Ballet Boys
From Rudolf Nureyev to Billy Elliot male dancers (even the fictitious ones) play a huge role in our ballet heritage. Over the last twenty years initiatives such as the BalletBoyz, have challenged the preconception that the barre is a girl’s only zone and have helped make ballet more accessible to dancers regardless of their gender. Indeed in the last two years the Royal Ballet School has seen a 30% increase in the number of boys applying for full time training. Despite this stupendous effort however, ballet’s boys still get neglected and more needs to be done to encourage young men to dance.
Kenneth Elvebakk’s new film Ballet Boys is the latest attempt to break down these prejudices. His documentary follows the lives of Targeir Lund, Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød and Syvert Loranz Garcia, over four years, as they train at one of Norway’s leading dance schools. A coming of age story it exposes the pressure, physical pain, doubts, friendships and victories that come with growing up to be a professional dancer. As the boys approach the end of their school careers they question what to do next, and ask whether they really want to devote their lives to ballet. All three boys begin auditions for the Norway Ballet Academy but the film ends with a surprise twist as Lukas is invited to try-out for the Royal Ballet School, London.
Screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 27th, Ballet Boys opened in UK cinemas last Friday. In helping to reveal the masculine side of the dance world the film will have certainly contributed to removing the stigma that surrounds the idea of boy’s doing ballet.