Men at the Barre: Inside the Royal Ballet (BBC 4 Monday 5 June 2023)

Men at the Barre: Inside the Royal Ballet airs Monday 5 June 2023 on BBC 4.

How does today’s male ballet dancer find life in this competitive field? Is there still a stigma against young men who pursue careers traditionally associated with women? Richard Macer, winner of several filmmaking awards, is curious to find out after being invited to film with the Royal Ballet’s next generation of exceptional male dancers.

An American talk show host got in trouble for making fun of Prince George’s ballet class. Why, then, do men continue to be a sitting duck if they’d rather put on some tights than kick a ball around a pitch?

Macer finds out that the man’s sole function in the past was to raise the ballerina into the air. Yet, the situation has evolved. There are just as many fans of top male dancers as there are of top female ballerinas. And there is a shift occurring in choreography that reflects masculinity in new ways. It’s becoming less rigid, reflecting how we see masculinity evolving in the wider world.

Vadim Muntagirov of Russia is widely regarded as the most talented dancer of our time. He and his famous dance partner, Marianela Nuez, often perform as the first onstage couple for classical ballets like “The Nutcracker,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Swan Lake” at London’s Royal Opera House. Matthew Ball, a younger principal from Liverpool, has a superfan who watches every one of his shows and even writes down the number of times he messes up.

Since he is recovering from two serious injuries, Instagram star Steven McRae typically shares more content related to his rehabilitation than his dancing. And then there’s Ed Watson, who has spent years at the pinnacle of his field but is now contemplating retirement at the tender age of 42.

Some of the dancers at the Opera House dispel the notion that ballet is a stuffy, middle-class art form by sharing their own, often surprising, journeys to Covent Garden with audiences. Marcelino Sambé and Joseph Sissens are just two examples.

Macer finds that nearly all of the dancers he interviews cite Rudolf Nureyev as a major influence. The Russian’s stage presence resonated with them because it went beyond the realm of ballet to symbolise a modern kind of masculinity.

We learn that male ballet is every bit as competitive as its female counterpart, with dancers working tirelessly towards a utopian ideal of perfection that is always just out of reach. However, the perception that society still views ballet primarily as a female activity is often an additional barrier for the men on their way to success. So, our golden generation has had to take on a challenge their sisters didn’t face: going against the grain. Maybe that’s why Macer finds that so many of these young men refer to what they do as a “calling.”

Men at the Barre: Inside the Royal Ballet airs Monday 5 June 2023 at 11.50pm on BBC 4

Featured Image Credit: BBC 4