#gay ballerinas

[theprongspotter]

*ballet au*

James: I saw your performance. You dance beautifully.

Regulus: I don’t recall inviting you.

-

c: @prompts-in-a-barrel

[nectar-cellar]

cc hot take

when ppl convert shoes for male sims but they don't scale up the shoes to make the feet big and manly it's just like Oh okay. ☹💔

[delancydevinsmommyissues]

The island princess is like the only time i've enjoyed a plotline resembling a love triangle.

Like you have 2 characters with feelings for one another, but bc of the circumstances, feel like they can't be together/dont deserve each other, and the person who one of them has been told they should want to be with and is also trapped by the narrative is their no. 1 supporter, bc they know two pining idiots when they see them.

like ugh that's literally the best part of the movie for me so i dislike when people try to just make the island princess about tika hate

[scarabvomitsauce]

tired of being a single lesbian, ready to be in a devastating situationship that ruins the next three years of my life

[bakugo-softski]

Um so can someone tell me how that ballerina farms girl is supposed to appreciate an egg apron from her husband and feel loved in her marriage when kacchan tried to die twice for deku on principle and that still didnt read as love to the man writing it. Whoever i date next will not only have to live die and kill for me but also a secret fourth thing that maybe doesn’t even exist yet or i shall draw the apparently logical conclusion that the love is not real nor romantic

[limjiyeon]

JEON JONG-SEO as OKJU & PARK YOO-RIM as MINHEE

BALLERINA 발레리나 (2023) dir. Lee Chung Hyun

[boygutz777]

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓸

[susansontag]

okay I like chappell roan after listening a bit yesterday tbh in pretty much a similar way to olivia rodrigo then I found out they share a producer lol. it’s really self-consciously what it is and I think that’s sort of endearing. but after doing the necessary market research I’ve decided whoever was saying gay men aren’t listening to her don’t know what they’re talking about, you can’t find a video of the girl singing live without a twink in the audience screaming “OH MY GODDDD” every time she flips her hair

I mean her image and music does seem tailor made to appeal to the broadest set of gay people possible - but also specifically gay men I feel - due to being as campy as possible. she’s just doing what all the pop stars do when they appeal to that crowd so it tracks

[outletcrash]

i used to do ballet as a kid (my mom did work on the costumes at the studio). i always pictured the sugar plum fairy exactly like this. huge skirt, plum + red, gold trim, sparkly pink, long curly brown hair and huge wings. and i never actually got to see the nutcracker till i was older (i was always in it!). imagine my shock when its just a very very simple light pink leotard + small skirt.

if young me had the skills i do now 99% of this blog would be fairies

far too early in the year for this but ill probably forget if i save it for later

[alice344]

Bro

[tortoisewithoutashell]

Dancing with Shadows: Chapter 3

Chapter 2: https://www.tumblr.com/tortoisewithoutashell/769313060765810689/dancing-with-shadows-chapter-2?source=share

Hi William,

Thank you for reaching out! Ballet is difficult; sometimes I wish I had decided to become an electrician or something that wouldn't wear on me so much. I think I’m having a mental breakdown—this profession sucks! My instructor is making me take time off to get my head in the game, and I cried in his office like a baby! Imagine that, a 23-year-old man crying in his boss's office!

Steve rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and pressed the delete button. Don’t overshare in your first message, you freak! You’re going to scare him away! He leaned back in his chair and thought about what he loved most about his job.

Hi William,

There are many things I love about this art form: when I try for ages to get something and it finally clicks, seeing my maître smile after doing a routine a million times and being finally happy with it, doing my makeup backstage, the backstage camaraderie during a performance, hearing people call my dancing 'beautiful', and the way the sun shines through the window of our studio on a summer’s day.

Tell me more about surfing. How long have you been doing it?

I’ve never been to California.

Steve felt satisfied with this response; he sounded normal, less like a crazed lunatic than in his first message. He pressed the send button and shut down his desktop. Needing a walk, he called Robin.

**

Robin came bounding down the street with a cup of coffee in each hand. How she wasn’t spilling them onto the concrete was a mystery, but so was Robin. They had met when Steve first moved to New York. She was one of the most elegant dancers he’d ever met, but off stage, she was somehow the clumsiest person. The juxtaposition of man, Steve supposed. Once she reached him, she put her arms out for a hug, but Steve feared being burned by the hot drinks, so he backed away. “Put the coffees down, Jesus, Robin!” Steve exclaimed before he grabbed one of the cups, and gave her a quick side hug.

“How come you complain when I’m mean to you and also when I’m nice?” she rolled her eyes, and they began walking. “I ran into Vickie last week,” Robin sighed, her shoulders slumping. “She told me that she’s seeing someone—a blonde.” The word "blonde" came out with a venomous bite. Steve nodded along, careful with his words. Robin had been chasing Vickie for years, but he was always too afraid to tell her to give it up; he was exhausted from constantly talking about her.“Well, maybe it's time to move on,” he said under his breath, and Robin smacked his shoulder. “People who’ve had 1 failed high school relationship, and haven’t dated since should not be giving others love advice. ” Robin rolled her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time in 15 minutes and picked up her pace. She wasn’t upset with him, but she sure was good at faking it.  He kept a couple of paces back; they hadn’t talked about Eddie in a while, and he was kind of shocked that Robin had even mentioned him—even if not by name—she knew he was a sore spot for Steve.  She quickly turned around when she noticed that Steve was no longer beside her and stopped to wait for him to catch up. “I’m sorry, that was mean. I know what happened with Eddie wasn’t—er—ideal.” Steve shrugged; no harm was truly done. Sticks and stones. 

Robin threw her empty coffee cup in a nearby trash can and clapped her hands together quite loudly. How did she drink her coffee so quickly between her constant talking? Steve had no idea how she managed that. Before he could ask, a devious grin appeared on her face. “So you remember Nancy Wheeler?” Steve’s eyebrows raised.

How could he forget Ballet darling Nancy Wheeler, the next best thing since Galina Ulanova had graced the stage! “She asked about you!” Robin exclaimed gleefully.  Steve’s face went red. “What do you mean she asked about me?” He was dumbfounded; how did Nancy Wheeler know who he was?

His studio wasn’t unknown per se, but it's not like he was one of the more well-known dancers in it. “I don’t know; I went to this party this past weekend, and a bunch of dancers were there. I was talking about you, and she pulled me aside and asked me for your number. It was insane! I mean, she could have any guy in New York, maybe even the country, but she’s interested in you—” Robin froze for a second. “No offense.” She studied Steve’s face quickly to make sure he wasn't actually offended before continuing, “I know you typically date men, and you lean more towards men, but at the end of the day, you’re bisexual, and I don’t know, I sort of maybe kind of gave her your number.” 

Steve stopped in his tracks. Nancy Wheeler knew who he was and had his number. No fucking way.

**

It’s not that Steve had expected Nancy to call, but he had kind of, sort of gotten his hopes up and anticipated her call. He kept glancing at his phone every five minutes to ensure he wouldn’t miss it! It was excruciating! Without ballet in his life, he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts. He tried watching a movie, he tried playing a video game, and he even tried both at the same time, but nothing worked. He couldn’t rely on Robin either because she had the studio, and yearning for Vickie took up a lot of her time too. He scrolled through their most recent messages: 

Robin: I never thought this day would come, but I miss you at the studio; Luc is driving me nuts!  

Steve: Lol, what’s going on?  

Robin: I wanna try something new for Arabian Princess, but he’s all like, “No, tradition is tradition!” Tradition, my ass!!  

Steve: If you didn’t like tradition, you should’ve done hip-hop.  

Robin: Never mind, I don’t miss you! 

He needed a hobby. It had been a week since Robin told him about her conversation with Nancy. He’d made sure his phone was always charged, which was usually a difficult thing for him. God, he was so pathetic and so starved for affection that when some girl he’d never met showed a little interest, he lost his mind. He was currently lying on his bed, trying to figure out how he would spend his day. He was supposed to spend this month finding inspiration, but he had found none; in fact, he wasn’t even sure where he should start! He stared off into space and got lost in his thoughts, then his desktop lit up and made a pinging noise. He had received new ballet slippers and was hoping they had been delivered. He walked over to his desk, sat down on his mahogany chair, and opened his mail app, but instead of seeing a delivery email from Move Dancewear, it was a message from the pen pal website. He had completely forgotten about it.

Subject: Sorry  

From: WilliamH1999  

Message: Hey dude, I totally apologize for taking so long to respond. I help take care of my little sister, Maxine, and it was the last week of the school year, and it’s been hectic. I’ve been driving her everywhere and helping her with her end-of-the-year projects. Ballet sounds awesome; I can tell that you love it.  

I love catching a wave; it’s the most addicting feeling in the world!  

I’ve always loved the water. My mom and I would go to the beach all the time when I was a kid. She’s actually the person who taught me how to surf. I've tried to teach Maxine, but she’s a skater girl through and through.  

P.S. I kind of went down the ballet rabbit hole online. I learned that it’s Nutcracker season, which is a crazy time for ballerinas!  

I hope you’re holding up!  

Holy shit, Steve thought. William had responded and very thoughtfully too. Should he wait to reply? He didn’t want to come off as desperate, but he was also so bored and frankly had nothing better to do. Oh well, forget it! If William found it weird, then he wasn't the pen pal for Steve.  

Hey William, no problem! Family comes first!  

Oh Jesus, Steve, could you get any more corny? He hit the backspace and started over. Be normal.  

Hey bro, I totally understand. I used to babysit for extra cash back home, and I know that kids can be a handful. This one kid, Dustin, talked a mile a minute! But somehow, I miss him, lol.  

Maxine sounds badass; any skater girl is a cool girl in my mind.  

I’ll tell you an embarrassing secret: I don’t know how to swim; I like having both feet on the ground at all times. That and I’ve dedicated my entire life to ballet and have been doing it since I was three, and never picked up any other skills. Although freshman year, I begged my parents to learn the drums, and I took about three lessons before my mom forced me to quit. I guess the drums weren’t “proper” enough for my mom. It didn’t fit the image of our family.

Was that too personal? Steve didn’t care; he kept typing. It felt good to express his feelings.  

My cousin left home when he was 18 and cut off all contact. We haven’t heard from him in years! To be honest, I’m kind of jealous of him.  

No nutcracker for me this year (I’m being punished), which feels really weird because I’ve participated in the nutcracker every year since I was 8. It feels strange to take this much time off from ballet; the last time I did was in middle school when I twisted my ankle. I genuinely thought my career was over. Silly me!  

I’m going to assume you were born and raised in California?  

Tell me more about that!  

Steve pressed the send button and then started to panic. Shit! He had totally overshared in his message; what the heck was he thinking? William would probably not respond. Gosh, he should think about getting a therapist instead of oversharing with strangers on the internet. He put his head down on his desk and began mourning the loss of his pen pal. Then his desktop dinged. He shot his head up, and to his surprise, another message from Billy appeared.  

From: WilliamH1999  

That sucks, dude! You don’t live with your parents anymore, do you? You should start playing the drums. A ballerina-drummer combo would be badass; trust me! :)  

You should also take swim lessons; most YMCA’s offer them. I'm saying this because it could save your life one day; trust me on that too!  

Bummer about the Nutcracker! Hopefully, it’ll be back on next year, haha.  

Listen, Steve, I don’t know you well, and you don’t have to take my unsolicited advice, but you’ve got to be true to yourself, man. I used to be so afraid to be myself and so scared of my dad’s opinion, but you’ve got to live; at the end of the day, it's YOUR life. 

Steve’s jaw dropped; Billy didn’t think he was weird. He smiled at that, unable to contain his happiness. 

He Googled the YMCA closest to him and signed up for swim lessons. William was right, he had to live his life. 

[quarter-lif3crisis]

Ballerina (2023)

[dragonboots10]

[uwmspeccoll]

Steamy Saturday

Twilight lives of talent & torment.

Man-for-man in the world of dance.

The ones who call themselves "strange."

They drift into a pastel world of fey relationships.

Men who are not quite men.

Hansome, desperate, twisted, born to dance.

The world of dance, as depicted in numerous media iterations, is just bathed in steam! Very often in queer steam. And so it is with Mr. Ballerina by American writer, dancer, and film actor Ronn Marvin (1919-1998), published in Evanston, Illinois by Regency Books (another William Hamling imprint) in 1961. Despite the genre and its inevitable tragic ending, Mr. Ballerina is actually fairly well-written, with authentic dialogue and believable depictions of gay relationships.

The story centers on dancer Dana Bates who works under dance director Lee Apollo at Hemisphere. Dana's lover is musician Ralph Matthews, who is convinced that he is probably straight, and that it was actually his mother and then Dana, playing on his sexual needs, who turned him into a homosexual. Ralph seeks a way out and turns to a woman who herself is trying to rescue her mother from a lesbian relationship. Ralph breaks up with Dana, punches him in the nose (breaking it), has sex with the woman and proposes to her. Meanwhile, Dana barely escapes a police raid on an all-male party at Lee Apollo's place but is outed to the police by some jealous flames, leading to the tragic ending that we present above.

. . . everyone has to pay eventually. Some way or other, everyone pays. Now for Dana Bates -- Mr. Ballerina, Pride of the Ballet, Princess of the Bed -- it was his turn at last.

In an October 1961 review in The Ladder, Barbara Grier (as Gene Damon) laments the negative aspects of the story, but praises its author:

A rather sad look at the very gay world of the ballet, according to Mr. Marvin, exclusively peopled with homosexual boys and an occasional homosexual girl. Basically another of the conflict stories, in which one character fights against his homosexuality. The San Francisco background is very colorful and the presence of major lesbian characters will make this of interest to Ladder readers. A fairly good first novel. Mr. Marvin will bear watching.

Ronn Marvin began his career as a dancer, but a foot injury ended that line of work, so he turned to writing novels and television scripts. He also appeared in four movies during the 1940s: The North Star (1943); Step Lively (1944); George White's Scandals (1945); and he was Pulaski in the 1947 film Gas House Kids Go West. The cover art for Mr. Ballerina is credited to "Dillon." While we have found no direct evidence, based on the characteristic style, we believe this to be the legendary illustrating duo Leo and Diane Dillon.

View other gay fiction posts.

View more LGBTQ+ posts.

View other pulp fiction posts.