Dance – Busting One Stereotype For Another

A documentary about four star male dancers at American Ballet Theatre tries hard to portray them as normal guys. Too hard. Obviously the documentary-maker wants to bust stereotypes of male dancers being sissies. But to hear everyone tell it in tonight’s broadcast, dancing is just a guy’s thing. For example, “Ethan Stiefel likes to ride a motorcycle and what chiefly attracted him to ballet, he says, is the opportunity to place his hands on women’s bodies. No, no, no. Believe it or not, men in tights are drawn to ballet by a calling, a compulsion toward artistic endeavor and yes, ambition.”