A Non-Dual Swan at Pointe

Ashton Edwards’ ballet dreams were dashed at age 6. Growing up as a child in the Midwest, Edwards, non-binary and now using pronouns, hoped ballet would allow them to discover their truest selves. “I wanted to be one of those beautiful, ethereal people on the pointe,” they said, referring to reinforced shoes that allow dancers to stand on their toes.

But shortly after starting classes, Edwards learned that only women dance on pointe. “It was stunning,” they said. “I would search and search for footage of ‘Swan Lake’ with Baryshnikov as the swan. And he wasn’t there.”

Now Edwards has rekindled that childhood dream. Last fall, they apprenticed at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, where they traditionally play female roles. An extraordinarily talented and versatile artist, they set an important precedent: an artist appointed male at birth routinely practices pointe in a classical ballet troupe. This month, Edwards joins the swan ensemble in the company’s production of “Swan Lake,” the pinnacle of ballet femininity.

Edwards, 19, is part of a rising generation of gender-neutral dancers who question ballet’s rigid gender roles. 22-year-old non-duo dancer at the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Switzerland Leroy Mokgatle He recently performed solo on a pointe created for a woman. Maxfield HaynesAnother 25-year-old non-duo artist has danced on pointe with both Complexions Contemporary Ballet and drag troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. And remarkably, Edwards isn’t the only non-dual member of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s apprentice class: Zsilas Michael HughesWhile 20 doesn’t perform on pointe, she also has the option to dance female roles in the company.

“There is a whole book of ways ballet still needs to grow,” Haynes said. “But when it comes to gender, it feels like we’re starting a new sentence.”

At the beginning of ballet history, XIV. In Louis’ 17th-century court, men were dominant and sometimes played female roles. Yet in the last 200 years classical ballet has become synonymous with the ideal of a fairytale femininity. In her technique, especially in pointe shoes (women dance in pointe, men do not) and partnership (women are lifted, men are removed) gender roles are considered sacred.

Much of the ballet repertoire dates back to the 19th century and includes graceful heroines and noble heroes of the Romantic era. “Gender roles in ballet are distilled, pure and increased to 11,” said journalist and sociologist Chloe Angyal, author of “Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet From Itself.”

Men occasionally play female roles in classical ballet, but this is done only for humorous effect, like the half-sisters in Frederick Ashton’s “Cinderella.” Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo – an all-male comedy troupe whose dancers take on both male and female roles – has since 1974 been a haven for artists who have been appointed male by birth and wish to work on pointe. However, they often appear technically brilliant performers as drag characters rather than themselves.

Edwards’ role in Pacific Northwest Ballet was nearly unthinkable even a few years ago. In 2018, gender fluid dancer Chase Johnsey, a former member of the Trockaderos, She performed in the “Sleeping Beauty” women’s choir of the English National Ballet.” But after the moment of making history, she found herself outside of classical ballet.

“I’ve had a few movie offers, a few reality show offers, and nearly a million document offers,” said Johnsey, now 36. “Every ballet company I try to go to? Nothing happened.”

As a student who grew up in this climate, Edwards dreamed of a minor career on the professional ballet men’s track. Perspectives changed after Covid-19 immobilized the ballet world. Edwards, who by then was an advanced student at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, began to grapple more honestly with who they were on and off stage.

“I had accepted by then that if I wanted to be successful, I couldn’t be myself,” they said. “But there was much more to it than I had to offer.”

During the shutdown, Edwards independently began working on pointe. They studied the ballerina wearing an old pair of shoes a friend had given them. Kathryn Morgan’s YouTube pointe tutorials. They also started experimenting with fashion and makeup. “For the entire summer of 2020, I was playing with pointe work, with gender expression, with self-expression in general,” they said.

In August 2020, Edwards applied to Pacific Northwest Ballet’s artistic director, Peter Boal, to study pointe as a student at the school. Boal said yes. And that conversation led to further changes in school and in the company, where gender-definitions were removed from some classrooms and students could study in classrooms that match their identities and preferences.

“Sometimes you need a catalyst and in this case it was Ashton,” Boal said. “We’ve reviewed our entire handbook to really downplay most of what we have to offer.”

Still, Edwards wasn’t sure that the career they had begun to dream of was possible. Taking the Pacific Northwest Ballet apprenticeships in November 2021 “was like a giant sigh of relief,” Edwards said. From the very beginning, Boal and Edwards determined that Edwards could perform male or female roles, including roles in pointe.

Edwards immediately jumped into the company’s “Nutcracker” run, where they danced to the female Snow and Flowers ballet. This is a grueling rite of passage for any dancer with less than two years of pointe training.

Sarah Pasch, a senior member of the company, said the ensemble women embraced Edwards and offered them a quick course in ballerina-dom tricks and tricks. “We were all working together to make sure Ashton wasn’t injured,” Pasch said. “Because they’re so talented, but they don’t have the extensive pointe experience that a woman who gets into this business usually has.”

Edwards worked tirelessly, eager to prove they deserved their place. “I knew I couldn’t let anyone question why I was in the room,” they said. Throughout the spring and summer, media attention intensified this edition. Before his “Nutcracker” run ended, Edwards was out with a stress reaction in his left leg and a stress fracture in his right leg.

They said they felt “like a failure as a dancer and a failure as a non-dual member of a ballet troupe.” The injury kept them off the scene for three months.

Edwards is not only a gender pioneer, but also – like Haynes, Hughes and Mokgatle – a color artist in a predominantly white field. The pressure of representation for these dancers is exponential.

“I definitely want to be an activist for the next generation, and I also want to be a light to show them that it’s easier on the other side,” Edwards said. “But the days aren’t always that easy.” For several months, Edwards took a break from press coverage. Their recovery period was a moment when they focused not only on physical but also mental health.

About a month ago, Edwards an exciting comeback, dancing in the lead role originally created for ballerina Tiler Peck in Justin Peck’s movie “The Times Are Racing”. They now perform in the female swans troupe and as one of four celebrities “little swans” In “Swan Lake”.

Ballet is a highly competitive field for women who significantly outpace their men. However, Boal does not believe that Edwards deprived a female swan of a place of hope. “Ashton was the best person for the job,” Boal said. Johnsey noted that the number of gender-nonconforming dancers in high-level ballet is very small. “Still, if we’re just a handful, why are people worried?” said Johnson. “You don’t take anything from anyone if you can break in.”

Queer women and gender nonconforming dancers assigned as female at birth starting to find safe spaces in professional balletvery few have succeeded perpetuating traditionally male roles. For those who have been trained and socialized in ballet as women, the pressure to adapt can be overwhelming. “If you’re not going to stick with the constraints of femininity, there are 12 more girls to do and they’re waiting in line right behind you,” said Angyal, author of Turning Pointe.

Even in progressive ballet settings, dancers hoping to break the rules of gender are often expected to meet strict physical standards. Edwards being 5’5” and Mokgatle 5’3″ and both being extremely thin may have smoothed out his professional ways. Using them pronouns, the 6-foot-long Haynes said they’re more accepted in contemporary ballet, where the rules are often looser.

“Ballet is still very body-focused after all,” Haynes said. “I appreciate the greater pressure to truly recognize diversity, but it remains incredibly rigid.”

Whether Edwards and his peers are an aberration or the start of a wave will depend in part on ballet education’s approach to gender, and some schools are beginning to flourish. For example, three Boston Ballet School students assigned as boys at birth are now taking pointe training. Joshua Grant, the soloist who also danced with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, recently opened a dance studio with a partner who aims to be completely gender inclusive.

In the world of professional ballet, companies beyond Pacific Northwest Ballet are beginning to show greater openness to gender-neutral casting. At the New York City Ballet, “The Times Are Racing” featured several transgender cast members, and Jessica Lang’s “ZigZag” for the American Ballet Theater features two roles that can be performed by both men and women.

New gendered ballet companies also began to emerge. After Johnsey’s frustrating experiences with established communities, Ballet in Barcelona In Spain, which develops ballets that welcome dancers of all identities and question the concepts of gender.

Edwards’ first professional performances at Pointe, in December 2020, which was then brand new ballet22was created by former Trockadero member Roberto Vega Ortiz and dancer Theresa Knudson. The company offers performers assigned male by birth a place to dance on pointe, without comedy or cartoons; performs a mix of new works and existing repertoire, including key elements of the classical canon.

The possibilities seem endless for Edwards, who now has a full command of both high-end “male” and “female” ballet techniques. they mastered the virtuoso series. Unlocks 32 fouetté pointes This infuriates even seasoned ballerinas – and for good measure they love to add a bravura male step called double lap on the knee at the end.

Several dancers said they look forward to a day when gender identities are so widely accepted and no longer a topic of conversation. “It really is one of the least interesting things about me as an artist,” Haynes said. “It’s like, I’m not a binary. Okay, I have elbows.”

Edwards said they were happy to talk about her experiences as a non-duo dancer. But they hope that no matter how body-focused they are at work, their gender, which is essentially a personal matter, won’t overshadow their art.

“I hope the next time we talk,” Edwards said, “we’ll just talk about my dancing.”