As if women in the performing arts don't have enough competition. Great - someone else to take away one of few opportunities for female dancers.
28
I am puzzled why readers find this article "heartwarming" rather than troubling. If it were about a young, slim, fit woman who wanted to lose 20 pounds, have facial surgery and "cannibalize [her] body" in order to be in a ballet corps, wouldn't the reaction be horror?
41
He's a novelty now. Competition is so brutal in ballet that he will soon be gone. Aging is so harsh on women dancers that he might have an advantage there, but soon gone. Check back on him in 3 years. And yes, I fondly remember Dame Margot Fonteyn's unusually long career.
12
Brava!
What an inspiring story.
6
The wonderful National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, NY has a fascinating new exhibit called "Gender Neutral" addressing some of these issues. Don't miss it.
7
A wonderful story. I applaud Chase Johnsey and the dance companies that welcome him.
10
I applaud Ms. Rojo for taking the step of hiring Mr. Johnsey. He has always demonstrated a remarkable technique and a very credible feminine presence on stage with the Trocks. He was also named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch."
Ms. Rojo has blazed a number of trails in ballet, including engaging women choreographers for her exclusively female-choreographed program, "She Said" and next year's "She Persisted." So it's not like she's not hiring women. Instead, she's encouraging women to step up into creative and managerial roles in ballet, just as she has.
It would be hard to imagine either of the two major NYC ballet companies, so yawningly conventional and conservative in their outlooks, being adventurous enough to let Chase Johnsey audition as a female corps member, much less to hire him.
14
Three (French) words: Les Ballets Trockadero
7
"In the last few years, there have been far more instances of choreographers creating same-sex duets, and being more unconventional in casting choices; recently the choreographer Justin Peck, at the New York City Ballet, put a woman in a role originally conceived for a man".
Well good for you Justin Peck...HELLO, welcome to 2018! That this statement is pointed to in the article as a seemingly positive angle on how ballet may be changing only proves that the art form is painfully out of touch and woefully behind the times, culturally and artistically.
4
Ballet, especially in the 19th century, has a history of women taking on men's roles in ballet albeit for much different reasons than gender equality. Little known fact: The original Frantz in Coppélia was a woman, Eugénie Fiocre
11
Wonderful article...but after reading some of the comments here......
I cannot recall for certain but I beleive Marius Petipa himself eluded to (if not stated outright) that the idea of watching men dance ballet was rather awful. When it comes to what people would rather observe in roles portraying finesse and delicacy, women have always been better suited to this; or those bodies and movements that portray the typical movements of women.
There are reasons men don't traditionally dance on pointe.
Gender differences and their classical portrayal in society have been a part of ballet from the beginning.
Dance is art; it is living, breathing, moving art. Certainly if we wish for our culture to progress to a place where men can express themselves and be more free to express emotion; then tiny things like this should be celebrated instead of condemed.
Someplace I'd like to think that a small boy who would LOVE to dance is reading about this and it has given him courage to follow his love of dance.
Of course women should be allowed to dance mens roles, but given the incredibly low numbers of boys that participate in ballet in the first place, let's celebrate victories for what they are.
21
I'll state up front, I have no issue or dog in this "fight" dance in the corps de ballet and look pretty, I have no dispute, it's fine with me.
As to why women don't dance male roles, well typically ballet has been designed as telling a story and that story is often or usually romantic. The typical romance is man-woman. Also strength is involved in lifts.
I love ballet as it is, I have spent a lot of money supporting ballet, please, if you want Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, go to that performance.
Again, I really don't mind a male in the corps de ballet, but let's create another genre if we want to gender bend it. Remember, the majority of the world is still straight cis-male and cis-female. And many of us enjoy a man-woman romance. Thanks!
30
No on is "gender bending". Chase identifies as gender fluid and has mentioned in other articles he plans on transitioning. He just still uses male pronouns. Soon enough, he will be the cis female you're looking for!
2
Joe, that is understating it. A "majority" could be 51% are cisgender -- in fact, 99.7% of all humans are cisgender. Only a tiny, tiny minority have gender dysphoria and believe -- against all science & medical facts -- that they are the opposite gender.
5
Ballet and major ballet ballet companies need to be more inclusive to all body types. They should take inspiration from miss USA pageant
4
Kurt Vonnegut wrote a story “Harrison Bergeron” where the equality you seem to laud is enforced: beauty is obscured, grace hobbled, brilliance disabled with mandatory cacophonous headphones.
What’s next? Shetland ponies in the Kentucky Derby? American foreign diplomacy run by xenophobic kleptocrats?
9
"Living the life of a woman in ballet means not having access to the privileges that come with the patriarchy,” she added.
Oh please, tell me what advantage an average male born in West Virginia (or for that matter, the west side of Chicago) has over these highly trained and educated women. This nonsense is straight out of the mouth of a Wesleyan gender studies major. Its 2018, ma'am. Women in this country are not systematically oppressed.
17
Neal: I suggest you ask the next 10 women you meet (without leading them) if they have ever encountered gender discrimination (lower pay to do the same job or fewer responsibilities, or not being judged on work performance but on appearance, for example) or microagressions (being talked over in meetings, having people respond to a man who proffers the same idea as a woman, subtle comments about appearance, for example). I think you'd be surprised. And that's not even including the women who have been assaulted and/or harassed by unwanted sexual advances by male colleagues/managers/clients. Or those who can't get their birth control covered by corporate health insurance. Or... Or... The list is limited only by my imagination.
Women in this country absolutely are subject to systematic oppression and aggression. And you know what? We're not taking it anymore. #TimesUp
32
After hair, make-up and costume, it's often hard to tell apart the sexes anyhow. It doesn't matter, if they can do their job well and entertain, who cares? Chase your dreams Chase.
17
Oh, to be young again and have today's opportunities for gender and personal expression.
16
I think this everyday. I am so very happy for today's youth both in what that have helped bring our world and what they have available to them.
8
Mr. Johnsey says he figured out how to lose muscle mass without losing strength. How does one do this? I am not being snarky here; I genuinely want to know.
51
Chase your dreams, do you, Chase!
But.....I have always wondered why women can't dance the men's roles--- when I took ballet, I was always better at jumping and strength exercises than most of the guys.
Where is the Les Ballets Trokcedero for women?? Are women being given access to reverse roles too?
16
from the article: "recently the choreographer Justin Peck, at the New York City Ballet, put a woman in a role originally conceived for a man."
It's encouraging that the creative forces are seeing opportunities from many angles.
9
Yes, noted! I am happy to see that.
I just do not see that one case (and I am sure there are a few others) as equal to the consistent opportunies afforded men with the 'Trocks'.
Then again, women usually take center stage in Ballet, so I can understand a certain imbalance. I just would love to see a group of women dancing traditional men's roles...how fun that would be!
The writer has it. It's all about the dance. It just has be beautiful.
10
Gender fluidity is a step out of the patriarchy. Women and transgender men can play male roles and men and transgender women can play female roles and genderqueer people can play both roles and that's what equality truly is.
2
“Gender fluidity” poisons children with growth stopping chemicals and sterilizing hormones, and robs women of their private places and fair play. It’s child abuse and misogyny.
37
I was afraid this was another "heartwarming" article about a man discovering he was really a woman, but was relieved to find it's not. Men are not women and Mr. Johnsey doesn't claim that they are. What he is after is the ballerina aesthetic - which is not so much a product of nature as a product of design and hard work. If this is his art form, why not?
I find it extremely offensive when men claim to "feel" like a woman, because how does a woman feel? Furthermore, how could he possibly know? I am a woman and I only know how one woman feels - me. Claiming that there is a female personality with specific feminine preferences and abilities is how women have been oppressed so I do not support that ideology.
This is different. The only issues I see here are: a) if the openness does not go both ways and women are not given a chance to take men's roles, b) he is less qualified than other women, but is being given this role because it means good PR for the production company, which would mean he was taking it at someone else's expense.
35
Did you read the article in its entirety? It covers both of these points.
4
Regarding your comment about trans people claiming to "feel" like their identified gender, in a lot of ways it's a drastic simplification of complex human emotions in an attempt to make people who have no personal experience of the feeling (or who are maybe even downright hostile to the idea) sympathize. You're 100% right that there's no one way to "feel like a woman" and that's the general understanding in queer communities. But to get the general public to understand and accept who you are you sometimes have to "dumb it down" a little. Please don't let that simplification dissuade you from accepting queer and trans people wholly.
7
Wow awesome story I so love it! Way to be, I wish I was a ballerina!
6
Diversity, please.
2
So men can replace women all the time, in any capacity? How is this a victory for women?
78
Exactly. Looks like backward movement to me. How long did it take for women to populate female roles in theater and now you’re telling me that it’s progress for men to take over female roles? I don’t think so. Women are still fighting for workplace equality, not to mention the fact that women easily outnumber men by 10 to 1 in classical ballet. We need male ballet dancers in male roles, not in the court of Ballet with the other women. Why can’t he be in the court of Ballet with the rest of the guys?
59
I was wondering the same. Aren’t men inherently more muscular? Won’t that give him an advantage in performance? If dancers are being chosen in a way that gives everyone the same chance of being chosen this makes sense, but if a power dancer is hired over others, this seems to disadvantage women further.
26
I'm missing something here. Don't men already perform in the corps de ballet? Couldn't Mr Johnsey simply be one of these instead of taking a female dancer's position?
57
This is a situation where Mr. Jamesey is "to thine own self be true".
If it works for him and for those who hire him and work with him, it is all for the good.
6
My only problem with this and similar “Go Team” comments is that, as an audience member, I’m actually not interested in what “works for” a particular performer. It’s not particularly interesting to see performing arts as psychotherapy for the performer. I only ask that performers do their art way better than I can. If not, what’s the point? I’ve attended fashion shows with transsexual models and had no problem with it (if i could actually tell at all). Ballet choreography, particularly that of Ballet’s giants, is quite different. If the choreography doesn’t fit the dancer’s body type or strength, please God, don’t subject the audience to an experiment, no matter how helpful it may be to that dancer’s psyche.
23
Now ballet is under attack from within. Why he is being encouraged is beyond me. He completely fails to understand the art form. Ballet has its norms and if you don't like or respect them, you do something else. There are too many other ways of dancing for this to be tolerated. He can never be authentic in any gender-specific roles. His musculature is different, as is his temperament. A male can never understand what it means to actually be female, and vice-versa. An effeminate male is something entirely different. And a desire to "re-shape" his body is self-destructive and must not be encouraged. This is just plain ill. It is sad to see such delusions encouraged.
87
I see what people are saying, but it doesn't help women to have a protectionist attitude towards femininity, in my opinion. If we want to be able to enter traditionally all-male spaces, we can't simultaneously be maintaining a double standard about this when men want to cross over to 'our side.' I thought it was cool that Brittany Griner might try out for the NBA, and I think this is too. Let's compete!
22
Erin,
It has to do with protecting jobs. What has happened is that in professions where there were lots of women and which then became preferred jobs for men, the women were pushed out. This happened in IT.
What has also happened (in nursing, for example) is that the men get higher salaries.
In professions where men dominated and then women took over--teaching, secretaries, the prestige and pay scale declined, but the men were still the bosses.
This is also happening in medicine as more women became doctors, the pay scale for "women's specialties" has decreased.
Even in ballet the male stars have had more earning power, but the women still were stars and had jobs. Allowing men to do women's roles will push the women out.
Mathew Bourne, and others have created story ballets for male dancers with choreography more geared towards male physical abilities. Nothing wrong with that as long as they don't show hostility to women in the process.
With plotless ballets it matters less who dances what, but there are still innate difference in physical abilities.
50
He had to "retrain and reshape" his body, with the help of the ballet mistress! Had she nothing better to do with her time?
And he had to "cannibalize" his body. To go to such extremes seems forced, unnatural, and very unfair to female dancers needing a job and who would require no such help. I can't help but wonder how he passed an audition. But he is definitely receiving special treatment.
101
You many have a point. However, it's important to note that female dancers "cannibalize" their bodies in all sorts of unwholesome ways, as well. The dance world is often not kind to dancers or to their body images, and, even when they achieve the ideal body, it's a very time-limited achievement. All life is transient; but the life of a professional dancer, especially so.
5
What you are saying is part of my point, although I didn't expand on it. Unfortunately yes, dancers often "cannibalize" their bodies, and it's extremely unhealthy. For him to hold it up as some kind of badge of achievement is reprehensible and sad.
Seriously?! There are already many more trained females in ballet than there are jobs. The idea that a man is now taking a a scarce job away from females is downright depressing. Is there really any need to hire him other than as a novelty. Well-trained females are a dime a dozen these days as the older females are taking better care of themselves and thus performing for many more years than in the past.
I say this as a mom to a daughter who had the artistic and technical talent to dance professionally but stepped away recently because it is futile for most all female ballet dancers to find paid positions until they're in their 20s while males are so scarce they are hired in paid positions at age 17-18. This is just adding fuel to that fire.
120
I can't help but think, as a man enters roles previously filled only by women, is he paid more than the women he is dancing with?
70
This gender fluidity stuff is already getting to be a bore.
Any ideas for something new to babble about?
94
I'm sensitive to the prospect of traditionally female jobs going to men. But let's talk about this from a big picture perspective: it's unconscionable that this article was written without mentioning the eating disorders and body image trauma that plague ballerinas. Because of anorexia etc., I think it's a toss up - because adding men who identify as women could loosen the body type expectations for female ballerinas and make ballet a somewhat healthier career choice OR it will simply add increased body trauma for men to the list of crimes instigated by this 'art'.
36
I agree. According to this article, Mr. Johnsey had to "cannibalize" his body in order to achieve the correct physical aesthetic. Just as it is not healthy for a female ballerina to starve herself, it is not healthy for a male who is trying to look more feminine. It would only be truly fair if any ballerina, male or female, could dance any part without having to change their physical appearance.
22
But he had to lose 20 lbs! and change his body composition to do this! and male dancers are already quite slim. He must be emaciated!
Also: are there female FTM transgenders who are now dancing male parts? and if not, why not?
1
This is very interesting, but because of ballet's physicality, I assume gender-bending in classic ballets will mostly stick with roles like this, with limited or no pointe or lifts.
However, new ballets are a blank slate! Benjamin Millepied choreographed a piece for SF Ballet last year that had three couplings (male-female, male-male, female-female) performing a similar romantic pas de deux, which was lovely.
12
Any of the females pretend to be a man?
9
there are so many more women than men in dance. if feminine men are going to dance female roles, will masculine women be dancing male roles?
37
No but they might join the Boy Scouts.
11
I would like to see that- truly!
I am all for gender fluidity and equality, but I just watched a video of Chase Johnsey dancing Le Corsaire pas de deux (female role) and quite frankly, if he were actually a woman, he would never be able to get a job with a major ballet company because he is not nearly good enough. Poor feet and legs, very average technique. Good enough, perhaps for the Trocks, but not for a classical ballet company. Giving him a job in the corps de ballet is extraordinarily unfair to more highly qualified women.
161
I support gender fluidity, but in the photos of Mr. Johnsey actively dancing, his body simply looks male: not female. The thick neck, bulging shoulders, solid waist and bulging thighs just don't look like a female dancer. Many women who have studied dance have not been allowed to move into professional ranks because they got too round, or too tall as they grew out of the defining female dancer body. If ballet wants to evolve into a uni-sex core, that's fine- maybe even a very good idea. But as long as there is hyper-defined sexuality in ballet's classic roles and costumes, it is stupid to use a male body to wear a tutu and a tiara. No surgery can narrow ones shoulders.
94
Another below average man taking a job away from a more qualified woman. Business as usual. And utter nonsense.
177
BRAVO Chase! Dance dance dance!
14
On the tv show Westworld there is a phrase “if you can’t tell the difference, does it matter?”.
The dancer in the article went through the physical work to meet the standards require to dance the desired position. That’s equality at is best!! A heart warming story!
11
I can tell the difference. In the photo with the three dancers, his musculature in his legs and shoulders is very masculine. He has none of the delicate beauty that one generally expects in ballerinas. That said, does it matter? I'm not sure.
50
That was when he was with the Trocks, though, prior to undergoing the work he did to reshape his body. A better assessment purely on the physical would be the photo of him in the leaping split.
The three dancers in that photo are all men, right?
4
I’ve read half a dozen articles today that make me wonder where the human race is headed (hand baskets keep coming to mind....), but this absolutely lifts my spirits!
I had a moment near the beginning when I was really worried that this guy was MTF trans, and the whole article was misgendering him, and was so relieved to read that not only was I wrong, but they made a point of explaining his pronoun preferences!
Well written, and what a truly heartwarming story. I hope he goes far!
21
Imagine what a mess of a world it would be everyone decides on their own "pronouns" plus invents all kinds of new ones like "xe" and "xir" -- it would be maddening, and make talking sensibly about anything impossible.
4