Major ballet companies and presenters are slowly but increasingly showcasing pieces featuring queer stories and themes. The platform they have makes their artistic decisions vital to the representation seen in ballet.
Lesbians in Ballet: âHas Anyone Like Me Ever Walked These Halls?â
Balletâs strict gender norms put pressure on women to conform. But dancers who donât are finding theyâre not alone.
Two Juliets: Audrey Malek, left, and Cortney Taylor Key, rehearsing a duet with the choreographer Adriana Pierce.Credit.Yael Malka for The New York Times
June 1, 2021, 12:00 p.m. ET
As a teenage ballet student in the 1990s, Katy Pyle had no interest in dating: not boys, not girls, not anyone. A serious love interest â all consuming, really â was already in the picture: ballet.
âI didnât have space for any other relationships in my life,â Pyle, who uses the pronouns they and them, said in a phone interview from their home in Brooklyn. âItâs silly, but that was my true love.â