Boys Ballet Shoes: The Physical Side Of Ballet

When thinking of ballet, a lot of people tend to picture very flexible ballerinas in tutu skirts and pointe shoes with their legs in positions that seem impossible to maintain. People often forget that The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake would never be such a success but for physically strong graceful male dancers. Though women outnumber men in ballet, it still inspires young talented boys to devote themselves full-time to this centuries-old dance. No wonder boys ballet shoes have been flying off the shelves in the recent years.

Ballet has been a source of fascination for film-makers for years. The dancer’s physical allure and their willingness to sacrifice everything for perfection and channel years of practice and discipline into a single moment has been at the heart of countless films, from Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes to Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, with a whole catalogue in between. Most told a story of the ballerina ready to make sacrifices to perform on stage but very few focused on the role male dancers play in ballet. Like film-makers, manufacturers would work harder on women’s ballet pumps rather than boys ballet shoes by upgrading and styling them all the time.

The revival of the male side of ballet started back in 2000 when Stephen Daldry’ Billy Elliot won a 2 minute standing ovation at The Cannes Film Festival and was bought by the world's top film markets within 24 hours. The story about motherless 11-year-old Billy (Jamie Bell) who takes ballet lessons instead of boxing sessions to the fury of his father and elder brother during the 1984 Nottingham miner's dispute appeared to be very similar to real-life stories of some established dancers. From then on ballet has been receiving a lot more attention: many more children have been enrolled on dance classes throughout the UK, manufacturers have been working harder on boys ballet shoes and the media has been giving more coverage to the physical side of ballet.

The BBC documentary Agony and Ecstasy broadcast after Black Swan enjoyed an overnight success and also drew attention of the British to ballet. Until recently, people used to think of it as something ethereal but the series depicted the discipline, perseverance and team spirit needed to make a professional and the pains and obsessions of the dance world. One of the male performers whose story was told in the documentary was reported to be swamped with Facebook messages from young talents after the broadcast. Boys ballet shoes have been selling like hot cakes since then.

Though the beauty of ballet is often associated with the grace of thin ballerinas, men do also play a crucial role in creating that breathtaking story on stage. The number of male performers grows annually whereas the media keep covering ballet as a great form of art that modern society can’t do without. Not everybody who has bought boys ballet shoes will make a carrier on stage; some young talents tend to use ballet technique for developing their signature style and performing contemporary or urban dance or anything else they have a passion for. They say ballet is the basics for any dancer.