"It seems to risk exposing the dancer's penis, and I think that produces fear in a lot of men because it's both exciting and forbidden," Hirshberg said. Even though male dancers wear what's called a dance belt - equivalent to a jock strap - it's alarming to think about what might happen. When a man wears tights, imaginations go wild, Hirshberg agreed. "It's as close to nudity as we are allowed to be." "What makes them nervous is men in tights," Uthoff said. But there's another aspect to men's discomfort with men who dance, according to Michael Uthoff of Dance St. As is explained at those who can't afford to audition in person can send a video.īy the same token, people look askance at women who play football or are seen as aggressive. Each completed more than one year of training prior to going on tour and now maintains a demanding 40-plus hour a week job of rehearsal, dance class and school lessons.Īfter a year or so, most of the young actors age out of the role, and new boys are auditioning all the time. For more than three hours a night, the young performer must act, sing, dance, execute daring acrobatics - and pull off a difficult northern England accent.įour boys are playing Billy in the touring production opening Tuesday at the Fox Theatre.
Like "playing "Hamlet" while running a marathon" is how "Billy Elliot the Musical" director Stephen Daldry has described the rigors of the role of Billy. "A man also can't work in a florist shop or be emotional because those are things that we have decided are female." Being Billy is a Big-boy Job
"A male dancer presses our buttons about a man acting in a way we've come to associate with being a woman," Hirshberg said. Men who dance are at odds with what society has defined as proper gender roles for men and women, according to St. "I couldn't stand all that teasing it really hurt," Hetherington said. "Some people thought it was rather strange," Kelly said.Īs a tormented tap dancer in his Auburn, Mich., elementary school, Hetherington considered quitting only a few years ago.
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